IR circuit board and IC failure detection

This paper describes research and development efforts in the use of infrared (IR) laser beams for detecting failures in integrated circuits resident on printed circuit boards. This work involves taking advantage of the transparency of the silicon substrate of ICs to radiation in the near infrared (NIR) spectrum to devise a non-invasive method for imaging the component circuitry of the IC. The implication is that a means to see into the physical structure of an integrated circuit can be created by using lasers tuned to these wavelengths. While the silicon substrate is transparent to the laser, the circuit paths and devices embedded within the substrate are readily visible since their metallic composition is opaque to laser energy at this wavelength. A laser test fixture consisting of a 1064 nm continuous wave laser, CCD camera, and image acquisition board is used to generate images from flip-chip integrated circuits. Multiresolution image processing techniques are then applied to the resulting images to identify potential defects.     

Spectroscopic diagnostics applicable to the UV and EUV spectra of astrophysical sources

A bibliography is provided of the most reliable emission and absorption line ratio diagnostic calculations currently available for application to the spectra of astrophysical sources in the UV and EUV wavelength region (50–3000 Å). References are listed containing diagnostics for species in the Li through P isoelectronic sequences, as well as the iron ions Feii-Fexxiii and nickel ions Nixvii-Nixxv. Also given is the wavelength range for which diagnostic calculations are presented in each reference, along with the type of diagnostic considered. These include, for example, emission line ratios for determining electron temperatures and densities, and absorption line diagnostics for evaluating hydrogen densities.     

Fe XVII X-ray lines in solar coronal plasmas

Calculated intensities of the Fe X-ray lines due to transitions 2p⁶ − 2p⁵3d lines (near 15 Å) and 2p⁶ − 2p⁵3s lines (near 17 Å) are compared with measured line intensities in solar and tokamak spectra. For the solar spectra, temperature T_e is obtained from the ratio of the Fe 16.776 Å line to a nearby Fe line. We find excellent agreement for all the major Fe line features in the 15–17 Å region except the Fe 15.015 Å line, the observed flux of which is less than the theoretical by a factor f. We find that f strongly depends on the heliocentric angle θ of the emitting region, being smallest (0.2) when the region is nearest Sun centre, but nearly 1 near the limb. Attributing this to resonance scattering, we are able to deduce the path length and electron density from the observations. Possible application to stellar active regions is given.