Faster is better, but faster is also hotter. A 10° increase in junction temperature can cause a 50% reduction in a semiconductor device's life expectancy. There are at least ten good reasons to include thermal measurements as a routine step in any electronic component or system design process. All these facts point toward the need for a thorough grasp of thermal behaviors at the chip level, and beyond that to thermal interface materials (TIM) and even heat sinks.
