Patent ID: 8210741

Claim:
An apparatus for thermally characterizing an operational cooling device for an electronic device, the apparatus comprising: an operational cooling device; a laser for producing a laser beam for applying a focused heat to at least one localized region on the operational cooling device; a system, coupled to the operational cooling device and to the laser, for moving the laser relative and the operational cooling device to more than one position relative to each other to direct the focused heat from the laser to more than one localized region of the operational cooling device; a temperature detector for measuring a temperature distribution on the operational cooling device; a test chip having a circuitry side and a side opposite the circuitry side, wherein the side opposite the circuitry side is thermally coupled to the operational cooling device; and a bias heat source other than the test chip for applying, independently of the laser, a uniform heat to a larger area of the operational cooling device than the area of the at least one localized region.