TEMPOSCOPY

A large portion of global power consumption is now lost in the heat dissipation of integrated circuits. Experimental determination of temperature and thermal conductivity at the nanoscale is a fundamental need to optimize thermal transport in microelectronic components, reduce their consumption and improve their performance and reliability. The design of the power components, in particular, must incorporate very important thermal constraints. Reliable scaling methods characteristic of the components are necessary to determine in particular the source of the hot spots impacting the service life of the components, as well as to determine, more fundamentally, the thermal properties of the materials in the form of very thin layers or nanostructured. However, despite the growth of SThM (Scanning Thermal Microscopy), such a characterization tool does not exist in a fully satisfactory manner and lacks in the microelectronics industry that seeks to determine the best thermal characterization techniques. In this project, we develop an unconventional nanoscale imaging technique by coupling spectroscopy and nanoscopy, thus avoiding the direct measurement of temperature. To carry it out, this consortium brings together strong skills (1) in instrumentation, (2) in optical and thermal modeling, and in associating (3) the "thermal management" R & D team of a major player in the microelectronics industry. The performance of the approach will be compared to measurement series already obtained in SThM.