Electrical techniques for the characterization ot dielectric films

Various electrical techniques for the purpose of characterization of dielectric films are discussed. Metal/insulator/semiconductor (MIS) structures are widely used for the characterization of dielectric materials. The dc voltage determines the bias condition while the ac voltage is necessary to measure the capacitance. The electrical equivalent circuit of a MIS capacitor is a series combination of a fixed voltage-independent gate oxide capacitance and a voltage-dependent semiconductor capacitance due to depletion. The leakage current through the dielectric material can be measured by varying the gate bias.