Lock-In IR-Thermography - A Novel Tool for Material and Device Characterization

A novel non-destructive and non-contacting technique for the spatially resolved detection of small leak-age currents in electronic devices and MOS materials is presented. Highly-sensitive lock-in infrared (IR-) thermography is used to localize leak-age current induced temperature variations down to 10 muK at a lateral resolution down to 5 mum. Leakage currents of about 1 mA can be localized within seconds and some muA may be detected after less than 1 h measurement.