Patent Grant
6927490
This invention relates to microelectronic devices, and more particularly to microelectronic packages for microelectronic devices.
Microelectronic devices, such as integrated circuit chips, are widely used in consumer and commercial applications. As the integration density of microelectronic devices continues to increase, it may become increasingly difficult to provide a sufficient quantity of high performance interconnects that connect the microelectronic device to a next level package. The interconnects may be used to transfer signals and/or power. Accordingly, the interconnect density and/or performance may be a limiting factor in the further integration of microelectronic devices.
It is known to provide Alternating Current (AC)-coupled interconnects for microelectronic devices. These AC-coupled interconnects may be characterized by the absence of a Direct Current (DC) connection. Instead, AC-coupled interconnects use inductive and/or capacitive coupling between spaced apart inductive and/or capacitive elements, to provide interconnects. AC-coupled interconnects are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,838 to Knight et al., entitled Apparatus for Non-Conductively Interconnecting Integrated Circuits Using Half Capacitors, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,175,124 to Cole et al., entitled Method and Apparatus for a Wafer Level System.
In order to allow high performance AC-coupled microelectronic interconnects, it may be desirable to maintain close spacing and/or closely controlled alignment between AC-coupled interconnect elements on adjacent faces of microelectronic substrates. However, it may be difficult to provide this close spacing/alignment between the closely spaced apart AC-coupled interconnect elements in a reliable and/or repeatable manner. It also may be difficult to couple DC power, such as a power supply voltage and/or ground voltage, across the AC-coupled interconnect elements. Finally, the capacitive coupling may present an excessively high equivalent impedance.
Embodiments of the present invention can use buried solder bumps to provide spacing for AC-coupled microelectronic interconnects. Buried solder bumps, according to embodiments of the invention, can provide means for maintaining first and second AC-coupled interconnect elements spaced apart from one another by a distance that is less than the solder bump thickness. Thus, relatively thick solder bumps can be used to maintain sufficient compliance while maintaining the AC-coupled microelectronic interconnects in closely spaced apart relation and/or alignment.
More specifically, microelectronic packages according to some embodiments of the invention include a first microelectronic substrate having a first face and a first AC-coupled interconnect element on the first face. A second microelectronic substrate includes a second face and a second AC-coupled interconnect element on the second face. A buried solder bump extends between the first and second faces, and is at least partially buried beneath at least one of the first and second faces, to maintain the first and second AC-coupled interconnect elements in closely spaced apart relation.
In some embodiments, the first and second AC-coupled interconnect elements comprise respective first and second capacitor plates. In other embodiments, the first and second AC-coupled interconnect elements comprise first and second inductors, respectively. In still other embodiments, the first and second AC-coupled interconnect elements comprise first and second combined inductive and capacitive elements, respectively. These combined inductive and capacitive elements may be tuned to provide a broad-frequency impedance match.
Buried solder bumps may be provided, according to some embodiments of the invention, by providing a trench in the second face of the second microelectronic substrate including a trench floor beneath the second face. The buried solder bump extends between the trench floor and the first face of the first microelectronic substrate. In other embodiments, a first trench is provided in the first face including a first trench floor beneath the first face. A second trench is provided in the second face including a second trench floor beneath the second face. The buried solder bump extends between the first trench and the second trench floor. In any of the above embodiments, solder bump pads may be provided for the buried solder bump.
In some embodiments of the invention, the first microelectronic substrate is an integrated circuit, also referred to as a chip, and the second microelectronic substrate is a second level package for the integrated circuit, such as a Multi-Chip Module (MCM), Printed Circuit Board (PCB) and/or other second level package. In other embodiments, the first and second substrates are-mating connector substrates including mating connector faces, and/or other third level packages, to provide an electrical connector or other third level package. Thus, embodiments of the invention can be used at any point in a signal path between a signal driver and a signal receiver, including chip-package, package-socket and/or package-package (connector) connections.
When coupling an integrated circuit with a second level package for the integrated circuit using inductive microelectronic interconnects and buried solder bumps, according to some embodiments of the invention, the second inductor on the second level package can have greater inductance compared to the first inductor on the integrated circuit. Moreover, in any of the above embodiments, a DC offset compensating receiver may be provided in at least one of the first and second substrates that is coupled to the corresponding at least one of the first and second AC-coupled interconnect elements. Also, when inductive or inductive/capacitive coupling is used, a current mode driver may be provided in at least one of the first and second substrates that is coupled to the corresponding at least one of the first and second inductors or inductive/capacitive elements.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the buried solder bump is configured to transfer DC power, including a power supply voltage and/or ground, between the first and second substrate. In these embodiments, techniques other than buried solder bumps can be used to provide close spacing and/or alignment, while allowing DC power to be transferred between the first and second substrates. For example, pin-in-socket, land pad, fuzz-ball and/or other connection technologies can be used. These technologies may be used with mechanical and/or optical alignment structures. These technologies are well known to those having skill in the art and need not be described further herein.
In other embodiments, the buried solder bump is configured to transfer signals between the first and second substrate. Moreover, in some embodiments, the first and second AC-coupled interconnect elements comprise first and second AC-coupled signal interconnect elements and in other embodiments they comprise first and second AC-coupled power interconnect elements.
According to yet other embodiments of the invention, inductive coupling may be used for microelectronic signal interconnects, without the need for buried solder bumps. In these embodiments, a first microelectronic substrate includes a first face and a first inductor on the first face. A digital signal driver is included in the first microelectronic substrate that is configured to drive the first inductor with a digital signal. A second microelectronic substrate includes a second face and a second inductor on the second face that is closely spaced apart from the first inductor. A digital signal receiver in the second microelectronic substrate is configured to receive the digital signal from the digital signal driver via inductive coupling between the first and second inductors. The first and second inductors also may include capacitance associated therewith. When the first microelectronic substrate is an integrated circuit, and the second microelectronic substrate is a second level package for the integrated circuit, the second inductor can have greater inductance than the first inductor. The digital signal receiver can be a DC-offset compensating digital signal receiver, and/or the digital signal driver can be a current mode digital signal driver, as was described above. Accordingly, high performance AC-coupled microelectronic interconnects may be provided that can be fabricated reliably in a high volumes.
The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, the thickness of layers and regions are exaggerated for clarity. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. It will be understood that when an element such as a layer, region or substrate is referred to as being “on” another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on” another element, there are no intervening elements present. It will also be understood that when an element is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly coupled” to another element, there are no intervening elements present.
Still referring to
The first and second AC-coupled interconnect elements 104 and 108, respectively, may comprise a first capacitor plate and a second capacitor plate, respectively, a first inductor and a second inductor, respectively, and/or a first combined inductive and capacitive element and a second combined inductive and capacitive element, respectively. As shown in
Still continuing with the description of
As will be described in detail below, in some embodiments, the buried solder bump can provide coupling of DC power, such as a power supply voltage and/or ground, between the substrates, in addition to or instead of facilitating spacing and/or alignment. Other technologies also may serve the dual purpose of mechanical alignment/spacing and electrical DC power transfer, including pins, land pads and/or fuzz-balls.
In
Finally, still referring to
A discussion of potential advantages of microelectronic packages, such as microelectronic packages 100 according to embodiments of the present invention, now will be provided. Conventional solder bump technologies may produce a significant standoff relative to the substrates that are being connected. This standoff may present a significant discontinuity to AC signals, such as radio frequency signals, and may make it difficult to use AC-coupled interconnects.
In sharp contrast, embodiments of the present invention, such as illustrated in
Good mechanical performance also may be provided, because the mechanical properties of the interface can be similar or identical to that of a standard flip-chip interface. Thus, a solder bump of sufficient thickness D2 may be used to absorb differences between thermal coefficient mismatches between the first and second substrates 102 and 106, respectively. A compliant mechanical interface thereby may be provided. Finally, good thermal performance also may be provided. In particular, with a reduction in the air gap that normally is associated with flip-chip solder bumps, thermal performance can be substantially improved.
Embodiments such as
DC offset compensating receivers 730 may be used to reduce and preferably prevent drift that may be arise because DC coupling is not present. Thus, the DC offset compensating receivers 730 can be used to reduce the effect of DC offsets. The design of DC offset compensating receivers 730 are well known to those having skill in the art and need not be described further herein. Moreover, since inductors are primarily current driven devices, it may be desirable to include a current mode driver 240 for the inductors. As is well known to those having skill in the art, a current mode driver can transmit binary signals using two different current levels, as opposed to a conventional voltage mode driver that transmits binary signals using two voltage levels. The design of current mode drivers 740 is well known to those having skill in the art and need not be described further herein. Other embodiments may provide encoding of the data being transferred, to reduce the likelihood of long strings of ones or zeros from being transferred and thereby reduce the likelihood of DC offset.
Still referring to
As was the case with the previous embodiments, the size and/or configuration of the first and second inductors 904/908 may be equal or unequal. In some embodiments, the first microelectronic substrate 102 is an integrated circuit and the second microelectronic substrate 106 is a second level package. However, the roles of these packages may be reversed, and other substrates may be used. Moreover, in some embodiments, the second inductor 908 has greater inductance than the first inductor 904. In some embodiments, the digital signal receiver 930 is a DC offset compensating digital signal receiver and/or the digital signal driver 940 is a current mode digital signal driver. Thus, inductive signal interconnects may be used in microelectronic packages.
Finally, still referring to
Finally,
Accordingly, embodiments of the invention can provide, for example, chip-to-board connections that can provide reliable connection pitches of as little as about 30 μm or less, with up to multi-gigabit per second or faster signaling on each connection. Input/Output (I/O) densities of the up-to about 15,000 I/O per cm2 or more may be provided. Embodiments of the invention can be highly manufacturable, testable and repairable, and can address thermo-mechanical and electrical issues simultaneously.
These needs may be addressed conventionally by solder bump structures having small sizes. However, small solder bumps may lead to compliance issues. Attempts also have been made to produce high-aspect ratio solder bumps to provide compliance, but these may introduce manufacturing cost issues.
In contrast, embodiments of the invention can provide highly manufacturable, testable and/or repairable connections at pitches of, for example, as little as about 30 μm or less, with, for example, up to multi-gigabit/second or more signaling on each connection, while still addressing thermo-mechanical issues. Pitches as low as about 20 μm or less also may be used. Moreover, since the connection technology can be compliant, it can be no more difficult to manufacture, test and/or rework than current flip-chip technologies. Moreover, current mode signaling can provide, for example, up to about 50% or more higher bit rate than conventional signaling streams.
Capacitively coupled interconnects also have been disclosed. See, for example, the above-cited U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,838. Capacitively coupled interconnects can offer a high degree of compliance, as the interconnect structure need only include two separated metal plates. However, conventional capacitively coupled interconnects may be limited by the achievable standoff between the two metal capacitor plates. This standoff may be determined by the smallest height bump that may be made to deliver DC power. A large standoff can lead to small series capacitance and, thus, can limit the performance of the interconnect.
In sharp contrast, embodiments of the present invention that employ buried solder bumps can permit almost zero standoff and thus can allow very high coupling capacitance. Plates as small as about 25 μm2 or less can provide feasible interconnects, with only air as an interplate dielectric. With high dielectric constant materials, such as polyimide, ceramics and/or other dielectrics, the plate area can be decreased proportional to the dielectric constant. Since as much as about 2 μm interplate spacing can bring the crosstalk down to very low levels, interconnect pitches of about 10-20 μm or more are potentially possible, depending on the level of external noise sources. Because the opposing plates on the substrate and chip can be separated by a small, for example, about 1 μm, air gap, the overall structure can be very compliant and, thus, can be easy to manufacture, rework and/or test.
It will be understood that, due to the presence of parasitics, capacitively coupled interconnects can act as a bandpass circuit. This circuit can be tuned even further through the deliberate addition of inductance. The inductance can be built as small spirals instead of plates. Moreover, as was described, a micro-machined magnetic plug, such as a nickel plug, may be included, to allow a very high amount of mutual inductance between the chip and substrate. Since both electric and magnetic fields are coupled, these structures may potentially be made smaller than capacitively coupled circuits.
Buried solder bumps can allow the chip and substrate faces to be separated by an air gap of only a few microns. Moreover, the buried solder bumps can be used to deliver DC power across this face. Thus, the air gap can be kept small, while DC power delivery can remain fairly conventional.
Finally, due to a lack of a DC path, conventional driver and receiver circuits may not be preferred for embodiments of the present invention. In order to at least partially compensate for a lack of a DC path, it may be desirable to use Non-Return-to-Zero (NRZ) tolerant and/or other DC offset compensating receivers that can, for example, use feedback, so as to reduce or prevent the average DC shift that may occur over time when a long string of zeros or ones are sent. Such circuits have been used in optical transceivers, and may also be used with AC-coupled structures according to embodiments of the present invention. Moreover, as was described above, current mode signaling may be used which can provide advantages over voltage mode signaling. Current mode signaling can be faster as the input impedance of the receiver can be small. Also, it can be low noise, because there can be reduced di/dt and/or return path noise.
In conclusion, AC-coupled interconnects according to embodiments of the invention can provide mechanically simple structures that can be scaled down to much smaller sizes than conventional DC-coupled structures. At the same time, by removing the need for making a connection, test probes can similarly be simplified and rework can become straightforward. Thus, AC-coupled interconnects according to embodiments of the invention can potentially offer a very attractive solution for high density I/O.
DC power may be supplied across the face of the chip, for example through a fairly high density of solder bumps, so as to control resistive drop. RF powering also may be used to provide power, but this approach may be relatively inefficient. According to embodiments of the invention, solder bumps buried in micromachined holes can be used to provide the DC connections. The buried solder bumps can be kept fairly large, thus allowing the resistance to be low. The self-aligning capability of the solder bumps can be used to provide alignment without any unusual equipment, attachment fixtures or other techniques. In addition, it is possible to size the solder bumps so that they will pull the chip and substrate into close proximity, thus making the potential air gap very small.
These interconnect structures also can provide a desired level of signal integrity. Simulation results for 25 μm square capacitor plates at a 30 μm pitch indicate a signal of at least 300 mV swing reaching the receiver circuit. The AC signal coupled through the structure is proportional of the ratio of the series through-capacitance to the parasitic capacitance to ground.
Parasitic capacitances may be kept low as a function of geometry and layout. The components of the parasitic capacitance may include the capacitance between the conductor plate and ground, as well as the routing between the driver (or receiver) and the plate. Thus, it may be desirable to use thick insulators between the capacitor plate and ground, as is conventionally the case for many flip-chip solder bump designs, and to keep the routing to and from the driver and receiver short. In order to increase or maximize the series capacitance, it may be desirable to keep the gap thickness small and make the dielectric constant as high as possible.
In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed typical preferred embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the following claims.
This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/997,586, filed Nov. 28, 2001 entitled Buried Solder Bumps for AC-Coupled Microelectronic Interconnects, assigned to the assignee of the present application, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety as if set forth fully herein.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5598131 | Mazzochette | Jan 1997 | A |
| 5629838 | Knight et al. | May 1997 | A |
| 6175124 | Cole et al. | Jan 2001 | B1 |
| 6362972 | Panella | Mar 2002 | B1 |
| 6529386 | Boe | Mar 2003 | B2 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20050046037 A1 | Mar 2005 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 09997586 | Nov 2001 | US |
| Child | 10960411 | US |
