Patent ID: 7170090

Claim:
A test system for testing a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor, the test system comprising: (a) an integrated circuit structure that includes (i) a resistor formed on a region of dielectric material that is formed on an upper surface of a semiconductor substrate; (ii) a MIM capacitor structure, having space-apart upper and lower plates formed of conductive, the MIM capacitor structure being formed over the resistor and separated therefrom by intervening dielectric material; and (iii) a metal thermometer plate formed utilizing the same conductive material as the upper and lower plates of the MIM capacitor structure, the thermometer plate being formed over the resistor and in close proximity to the MIM capacitor structure; and (b) a resistance monitor that is electrically connectable to the thermometer plate for measuring changes in resistance of the thermometer plate with changes in the temperature of the thermometer plate.