What is the TRM250 Thermoreflectance Microscope?

The TRM250 is a thermoreflectance microscope designed for temperature imaging and thermal characterization using thermoreflectance microscopy.

What is thermoreflectance microscopy used for?

Thermoreflectance microscopy is used to image and analyze temperature variations on the surface of microelectronic and semiconductor devices by measuring changes in optical reflectance associated with temperature changes.

What magnifications are available on the TRM250?

The TRM250 supports selectable objective lenses with magnifications of 5x, 10x, 20x, 50x, and 100x, providing different fields of view and spatial scales for temperature imaging.

What types of applications can benefit from the TRM250?

The TRM250 can support thermal characterization of semiconductor devices, microelectronics, electronic components, and other applications where localized temperature behavior needs to be investigated.

What information can temperature imaging provide?

Temperature imaging can provide spatial information about localized heating and temperature variations, helping researchers and engineers investigate thermal behavior and identify areas of interest in microelectronic devices.

TRM250 Thermoreflectance Microscope

The TRM250 is a thermal analysis imaging microscope for research that incorporates thermal reflection imaging technology developed by a domestic government-funded research institute. It provides excellent thermal imaging resolution by acquiring thermal image information through a high-sensitivity optical microscopy method that measures the distribution of light reflectance changes according to temperature variations on the surface or specific internal surfaces of a sample. As a new technique capable of observing the thermal distribution of a sample with sub-micrometer spatial resolution—which was unattainable with conventional thermal imaging methods—it will serve as a new analytical tool for the thermal analysis of microelectronic circuits.

Product Features

TRM250 is a thermoreflectance microscope that provides a microscopic-resolution thermal image to analyze how the electric circuits react to the thermal input. The following features are configured with TRM250.

Dedicated probe station with multi-axis stages
Thermoreflectance image with various wavelengths of the light source
Dedicated high-speed heating/cooling device
Transient thermal analysis imaging
Customizing setup available

Principle of Thermal Microscope Imaging

The fundamental principle of thermo-reflectance microscopy is based on the physical phenomenon that the optical reflectivity changes with the temperature of the target sample. This principle indirectly measures the temperature by measuring the optical reflectivity with a microscope.
As the microscope is used for imaging, it can provide the sub-micrometer resolution of thermal imaging, which is very challenging to get from other thermal imaging devices such as an IR camera.

Application Fields & Sample Images

As the microelectronic devices used in semiconductors or displays become smaller and denser, heat analysis by the conventional IR-based thermal imaging method becomes restricted by its resolution limitation.
TRM250 provides an alternative solution for sub-micrometer resolution thermal images, which are not available with the conventional IR-based method.

Thermoelectric heating vacuum plate

Getting the target sample's reference images at specific temperatures is necessary to interpret the thermoreflectance image to the actual temperature information.
For this purpose, the thermoelectric heating vacuum plate is provided with TRM250. It uses a Peltier device and cooling fin structure for fast and accurate temperature control, and the software controls the heating/cooling temperature.
In the center of the heating plate is a hole for vacuum suction, which fixes the target sample by vacuum. A temperature sensor is embedded in the heating plate to monitor the temperature.

Transient thermal imaging

The reflectivity change at specific instances can be measured accurately by precise and timely control of the pulsed light source and imaging devices. It provides information on how temperature changes with time.
This transient thermal response is a unique characteristic available by the thermoreflectance microscope.

Specifications

Category	Specification	Value
Model	Model	TRM250
Objective lenses (Selectable)	Magnification	5x / 10x / 20x / 50x / 100x
	Working distance	34.0 / 33.5 / 20.0 / 13.0 / 6.0 mm
	Numerical aperture (N.A.)	0.14 / 0.28 / 0.42 / 0.55 / 0.70
Observation range (Field of view of thermal imaging)	Horizontal (H)	1330 / 655 / 332 / 133 / 66 μm
	Vertical (V)	1330 / 665 / 332 / 133 / 66 μm
Thermal imaging	Imaging sensors	Scientific CMOS
	Active imaging pixels	2048 × 2048 pixels
	Active thermal imaging pixels	1024 × 1024 pixels
	Spatial resolution (Lateral)	0.5 μm
	Thermal resolution	1 ˚C
Thermoreflectance imaging mode	Imaging mode	Steady state mode (FFT, 4-Bucket method) / Transient mode
	Time resolution in transient mode (FWHM)	50 nsec ~ 1 msec
Illumination	Light sources	Pulse LEDs
	Number of wavelengths	12
	Output power	120 ~ 2000 mW (wavelength dependent)
	Wavelength configuration	430, 455, 470, 505, 530, 565, 590, 617, 625, 660, 700, 730 nm: Default configuration – Customizable for other wavelengths
Thermoelectric heating plate	Heating range	RT to 110˚C
	Heating/Cooling rate (w/o sample)	2 min. to heat from RT to 90˚C; 5 min. to cool from 90˚C to RT
Data processing unit	Data processing unit	Dedicated PC
Power	Power-supply voltage	100 to 240 VAC, 50/60 Hz
	Current consumption	500 W max.