The study of thermal phenomena in microdevices has attracted significant attention recently. The interdisciplinary nature of this topic, however, makes it very difficult for researchers to fully understand details of research results presented in journal articles. For many researchers intending to be active in this field, therefore, a more comprehensive treatment, complete with sufficient background information, is urgently needed.
Advances in semiconductor device technology render the thermal characterization and design of ICs increasingly more important. The present book discusses experimental and theoretical studies of heat transfer in transistors and interconnects. A novel optical thermometry technique captures temperature fields with high temporal and spatial failures in devices that are subjected to electrical overstress (EOS) and electrostatic discharge (ESD). Also reported are techniques for determining the thermal transport properties of dielectric passivation layers and ultra-thin silicon-on-insulator (SOI) layers. Theoretical analysis on the data yields insight into the dependence of thermal properties on film processing conditions. The techniques and data presented here will greatly aid the thermal engineering of interconnects and transistors.