Accessories Support Thermal Management for ICs

April 16, 2012. Ironwood Electronics announced that its new high-performance thermal socket lid—the TSL-ST-01—allows any IC devices to be placed inside any socket and operated at the IC's extreme temperature to determine its thermal capability. The thermal socket lid and associated control system enable temperature control of IC devices during thermal characterization using direct thermal contact technology that provides accurate and stable temperatures on IC resulting in precise characterization.

The three main components of the thermal-management system are the thermal socket lid, the chiller, and the controller. The chiller supplies chilled liquid to the thermal socket lid. The controller has a constant feedback to monitor the thermal socket lid and supply the necessary electrical input to accurately control the temperature.

The thermal socket lid has two main functions. One is to transfer heat to the IC device and the other is to compress the IC device on the interconnect unit. The thermal socket lid along with the control system precisely controls the temperature of the IC while it is being tested. Thermal socket lid replaces actual socket lid on top of a test socket. The thermal socket lid has replaceable compression plate to accommodate various IC sizes.

An additional accessory called a socket frame is needed to interface thermal socket lid to the socket body. In addition to hardware, the vendor also provides software that enables more features than just representing the front panel of the controller by itself. The thermal management system also has an easy to use graphical user interface (GUI). Features include the ability to set a temperature, tune the system, change and save configurations setting, log data and run custom scripts.

Pricing for the TSL-ST-01 in unit quantities is $3987.

www.ironwoodelectronics.com/products/sockets/tsl.cfm

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