Search results

This paper reports on thermal strain analysis of integrated circuit (IC) packages using the optical, atomic force microscope (AFM), and scanning electron microscope (SEM) Moiré methods. The advantages and disadvantages of a full field optical Moiré, a micro‐optical Moiré, AFM Moiré, and SEM Moiré methods are compared. The full field Moiré interferometry is used to investigate the deformations and strains induced by thermal loading in various packages at the macrolevel. The micro Moiré interferometry is used to study the strains in the small solder joints. An optical Moiré interferometer with a mini thermal‐cycling chamber can be used for real time measurements of thermal deformations and strains of IC packages under thermal testing. Furthermore, the novel methods, AFM Moiré and SEM Moiré, can be also utilized to measure thermally induced deformations and strains of IC packages conveniently using the equipment that is commonly and primarily used for many other applications.

The areal (surface area density of bits) storage density of magnetic hard disks is continually increasing, with typical available commercial storage densities being around 10Gbits/in². It is predicted that densities in excess of 40Gbits/in² will be possible before the year 2003. A number of key issues arise from this development, such as the need to determine and control accurately the dynamic flying height (z‐axis) of the read‐write head, which is affected by the apparent distortion of the disk surface due to rotation‐induced disk resonance. As a result of the increasing storage density the positional control of the head in the plane of the disk (x‐y plane) also becomes more critical. This paper deals generally, but with a particular emphasis on optical and piezoelectric sensors used in our laboratory for characterisation of storage media and systems.

This paper reports on a study of the scanning electron microscope (SEM) Moiré method. Tests were carried out by rotating the specimen grating slightly with respect to the electron scanning raster lines, to verify that the Moiré images captured were really due to the interference between specimen and reference gratings. The experimental results coincided well with the calculated theoretical values and with small measurement errors. Then, the shear strains experienced by the solder joints of a flip‐chip ball grid array specimen were investigated using the SEM Moiré method. The results were compared with those obtained using the optical Moiré method.

Polymeric materials have gained a wide theoretical interest and practical application in sensor technology. They can be used for very different purposes and may offer unique possibilities. The paper gives a broad summary about the sensor structures and sensing polymer films used in a wide variety of sensors. Finally, the present status and perspectives as well as the advantages of specific polymer based sensors are summarised.

The purpose of this paper is to present a novel method to investigate the microscopic mechanism of the oil film under the pure squeeze elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) motion. An optical EHL squeeze tester is used to explore the effects of squeeze velocity, load, temperature, and lubricant viscosity on the dimple film thickness that occurs when a ball approaches a flat plate covered by a thin layer of oil.

The grayscale interferometric technique was used to study the thickness of the lubricating film in an EHL point contact. The light source was a He‐Ne laser. Through the transparent optical glass and by means of optical interference, the interference fringe patterns of the contact region were observed by a charge‐coupled device camera recording. The two elastic bodies were a sapphire disk and a steel ball. The contact was lubricated with paraffin‐based oil.

Results show that increasing the squeeze speed, load, viscosity, and decreasing the temperature, make the dimple deeper, and the contact area increases. Moreover, as the squeeze speed and load decrease and temperature increases, the fluidity of the lubricant increases and less time is needed to extrude. The maximum thickness of the dimple increases with increasing squeeze speed, load, lubricant viscosity, and decreasing temperature. The greatest effect of pure squeeze EHL motion is found with squeeze velocity, followed by load, and then temperature for the same lubricant viscosity.

The paper usefully describes the use of a self‐development optical EHL squeeze tester to explore the effects of temperature, squeeze velocity, load, and lubricant viscosity on the dimple film thickness which occurs between two components approaching each other.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a methodology to quantify the error on wear volume evaluation using optical interferometry with image analysis (OI+IA), to establish a lower threshold for wear mapping in practical applications.

A three-dimensional surface wear map is quantified by measuring the same area of a surface before and after a wear process using optical interferometry. Then, by subtracting the matching images, the wear map (volume of wear) is obtained. To access the error related to wear mapping, the difference between several consecutive measurements of the same unworn surface was performed and deeply investigated.

The paper shows that the difference between two consecutive measurements of the same unworn surface, which ideally should be zero, is not. Thus, the magnitude of this “wear map” is the error. The main causes of such uncertainties are because of sample motion in a subpixel scale; a combination between surface roughness with the selected resolution; and numerical errors on the relocation process that is used to match the surfaces before subtracting them.

The proposed methodology allows one to define the lower threshold for wear map analysis using OI+IA. To know the limitation of OI+IA for wear mapping prevents misevaluation of the so-called almost-zero-wear.

This paper covers and identifies main uncertainties and numerical errors related to optical interferometry assisted by image analysis for wear mapping. Several other papers deal with uncertainties of OI; however, this paper proposes a simple methodology to evaluate the lower threshold for wear mapping.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-08-2019-0354

This paper discusses some of the general methods by which laser light has been used in engineering measurement. Some objectives set for optical measurement in this field are high repeatability, good resolution and employment of non‐contacting equipment, in the sense of both light source and detector being some tens of millimetres away from the object avoiding obstruction to other processes.

In this paper, experimental design techniques are utilized to understand sources of variation in an optical fiber sensor design and development project in a university research setting. Application of the Taguchi method of robust design assisted fiber optic sensor development in a cost‐effective and timely manner. According to the analysis, compensation of the source of the variation identified in the experimental design results was achieved on a new design concept of a multiplexed optical fiber sensor. The experimental results and conclusions not only are suitable for this sensor structure, but also are useful for other fiber optic sensors based on the technique of Fabry‐Perot interferometry.

To illustrate the importance of nanometrology, the discipline of metrology at the nanoscale, and to describe the techniques involved.

This firstly highlights the importance of nanometrology and considers some future applications with particularly demanding metrological requirements. The main techniques used to characterise nanoscale devices are described. Research and the activities of certain national metrology institutes are discussed.

This illustrates that nanometrology is a critical discipline that will underpin the nanotechnology revolution. It shows that a range of techniques exist for characterising nanomaterials and devices, although most are costly and complex. It further shows that nanometrology developments are underway on a global scale.

This paper demonstrates the importance of nanometrology and describes in detail the techniques used.

The failure of copper‐plated holes in dielectric laminates during thermal cycling is a serious problem for the electronics industry. The large difference in out‐of‐plane thermal expansion between the dielectric laminate and the copper plating can cause the copper plating to deform and fail as the board is thermally cycled. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of using electro‐optic holographic interferometry (EOHI) to measure deformation around plated holes and to evaluate methods for estimating the stress in the barrel plating. It was demonstrated that EOHI was more than adequate to resolve the out‐of‐plane thermally induced displacement field around an array of plated‐through holes. The displacement sensitivity was better than ±10 nm with high spatial resolution (92 ?m horizontally and 75 ?m vertically).The expansion was reasonably linear from 30°C to 120°C. The deformation around the individual holes was not axisymmetric. It is suggested that the method for estimating barrel stresses may be too sensitive to thickness and architecture variations in the pad for reliable stress estimates. An alternative scheme for estimation of barrel stresses based on thermal strain energy evaluation is described.