Patent ID: 6943562

Claim:
A method for non-contact measurement of microwave capacitance of miniature structures of integrated circuits, comprising the steps of: positioning a near-field microwave probe at a predetermined distance from a miniature structure under the test; measuring a resonant frequency f s of said near-field microwave probe for said miniature structure under the test; positioning said near-field microwave probe said predetermined distance from a uniform metallic structure; measuring a resonant frequency f c of said near-field microwave probe for said uniform metallic structure; and, calculating the microwave capacitance C s of said miniature structure under the test as C s = ( f e - f c ) ⁢ ( f e - f c ) ( f s - f c ) ⁢ 4 ⁢ f e 2 ⁢ Z 0 wherein f e is the resonant frequency of said near-field microwave probe in air, and Z 0 is the characteristic impedance of said near-field microwave probe.