Physical Optics and Electronics Group 1 . Nanoscale Thermal Imaging of Semiconductor Devices

Temperature profiling is of substantial interest in improving thermal design of thermoelectric, electronic and optoelectronic devices. We demonstrated previously the utility of thermal profiling using thermocouples as a non-invasive characterization method for various components of photonic integrated circuits, such as lasers [1] and absorbers [2]. By spatially profiling the heat exchange of a device with its environment, the optical distribution in the individual components, as well as a wide variety of intrinsic device parameters, can be precisely quantified over a wide range of operating conditions. While such studies are possible in principle using techniques such as spontaneous emission profiling, the advantage of thermal profiling is that the devices under study do not require any special processing, e.g., partial contact removal.