Internship - Design of a compact solder joint resistance sensor

Overview

• A compact solder joint resistance sensor with 200mΩ range and 100μΩ resolution For safety-critical automotive and robotics applications physical health sensing and failure-prediction are required to meet stringent reliability requirements.
• To detect and predict a failure[1] in the PCB interconnect interface of a chip requires accurate on-chip measurement of the solder-joint resistance.
• The challenges associated with the on-chip solder-joint measurement are besides the small resistance range of 200mΩ, required resolution of 100μΩ the accuracy over time and limited force current.
• Previous work related to a current sensor design[2] shows that it should be feasible to achieve the required resistance resolution when a 100mA force current is applied through the resistance and then measuring the voltage.
• For the resistance measurement in this application the absolute accuracy over time is also important which can be obtained using a ratiometric measurement using an on-chip reference resistor.
• In this project you will look into achieving the required resistance measurement resolution while minimizing the force current, ensuring accuracy over time and with a small die size.
• The project includes the design and tape-out of a prototype chip in 160nm technology.
• More information about NXP in the Netherlands..