IR thermography and FEM simulation analysis of on-chip temperature during thermal-cycling power-metal reliability testing using in situ heated structures

A calibrated system for power metal reliability analysis in smart power technology chips is presented. This system is mainly designed for temperature evaluation during temperature-cycling experiments. Infrared camera measurements under single shot high energy pulses are correlated with electro-thermal finite element simulation and failure analysis. A special test structure, containing poly-silicon heaters, is used to produce thermal stress. The location of a hot spot agrees well with the position of degraded power metal.