Calculating Ohms-cm, Ohms-per-square, or Sample Thickness When

Two of the Three are Known

and
What Constitutes a Thin Film as Opposed to a Bulk Material?
 The term ohms-cm ("ohms centimeter") refers to the measurement of the "volume" resistivity (also known as "bulk"
resistivity) of a semiconductive material. The value in ohms-cm is the inherent resistance of a given material regardless of
the shape or size. Many materials that are thick or relatively large such as silicon ingots (as opposed to a thin film or
layer), can be measured using a four point probe to detemine the volume resistivity. Sheet resistance is expressed as
"ohms-per-square" and it is used when measuring a layer or thin film of a semi-conductive material. The determination of
what consititues a thin film is based upon the relationship between one of the four point probe tip spacings and the
thickness of the layer. The sheet resistance of a given material will change depending on the thickness of the layer. The
following briefly explains how to calculate sheet resistance, volume resistivity, and thin film thickness if only two of these
three properties are known.

Sheet resistance (ohms-per-square) multiplied times the thickness of the material in centimeters, equals the
volume resistivity (ohms-cm).

Answers to questions, by John Clark, C. Eng, M.I.Mech.E., F.B.H.I., Founder of Jandel Engineering Ltd.

Q.How thick can a sample be and have it still be measured as a thin film, express in ohms-per-square? In other words, at
what point is a sample so thick that it is no longer valid to measure it as a thin film?

A. When the thickness exceeds 5/8 (62.5%) of the spacing between two needles - after which sheet resistance needs
more than 1% correction. So, 0.625mm (625 microns) for a probe head with 1mm needle spacing.

Q. If I am measuring a thick material to determine volume resistivity expressed in ohms-cm, how thick must a sample be
so that it can be considered a semi-infinite volume for which I do not need to apply a correction factor?

A. If the thickness is equal or greater than five times the probe spacing, the correction factor to be applied to the formula
resistivity(rho) = 2 x pi x s x V/I is less than 0.1%

Q. I have heard that the calculations for sheets resistance still apply at sample thicknesses of up to 40% of the tip spacing
between two pins, however, this information is saying that it is okay up to 62.5%, which means wafers up to 625 microns
thick can be measured using sheet resistance calculations. Don't most companies use volume resistance measurements
when measuring bare silicon wafers, most of which are about 550 microns thick?

A. It is a question of what you consider to be okay. From the graph at http://www.fourpointprobes.com/page16.pdf we can
see that at t/s = 0.625 the correction is 0.9898 - effectively 0.99 and within 1%. Less than 40% of the tip spacing and the
measurements need no correction. I think most companies measure volume resistance of their wafers, but not by using a
volume resistance equation - this is why it is necessary to know the thickness of the wafers - if they were using the volume
resistance equation they would not need to know the wafer thickness. If one has a unit that assumes wafer thickness of
550 microns it can measure sheet resistance and multiply its result by 0.055 to give volume resistance. From the graph at
http://www.fourpointprobes.com/page14.pdf it would appear that if you measure bulk on a 550 micron wafer with a
1.591mm probe head then t/s = 0.34 and a correction of 0.25 would need to be applied.