Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for electrically testing and characterizing formation of microelectric features

US6750152B1 · kind B1 · utility

35Cited by
1References
16Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 1, 1999
Grant dateJun 15, 2004
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 1, 2019

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01L22/34
  • WIPO fieldSemiconductors
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A semiconductor wafer is etched to create an array of MEMS devices and at the same time, test sites having geometry which represent critical geometry of the MEMS devices. Probe contacts are provided in the test sites to permit measurement of resistance and capacitance between test site geometry as a way of determining the effectiveness of the etch. One test site comprises a ladder of semiconductor structures separated by gaps of graded width. Another test site comprises finger structures formed over a cavity and the probe contacts are located so as to detect inter-finger capacitance and resistance (or continuity) as well as intra-finger resistance.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.