Thermal transient characterisation of complex circuits

Thermal measurement of simple components (transistors, diodes) is a well-defined task. However, power steps applied on complex structures such as smart-power devices, RAM modules or voltage regulators cause electric transients in the millisecond order. As an interesting portion of thermal transients characterising the die attach quality of the chips lies in the mus range, proper measurement techniques have to be elaborated. In this paper we discuss measurement of monolithic integrated circuits, boards, subsystems and appliances with deep insight into structural details.