Visualizing the electromagnetic emission at the surface of ICs

In the last years, there have been significant advances in the characterization of the electromagnetic emission and immunity of integrated circuits (ICs). This paper mainly focuses on a very important measurement method to characterize the electromagnetic emission of integrated circuits. The so-called "surface scan method", enables the visualization of the actual magnetic- as well as the electric field component at the surface of an IC. The most effective way of handling electromagnetic compatibility problems already at IC-level is to pinpoint the source of the electromagnetic emission. It is shown how this measurement method can be used to find the source of the unwanted electromagnetic emission of an IC.