A Sliding-Window Principal Component thermography reconstruction approach for enhancement and identification of electronic components internal structure

Abstract

Electronic supply chain vulnerability has been threatened by counterfeits for decades and as a result, the authentication and quality of Electronic Components (ECs) are highly valued by stakeholders for safety-critical industrial systems. Thermography Nondestructive Testing (NDT), offering a rapid inspection while covering a large area within a short time frame, is a promising technique to inspect the integrity of ECs. However, recognising the internal structural layout directly through a packaged EC from thermography images is still a challenge due to its sealed and cramped structure. In this research, we propose a Pulsed Thermography (PT) based data analysis method for enhancement and identification of the layout of die and lead frame in ECs. The proposed solution combines the Sliding Window (SW) concept, Thermographic Signal Reconstruction (TSR) and Principal Component Thermographic (PCT) technique, named SWPCT, to enhance the contrast of die, die substrate and lead frame. Compared to the conventional full-scale PT image analysis, the proposed method presents its superior sensitivity in small thermal features by reducing the spatial thermal information redundancy benefiting from the sliding window PCT analysis. It overcomes the structural thermograms obstruction from the thick packaging, reveals the hidden die and lead frame layout and suppresses the noise simultaneously. By selecting a proper window size, this paper reveals that SWPCT can reconstruct the position and dimension of die and die substrate in ECs, and spatially distinguish the lead frame layout. Two groups of typical OpAmps chip samples with internal structure diversity (X-ray observed) were tested using PT to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Simulation data were also used to verify this approach. This research could unlock the challenge of thermography-based inspection for key internal structure in the encapsulated integrated components.