Non-destructive complex permittivity measurement of low permittivity thin film materials

Abstract

Complex permittivity measurement of low permittivity thin films is necessary to understand the fundamental properties and to implement these materials in devices. A new technique has been developed employing split-post dielectric resonators at operating frequencies of 10 GHz and 20 GHz to measure relative permittivity and loss tangent of low permittivity materials, respectively. The results have been confirmed by comparing the measurements with those of thick films fabricated on a quartz substrate. This paper substantiates the validity of performing non-destructive measurements of the complex permittivity of thin polymer films which was not previously possible with the split-post dielectric resonator technique. A detailed error analysis of the measurement procedure is also reported in this paper.