Scanning Infrared Microscopy Techniques for Semiconductor Thermal Analysis

Because failure rates of component piece parts, particularly integrated circuits, increase as the ambient temperature increases, the component designer is committed to design his product to meet the input and output requirements with minimum thermal dissipation. Quantitative and qualitative thermal distribution information available through scanning infrared microscopy can support his objective. The failure analyst is directed to subtle failure sites which are made evident by abnormal thermal distributions. Thermal resistance studies involving a variety of normal production materials and processes are possible. Thermal resistance has been shown to be a variable dependent upon die area. Thermal resistance also varies depending upon a multitude of component manufacturing variables. The data is most meaningful when measured using standard product drawn from shippable lots, which is easily accomplished using a scanning infrared microscope. The scanning infrared microscope has been found to be an effective tool for solving. thermal management problems in semiconductor components. The techniques described here can be modified and extended to meet the thermal management challenges in all sectors of the electronics industry.