New test structure for high resolution leakage current and capacitance measurements in CMOS imager applications

Measurement of dark current and capacitance of pixel array are fundamental in the development of new sensor technologies. These parameters are usually very low and require large structures to be accurately measured. This is area consuming and, in any case, needs the use of high-resolution semi-automatic test bench. In this paper, a new methodology based on a capacitance discharge measurement is proposed and validated by comparison to direct measurements. It offers a small structure need, a low-test time and a high resolution, and can also be implemented on full automatic test bench for in-line monitoring.