The terms micro-thermal analysis and micro-spectroscopic analysis are used to include any form of localized characterization or analysis combined with microscopy that uses a near-field thermal probe to exploit the benefits of using thermal excitation. Individual regions of a solid sample are selected by means of surface or sub-surface imaging (atomic force microscopy and/or scanning thermal microscopy), so as to add spatial discrimination to four well-established methods of chemical fingerprinting, namely thermomechanometry, calorimetry, spectroscopy and analytical pyrolysis. We begin by describing the state of the art of scanning microscopy that uses resistive thermal probes, followed by an account of the various techniques of micro-thermal analysis. Modern materials technology is increasingly concerned with the control of materials at the mesoscale. The ability to add an extra dimension of, say, chemical composition information to high-resolution microscopy, or microscopic information to spectroscopy, plays an increasingly useful part in applied research. Micro-thermal analysis is now being used commercially to visualize the spatial distribution of phases, components and contaminants in polymers, pharmaceuticals, foods, biological materials and electronic materials. This review outlines various applications that have been described in the literature to date, the topics ranging from multi-layer packaging materials and interphase regions in composites, to the use of the technique as a means of surface treatment.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0022-3727/34/9/201/pdf

Micro-thermal analysis: techniques and applications

Publisher Summary This chapter highlights noise as a measure of quality and reliability in electronic devices The chapter attempts to describe what mechanisms have been well established as a source of noise related to the defective or nonideal nature of electronic devices This chapter is devoted to an account of the success that has been obtained in using noise as a nondestructive indicator of reliability The chapter is mainly concerned with a review of the properties of noise and some of the general principles behind the specific mechanisms Noise arises from many possible defects so that monitoring this single quantity can detect the presence of one or more of many different defects It is, therefore, necessary to be careful in interpreting noise results to ensure that a correct mechanism is assigned to the noise, and even greater care is necessary in comparing noise results among different specimens, because the origins and characteristics of the noises may be completely different As many of the detailed mechanisms for the production of the excess noise are becoming understood, the use of noise as an analysis quantity can increase

Electrical Noise as a Measure of Quality and Reliability in Electronic Devices

The analysis of the degradation mechanisms that affect solid-state devices represents a key factor in the era of VLSI technology. This paper presents an overview of how the low-frequency noise measurement (LFNM) technique has been applied to the study of the most frequent causes of failure in integrated circuits and discrete components. After discussing noise and fluctuations in electron devices, we present some results obtained by applying LFNM to the analysis of some degradation mechanisms. Although several other causes of degradation are taken into consideration (ageing, radiation, hot electrons), the focus is on two specific failure mechanisms: electromigration in interconnect lines and ultra-thin oxide breakdown in MOS capacitors. Experience has highlighted the need for dedicated measurement systems, thus an entire section of the paper outlines both the instrumentation required and the reduction of the effects of spurious noise sources and external disturbances.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0022-3727/33/21/201/pdf

Low-frequency noise measurements as a characterization tool for degradation phenomena in solid-state devices

Noise as a diagnostic and prediction tool in reliability physics

Low-frequency electrical noise is well accepted as a very sensitive measure of the quality and reliability of electrical components and electronic devices. It shows changes in magnitude very much greater than in the static electrical properties. The excess noise is due to defects and non-ideality in the device. Although the excess noise is a general indicator of quality there can be many physical processes that could be involved. These noise contributions are additive and therefore not easy to distinguish so that the noise is not so valuable as a diagnostic tool. Also, there is not a detailed understanding of some noise sources, such as in some semiconductor devices. Recently devices have continued to become smaller in size so that the noise signal has become more significant compared to the real signal and the number of individual defects involved has become fewer. This has resulted in a growing trend to the study of the time varying signal rather than the noise spectral density. A review is given of the developments in the subject over the last few years.

B.K. Jones

Papers

Characterisation of electromigration damage by multiple electrical measurements

Electrical measurements as early indicators of electromigration failure

Excess noise as an indicator of digital integrated circuit reliability

Temperature and thermal conductivity modes of scanning probe microscopy for electromigration studies

Noise and DC characteristics of power silicon diodes