Kelvin Inductance and Resistance Measurements Using an AC Source and DC Voltmeters

Abstract

Kelvin measurements of series inductance and resistance of an on-chip inductor at frequencies from 5 to 10 GHz is demonstrated using a CMOS process. The measurements require 3 DC voltage meters, 3 DC current sources, an AC signal source, and one high frequency probe. The resistance is lower and within 0.5 Omega of that from a calibrated measurement using a vector network analyzer (VNA), while the inductance is 10% (50 pH) lower. Due to the reduction of the variability of contacts, the range of series resistance variation measured using the proposed technique is 2 to 5 times lower than that using a VNA. 3-D electromagnetic simulations suggest that the inductance measured using the proposed Kelvin technique is more accurate due to the elimination of de-embedding errors.