Characterization of heat transfer in 3D CMOS structures using Sideband Scanning Thermal Wave Microscopy

2025/10/31 by Fonck, Valentin, Razeghi, Mohammadali, Spièce, Jean +5
Engineering · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications #Other Condensed Matter (cond-mat.other) #Thermal properties of materials #Thermography and Photoacoustic Techniques

paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2510.27529

openalex publication_date 2025/10/31 · openalex created_date 2025/11/05 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

Efficient thermal management is critical for cryogenic CMOS circuits, where local heating can compromise device performance and qubit coherence. Understanding heat flow at the nanoscale in these multilayer architectures requires localized, high-resolution thermal probing techniques capable of accessing buried structures. Here, we introduce a sideband thermal wave detection scheme for Scanning Thermal Microscopy, S-STWM, to probe deeply buried heater structures within CMOS dies. By extracting the phase of propagating thermal waves, this method provides spatially resolved insight into heat dissipation pathways through complex multilayer structures. Our approach enables quantitative evaluation of thermal management strategies, informs the design of cryo-CMOS circuits, and establishes a foundation for in situ thermal characterization under cryogenic operating conditions.

Citations

• Experimental set-up for thermal measurements at the nanoscale using an SThM probe with niobium nitride thermometer
• Measurement of cryoelectronics heating using a local quantum dot thermometer in silicon
• CMOS on-chip thermometry at deep cryogenic temperatures
• Characterization and Modeling of Self-Heating in Nanometer Bulk-CMOS at Cryogenic Temperatures

Related

• Spatially Resolved Thermometry of Resistive Memory Devices
• Nanoscale resolution immersion scanning thermal microscopy
• High-throughput Parasitic-independent Probe Thermal Resistance Calibration for Robust Thermal Mapping with Scanning Thermal Microscopy
• Thermal Visualization of Buried Interfaces by Transient and Steady-State Responses of Time-Domain Thermoreflectance
• CMOS on-chip thermometry at deep cryogenic temperatures