Design issues of a multi-functional intelligent thermal test die

Thermal characterization of IC packages and packaging technologies is becom ing a key task in thermal engineering. To support this by measurements we d eveloped a family of thermal test chips that allows a wide range of possibl e applications. Our chips are based on the same basic cell that is mainly c overed by dissipating resistors and also contains a frequency output temper ature sensor. These basic cells are organized into arrays of different size . The arrays are designed so that larger arrays can also be built for tilin g up larger package cavities. The first member of the family, TMC81 has bee n manufactured and measurements show that the goals aimed at the design hav e been achieved.