In this study, the effect of thermal cycling on defect generation, microstructure, and RF signal integrity of blind Cu through-silicon vias (TSVs) were investigated. Three different thermal cycling profiles were used; each differentiated by their peak cycling temperature (100 C, 150 C, 200 C) and the time needed to complete one cycle (cycle time). The study was performed on two Cu TSV wafer sam...

Failure mechanisms exposed by environmental accelerating testing methods such as thermal cycling or thermal shock test, may differ from those at the service operating conditions. While the device is heated up or cooled down evenly on its external surface during environmental testing, real operating powered devices experience temperature gradients caused by internal local heating, components’ di...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of silanes, thermal cycling and acid etching on the shear bond strength (SBS) of metallic brackets to feldspathic ceramic. Feldspathic ceramic cylinders (Groups 1, 2, 5 and 6) were etched for 60 s with 10% hydrofluoric acid and Groups 3, 4, 7 and 8, without acid etching. Two layers of silane Clearfil Ceramic Primer (CCP, Groups 1 to 4) and two la...

Thermoelectric modules experience performance reduction and mechanical failure due to thermomechanical stresses induced by thermal cycling. The present study subjects a thermoelectric module to thermal cycling and evaluates the evolution of its thermoelectric performance through measurements of the thermoelectric figure of merit, ZT, and its individual components. The Seebeck coefficient and th...

We compared flexural strength (FS) in four resin composites before and after three protocols for thermal cycling aging. Four resin composites were evaluated: Enamel Plus Hri, Gradia Direct Posterior, Grandioso, and Grandioso Flow. Sixty specimens (2 × 2 × 25 mm) were fabricated using a split metallic mold and light-cured for 30 s. The specimens were then randomly divided into four groups and te...

The frequency of extreme thermal events in temperate freshwater systems is expected to increase alongside global surface temperature. The Miramichi River, located in eastern Canada, is a prominent Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) river where water temperatures can exceed the proposed upper thermal limit for the species (~27°C). Current legislation closes the river to recreational angling when wate...

The origin of life has previously been modeled by biological heat engines driven by thermal cycling, caused by suspension in convecting water. Here more complex heat engines are invoked to explain the origin of animals in the thermal gradient above a submarine hydrothermal vent. Thermal cycling by a filamentous protein ‘thermotether’ was the result of a temperature-gradient induced relaxation o...

This paper reviews the accelerated thermal cycling test methods that are currently used by industry to characterize the interconnect reliability of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) ball grid array (BGA) and chip scale package (CSP) assemblies. Acceleration induced failure mechanisms varied from conventional surface mount (SM) failures for CSPs. Examples of unrealistic life projections for other ...

The performance of thermal cyclers for polymerase chain reactions (PCR) is of great concern in terms of the reliability of PCR-based assays, particularly when rapid cycling conditions are applied to small volume reactions. In this work, the precision of the temperature controls during rapid thermal cycling was measured in 19 commercial thermal cyclers of 8 different models. The temperatures of ...