IOP PUBLISHING JOURNAL OF PHYSICS D: APPLIED PHYSICS J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 42 (2009) 143001 (20pp) doi:10.1088/0022-3727/42/14/143001 TOPICAL REVIEW CCD-based thermoreflectance microscopy: principles and applications M Farzaneh 1,8 , K Maize 2 ,DL¨ uerßen 3,4,9 , J A Summers 3 , P M Mayer 4,10 , P E Raad 5,6 , K P Pipe 7 , A Shakouri 2 , R J Ram 4 and Janice A Hudgings 3 1 Department of Physics, Kenyon College, Gambier, OH 43022, USA 2 Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA 3 Department of Physics, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA 01075, USA 4 Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA 5 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275, USA 6 TMX Scientific, Inc., Dallas, TX 75024, USA 7 Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA E-mail: farzanehm@kenyon.edu Received 23 February 2009, in final form 5 May 2009 Published 29 June 2009 Online at stacks.iop.org/JPhysD/42/143001 Abstract CCD-based thermoreflectance microscopy has emerged as a high resolution, non-contact imaging technique for thermal profiling and performance and reliability analysis of numerous electronic and optoelectronic devices at the micro-scale. This thermography technique, which is based on measuring the relative change in reflectivity of the device surface as a function of change in temperature, provides high-resolution thermal images that are useful for hot spot detection and failure analysis, mapping of temperature distribution, measurement of thermal transient, optical characterization of photonic devices and measurement of thermal conductivity in thin films. In this paper we review the basic physical principle behind thermoreflectance as a thermography tool, discuss the experimental setup, resolutions achieved, signal processing procedures and calibration techniques, and review the current applications of CCD-based thermoreflectance microscopy in various devices. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version) 1. Introduction One of the biggest challenges in operation of electronic and optoelectronic devices and integrated circuits (ICs) is the generation of excess heat and increase in temperature under operating conditions. This can cause the loss of reliability, affect the performance or result in catastrophic failure of the device [1]. Additionally, by miniaturization and monolithic integration of sub-micrometre devices on a chip, access to individual elements of an IC becomes restricted, 8 Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed. 9 Current address: Oxford Gene Technology, Oxford OX5 1PF, UK. 10 Current address: Physical Sciences Inc., 20 New England Business Center, Andover, MA 01810, USA. which renders the characterization of these components difficult. Understanding the temperature distribution and thermal characteristics of a device is an important step in thermal management and improving device performance; in addition, thermal profiling can be used to extract material parameters and to characterize the optical performance of photonic ICs. Ultimately this knowledge can lead to better device designs and chip layouts. Several thermography techniques have been used for temperature measurement of micrometre and sub-micrometre electronics and optoelectronic devices. Among them, infrared (IR) thermometry is perhaps the most widely used technique for temperature measurements of electronic devices, particularly ICs [2]. IR thermometry is based on determining 0022-3727/09/143001+20$30.00 1 © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK