Inspection of electronic component using pulsed thermography

Abstract Counterfeit electronic components (CEC) are of great concern to governments and industry globally as they could lead to systems and mission failure, malfunctioning of safety critical systems, and reduced reliability of high-hazard assets. Depending on the cost of CEC going into the production line, some industries might look to have some sort of inspection capability in-house to screen critical components before they go to assembly. Although advanced counterfeit inspection methods have been developed for a variety of components, they generally exhibit a combination of disadvantages such as destructive, low throughput, high unit cost, or inaccessible to unskilled operator. This paper investigates the potential of pulsed thermography on detection of CEC in a fast and non-destructive manner. The second derivative of post-heat thermal response is used to construct a fingerprint to differentiate genuine and counterfeit components. Results successfully demonstrate the potential of the proposed solution.