This paper investigates a new method for quantitative nanoscale thermal imaging of electronic devices. Different from previous works that utilized a thermal sensor fabricated on a scanning probe to obtain surface thermal images, the current approach employs a tunneling thermocouple made of a metal tip and an ultra-thin metal film deposited on the sample surface. The metal tip has a negligible Seebeck coefficient; while the metal film can be Bi2Te3 or a semiconducting polymer that has very high Seebeck coefficient and low thermal conductivity. Unlike the probe with a built-in thermal sensor, the measured thermoelectric voltage by the tunneling thermocouple is not affected by the tip-sample contact thermal resistance and air conduction, allowing quantitative temperature measurement with a spatial resolution limited by the metal film thickness, which can be 10–20 nm. We have tested the new approach using Ir or Pt-Ir -coated atomic force microscope (AFM) tips to obtain the surface temperature profiles of interconnect structures coated with a thin Cr film. The measured surface temperature gradient is larger and the maximum measured temperature is 60% higher than the corresponding values obtained by a thermal probe with a built-in thermocouple fabricated at the tip end. The two thermal imaging methods are currently being used to measure temperature distribution on the cross section of a 130 nm-technology silicon-on-insulator field-effect transistor.
Skip Nav Destination
ASME 2002 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition
November 17–22, 2002
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Conference Sponsors:
- Heat Transfer Division
ISBN:
0-7918-3638-X
PROCEEDINGS PAPER
Nanoscale Quantitative Thermal Imaging of Electronic Devices
Jianhua Zhou,
Jianhua Zhou
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
Search for other works by this author on:
Choongho Yu,
Choongho Yu
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
Search for other works by this author on:
Qing Hao,
Qing Hao
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
Search for other works by this author on:
Dohyung Kim,
Dohyung Kim
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
Search for other works by this author on:
Li Shi
Li Shi
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
Search for other works by this author on:
Jianhua Zhou
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
Choongho Yu
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
Qing Hao
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
Dohyung Kim
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
Li Shi
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
Paper No:
IMECE2002-32112, pp. 23-29; 7 pages
Published Online:
June 3, 2008
Citation
Zhou, J, Yu, C, Hao, Q, Kim, D, & Shi, L. "Nanoscale Quantitative Thermal Imaging of Electronic Devices." Proceedings of the ASME 2002 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition. Heat Transfer, Volume 7. New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. November 17–22, 2002. pp. 23-29. ASME. https://doi.org/10.1115/IMECE2002-32112
Download citation file:
9
Views
Related Proceedings Papers
Related Articles
Microscale and Nanoscale Thermal Characterization Techniques
J. Electron. Packag (December,2008)
Nanoscale Temperature Distributions Measured by Scanning Joule Expansion Microscopy
J. Heat Transfer (May,1998)
Short-Time-Scale Thermal Mapping of Microdevices Using a Scanning Thermoreflectance Technique
J. Heat Transfer (May,1998)
Related Chapters
Resistance Mythology
Hot Air Rises and Heat Sinks: Everything You Know about Cooling Electronics Is Wrong
Spice Model on High Frequency Vibration for CMUT Application
International Conference on Mechanical and Electrical Technology, 3rd, (ICMET-China 2011), Volumes 1–3
EVALUATION OF THERMAL PROBE COOLING EFFECT BASED ON PIPELINE PARALLEL OPTICAL CABLE
Pipeline Integrity Management Under Geohazard Conditions (PIMG)