Thermography measurement system for conducting thermal characterization of integrated circuits

An improved method for conducting a three-dimensional thermal characterization of an integrated circuit the method comprising:

• determining the thermoreflectance coefficient of an integrated circuit material;
• activating the integrated circuit;
• establishing an illumination wavelength that maximizes the thermoreflectance coefficient for the integrated circuit material;
• illuminating the integrated circuit material;
• measuring the illumination energy reflected from the surface of the integrated circuit material;
• determining a two-dimensional temperature field for the illuminated surface of the integrated circuit material;
• and
• computing a three-dimensional temperature characterization for a volume of the integrated circuit utilizing the two-dimensional temperature field.

An improved method for conducting a three-dimensional thermal characterization of an integrated circuit, the method comprising:

• (a) determining the thermoreflectance coefficient of an integrated circuit material;
• (b) positioning the integrated circuit beneath an illuminating device;
• (c) activating the integrated circuit at a predetermined modulation frequency;
• (d) establishing an illumination wavelength that maximizes the thermoreflectance coefficient of the material;
• (e) illuminating a spot on the surface of the integrated circuit material;
• (f) measuring the illumination energy reflected from the surface of the integrated circuit material;
• (g) moving the integrated circuit horizontally with respect to the illumination source so as to illuminate a different spot on the integrated circuit material;
• (h) repeating steps (e) through (g) as necessary to measure substantially the entire surface of the integrated circuit;
• (i) determining a two-dimensional temperature field for the illuminated surface of the integrated circuit material;
• and
• (j) computing a three-dimensional temperature characterization for a volume of the integrated circuit utilizing the two-dimensional temperature field.