The present disclosure relates to a method for determining a characteristic of a monitored layer of an integrated chip structure. In some embodiments, the method may be performed by forming an integrated chip structure over a substrate. The method further includes forming a monitor layer over the integrated chip structure. The monitor layer includes a plurality of monitor pads. The method also includes measuring an electrical property between a set of monitor pads of the plurality of monitor pads. The set of monitor pads are laterally spaced apart by a monitor pad distance. A characteristic of a region of the integrated chip structure underlying the monitor pad distance between the set of monitor pads is determined based on the measured electrical property.