Sources of resonance-related errors in capacitance versus voltage measurement systems

A frequency dependence of the capacitance of metal-oxide-semiconductor devi ces is often observed in wafer-level probe station measurements for frequen cies exceeding 100 kHz. It is well established, however, that the true capa citance value in the SiO2 devices biased into accumulation should remain fr equency-independent well into the gigahertz range. Consequently, the appare nt frequency dependence of the capacitance versus voltage characteristic ma y be the result of a resonance present in the measurement setup. We present a quantitative analysis, which can be used to identify the sources of erro r, characterize a measurement system, and improve the precision of the coll ected data. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0034-6748(00)03110-5] .