Dynamic surface temperature measurements in ICs

Measuring techniques of the die surface temperature in integrated circuits are reported as very appropriate for failure analysis, for thermal characterization, and for testing modern devices. The paper is arranged as a survey of techniques oriented towards measuring the temperature dynamics of the circuit surface and presenting and discussing both the merits and drawbacks of each technique with regard to the accuracy, reliability and efficiency of the measurements. Two methods are presented in detail: laser probing methods, based on interferometry and thermoreflectance, and embedded CMOS circuit sensors. For these techniques, the physical principles, the state of the art in figures of merit and some application examples are presented.