Using thermoreflectance microscopy and a lock-in detection technique with a
CCD camera, we have designed a system which is able to deliver quantitativ
e submicronic thermal images. A careful choice of the illumination waveleng
th permits to optimize the thermoreflectance signal and to highlight the he
ating in chosen parts of the sample. A calibration conducted on various mat
erials with a thermocouple delivers images of the absolute temperature of i
ntegrated circuits working at frequencies between 0.25 Hz and 5 MHz, which
allows for both static and dynamic characterization.