Laser-assisted device alteration (LADA) is an established technique used to identify critical speed paths in integrated circuits. LADA can reveal the physical location of a speed path, but not the timing of the speed path. This paper describes the root cause analysis benefits of 1064nm time resolved LADA (TR-LADA) with a picosecond laser. It shows several examples of how picosecond TR-LADA has complemented the existing fault isolation toolset and has allowed for quicker resolution of design and manufacturing issues. The paper explains how TR-LADA increases the LADA localization resolution by eliminating the well interaction, provides the timing of the event detected by LADA, indicates the propagation direction of the critical signals detected by LADA, allows the analyst to infer the logic values of the critical signals, and separates multiple interactions occurring at the same site for better understanding of the critical signals.

Spray cooling is implemented on an engineering tool for Time Resolved Emission measurements using a silicon solid immersion lens to achieve high spatial resolution and for probing high heat flux devices. Thermal performance is characterized using a thermal test vehicle consisting of a 4x3 array of cells each with a heater element and a thermal diode to monitor the temperature within the cell. The flip-chip packaged TTV is operated to achieve uniform heat flux across the die. The temperature distribution across the die is measured on the 4x3 grid of the die for various heat loads up to 180 W with corresponding heat flux of 204 W/cm2. Using water as coolant the maximum temperature differential across the die was about 30 °C while keeping the maximum junction temperature below 95 °C and at a heat flux of 200 W/cm2. Details of the thermal performance of spray cooling system as a function of flow rate, coolant