Patent ID: 7208959

Claim:
A method of characterizing an electrical component, the electrical component comprising a die-attach pad and a plurality of leads extending outwardly from the die-attach pad, each lead of the plurality of leads comprising a conductor having a bond end located proximate the die-attach pad and an opposing end, the method comprising: electrically contacting at least one lead of the plurality of leads to a ground plane provided by a test substrate; maintaining at least one other lead of the plurality of leads in a position so as to prevent contact between the at least one other lead of the plurality of leads and any surface of the test substrate; configuring at least the at least one other lead of the plurality of leads so as to be electrically open; contacting a signal conductor of a coaxial probe against the opposing end of the conductor of the at least one other lead of the plurality of leads of the electrical component, the coaxial probe in electrical communication with one port of a network analyzer; contacting a ground conductor of the coaxial probe against the ground plane of the test substrate; forcing the ground plane of the test substrate to a ground potential provided by the network analyzer; sending at least one test signal from the network analyzer and through the signal conductor of the coaxial probe to the at least one other lead of the plurality of leads; and directly measuring at least one reflected signal from the electrical component with the network analyzer and indicating a parasitic capacitance of the at least one other lead of the plurality of leads with the network analyzer.