Case Studies for Lock-in Thermography with Amplitude Modulated Radio Frequency Applied to Open Faults
Case Studies for Lock-in Thermography with Amplitude Modulated Radio Frequency Applied to Open Faults
Monday, November 17, 2025: 10:20 AM
2 (Pasadena Convention Center)
Summary:
The rapid innovations in advanced 2.5D and 3D packaging, complex interconnect schemes, and higher-performance power devices are creating unprecedented failure localization and analysis challenges. Lock-in IR thermography (LIT) is a technique increasingly used to accurately and efficiently locate these areas of interest and provide non-destructive 3D device insights. A variety of defects are detectable with LIT, such as power or line shorts, current leakage, and even resistive opens. However, sufficient thermal signal, even with high sensitivity systems, can be a challenge when detecting certain faults. An emerging application, using modulated radio frequency (RF) to generate a heat signature can be used to solve this problem and yield detailed localization information. In this study, we apply the method to several different open and leakage pathway cases and compare the conventional LIT results.
The rapid innovations in advanced 2.5D and 3D packaging, complex interconnect schemes, and higher-performance power devices are creating unprecedented failure localization and analysis challenges. Lock-in IR thermography (LIT) is a technique increasingly used to accurately and efficiently locate these areas of interest and provide non-destructive 3D device insights. A variety of defects are detectable with LIT, such as power or line shorts, current leakage, and even resistive opens. However, sufficient thermal signal, even with high sensitivity systems, can be a challenge when detecting certain faults. An emerging application, using modulated radio frequency (RF) to generate a heat signature can be used to solve this problem and yield detailed localization information. In this study, we apply the method to several different open and leakage pathway cases and compare the conventional LIT results.