FINER: Future thermal Imaging with Nanometre Enhanced Resolution

FINER：具有纳米增强分辨率的未来热成像

• 批准号: EP/V057626/1
• 负责人: Martin Kuball
• 金额: $ 88.06万
• 依托单位: University of Bristol
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FV057626%2F1
• 关键词: FINER; Future; thermal; Imaging; Nanometre

The ever-increasing combined carbon footprint of information and communications technology (ICT) is unsustainable - more efficient devices must be developed. Thermal characterisation, which feeds into design optimisation, is one of the key steps for ensuring the efficiency and reliable operation of the new electronic devices being developed. However, accurately measuring the temperature of leading-edge electronic devices is becoming increasingly difficult or impossible because of their small size, and that is the challenge addressed in this proposal. Wide bandgap electronic devices including GaN have great proven potential for the next generation of sustainable ICT and power electronics, contributing to the needed carbon emissions reduction. Miniaturization is one of the routes to further increase the efficiency and performance of wide bandgap electronic devices, decreasing the active region size to <200 nm, similar to the technology pathway that silicon (Si) electronics has taken, using concepts such as the FinFET. Thermal management, which is the efficient extraction of waste heat from the active part of the device, is especially important for achieving efficient reliable nanoscale electronic devices; thermal resistance increases as they are "scaled" to nanometre dimensions because of a thermal conductivity reduction and heat confinement in 3-D device structures, e.g. in a fin shape. While self-heating can be mitigated reasonably easily for lower power density Si FinFETs, it is potentially a significant roadblock for "scaled" wide bandgap devices which operate at enormous power densities. However there is currently no thermal imaging technique with a sufficiently high spatial resolution (e.g. Raman thermography has a diffraction limited resolution of about 0.5 micrometer, >10x the hotspot size) to be able to accurately measure the hotspot temperature of these novel nanoscale wide bandgap electronic devices. Instead we currently rely on complex electrothermal models to estimate the temperature of nanoscale devices, with inherent uncertainties - measurement is needed.A step change is required, namely a sub diffraction limit (super resolution) thermal imaging technique, which is addressed by the Future thermal Imaging with Nanometre Enhanced Resolution (FINER) project. We will develop a transformative nano quantum dot based thermal imaging (nQTI) technique to deliver nanometre resolution thermal imaging for the first time. To demonstrate the newly developed technique our application focus is on scaled wide bandgap electronic devices supplied by our national and international partners, however this technique will be widely applicable. Quantum dots are ideal for this application: They can be deposited as a nm-thickness film on the surface of the device being tested, and the emission colour is temperature dependent, which is what we exploit for thermal imaging. Structured Illumination Microscopy (SIM) and Stimulated Emission Depletion (STED) super-resolution techniques which were originally developed for fluorescence microscopy, but are presently unsuitable for thermal imaging, will be exploited to achieve a resolution as small as 50nm for nQTI. nQTI will enable nano-scale electrothermal models to be developed and experimentally verified. Accurate models will further our understanding of nano-scale self-heating and heat diffusion, feeding back into improved device designs and novel thermal management solutions. This work will be done at the Centre for Device Thermography and Reliability (CDTR) which has an international reputation for being at the forefront of high spatial and temporal resolution thermal imaging, pioneering Raman thermography. This expertise makes the CDTR ideally placed to deliver this project successfully. The generous industrial support for this programme demonstrates that there is a great need for this and their belief in our ability to successfully deliver it.

信息和通信技术(ICT)不断增加的综合碳足迹是不可持续的--必须开发更高效的设备。热特性是确保正在开发的新电子设备的效率和可靠运行的关键步骤之一，它是设计优化的基础。然而，精确测量尖端电子设备的温度正变得越来越困难或不可能，因为它们的尺寸很小，这就是本提案所要解决的挑战。包括GaN在内的宽禁带电子器件在下一代可持续ICT和电力电子方面具有巨大的潜力，有助于实现所需的碳减排。小型化是进一步提高宽带隙电子器件效率和性能的途径之一，利用FinFET等概念，将有源区尺寸减小到&lt；200 nm，类似于硅(Si)电子器件所采用的技术路线。热管理是从器件的有源部分高效地提取废热，对于实现高效可靠的纳米级电子器件尤其重要；由于热导率降低和3-D器件结构中的热限制(例如，鳍状)，热阻随着它们被“定标”到纳米尺寸而增加。虽然低功率密度的SiFinFET可以相当容易地减轻自热，但对于在巨大功率密度下工作的“规模化”宽禁带器件来说，这可能是一个重要的障碍。然而，目前还没有足够高的空间分辨率的热成像技术(例如，拉曼热像仪的衍射极限分辨率约为0.5微米，是热点尺寸的10倍)，能够准确测量这些新型纳米级宽带隙电子器件的热点温度。相反，我们目前依赖复杂的电热模型来估计纳米级设备的温度，具有内在的不确定性-需要测量。需要改变步长，即亚衍射极限(超分辨率)热成像技术，这是未来纳米增强分辨率热成像(FINER)项目的解决方案。我们将开发一种变革性的基于纳米量子点的热成像(NQTI)技术，首次提供纳米分辨率的热成像。为了展示这项新开发的技术，我们的应用重点是国内和国际合作伙伴提供的规模化宽带隙电子器件，但这项技术将得到广泛应用。量子点是这种应用的理想之选：它们可以作为纳米厚度的薄膜沉积在被测设备的表面，并且发射颜色与温度有关，这是我们用于热成像的方法。结构照明显微镜(SIM)和受激发射耗尽(STED)超分辨技术最初是为荧光显微镜而开发的，但现在不适合热成像，将被开发来实现nQTI的50 nm分辨率。NQTI将使纳米尺度的电热模型得以开发和实验验证。准确的模型将加深我们对纳米级自加热和热扩散的理解，反馈到改进的设备设计和新颖的热管理解决方案。这项工作将在设备热成像与可靠性中心(CDTR)进行，该中心因处于高空间和时间分辨率热成像的前沿而享誉国际，是拉曼热成像的先驱。这种专业知识使CDTR处于成功交付该项目的理想位置。工业界对这一方案的慷慨支持表明，非常需要这样做，而且他们相信我们有能力成功地实施这一方案。