ELITE (Enhanced Lock-in Thermal Emission) for Microelectronics
Our ELITE system for microelectronic devices is typically built up of
- a high-performance cooled IR camera with microscopic lens(es),
- a control unit with adapted software and
- a matched voltage source for thermal excitation of the devices.
Excellent thermal resolution
Faulty microelectronic devices often show regions with locally increased power dissipation. But the temperaturetemperature
Measure of thermal energy density increase caused by these defects is often very small in today's electronic devices (< 1-2 mK). The temperaturetemperature
Measure of thermal energy density resolution of the most sensitive cooled IR cameras is about 10 - 30 mK and thus significantly higher. However, to detect defects in electronic devices which cause a temperaturetemperature
Measure of thermal energy density rise < 1 mK the lock-in principle is used.
The lock-in principle increases the temperaturetemperature
Measure of thermal energy density resolution by periodic stimulation of the devices (e.g. by voltage or light sources), recording the IR image data over several periods and calculating a result signal (so called lock-in IR thermography). Thus, by a prolonged measurement time the temperaturetemperature
Measure of thermal energy density resolution can be significantly incresed: from < 1 mK after some seconds to up to < 10 µK after some hours. Depending on the device characteristics 10 µK correspond to a local power dissipation of approx. 1-10 µW.
Low measurement time
In contrast to many other systems the lock-in correlations (phase and amplitude) are calculated for every pixel in real-time, i.e. already during the image acquisition. This does not only reduce the average measurement time but also enables production-integrated testing operation.
High spatial resolution
In combination with special lenses and devices the spatial resolution of IR camera systems from Thermosensorik is 1 µm - 5 µm. But with the help of lock-in technology also defects in nanometer scale can be detected as the thermal diffusion acts as defect magnification. Therefore, the ELITE system from Thermosensorik GmbH is especially well-suited for detection of small defects with very low dissipated power frequently seen in microelectronic devices and solar cells.