DC current induced thermal cycling tester (CITC)

These methods determine the physical endurance
of representative coupons of printed boards to a series of high
temperature excursions from ambient. The temperature
excursions cause thermo-mechanical fatigue of the electrical
interconnect structures.
The test coupon is resistance heated by passing DC current
through the coupon to bring the temperature of the copper to
a designated temperature. Switching the current on and off
creates thermal cycles between room temperature and the
designated temperature within the sample. The laminate and
surrounding materials are heated to different extents depending on the thermal conductivity of the materials. The thermal
cycling can accelerate latent interconnect anomalies to failure.
The number of cycles achieved permits a quantitative assessment of the performance

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