Enhanced Lock-in Thermal Emission

Defective or underperforming semiconductor devices often show an anomalous distribution of the local power dissipation, leading to local temperature increases. The ELITE utilizes Lock-in IR Thermography (LIT) to accurately and efficiently locate these areas of interest.

Lock-in Thermography (LIT) is a form of dynamic IR thermography which provides a much better signal-to-noise ratio, increased sensitivity and higher feature resolution than steady-state thermography. LIT can be used in IC analysis to locate line shorts, ESD defects, oxide damage, defective transistors and diodes, and device latch-ups. LIT is performed in a natural ambient environment without requiring light-shielding boxes.

Features

• The highest sensitivity and highest pixel count (640x512 pixel) thermal emission system available in the market
  
• Real-time lock-in measurement
  
• Differential temperature resolution of < 1mK after a few seconds; < 10 uK after a few hours
  
• Contactless absolute temperature mapping
  
• Through-package and stacked die analysis
  
• Four position turret with custom lenses optimized for MWIR emission
  
• Available in a wide variety of flexible configurations

Stacked die analysis

Stacked-die present a unique challenge to the analyst. If each die is externally bonded, it may be possible to electrically test the interior die. However, if the stack uses Through Silicon Vias (TSVs), it is not possible to easily determine which die is hosting the failure. Whether dealing with a bonded or TSV die stack, LIT may be used to spatially locate defects in X, Y and Z deep within the die stack on fully packaged devices.

High spatial resolution

The higher the lock-in frequency, the higher the resulting spatial resolution. However, the higher frequency tends to reduce significantly the thermal emission to be detected. This is a limitation for many LIT systems. ELITE overcomes this limitation by offering a unique system architecture in which higher frequency LIT data can be accumulated for an "unlimited" amount of time. Data resolution improves the longer data acquisition continues.

Scaleable sensitivity by variation of measurement time

The longer the system acquires data, the better the sensitivity. This is particularly valuable when attempting to acquire data at very low power levels or when one must acquire data from a weak failure mode.

Options

The ELITE is completely configurable to meet our customers’ needs.  It is available as a portable standalone configuration or as an add-on to an existing probe station.

ELITE is available with either a single lens and camera configuration or with the flexibility of a 4-position turret.  A variety of custom, high-quality, MWIR microscope objectives are available including: 28mm wide angle, 1x, 2.5x, 5x, and 10x yield an effective magnification of 20x, coupled with the 15um pixel pitch of the 640 InSb camera..

The ELITE camera and lenses are provided by Thermosensorik GmbH.