The present disclosure relates to a cap structure for wafer level package.
Acoustic resonators, such as Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) and Bulk Acoustic Wave (BAW) resonators, are used in many high-frequency communication applications. BAW resonators are often employed in filter networks that operate at frequencies above 1.5 GHz and require a flat passband; have exceptionally steep filter skirts and squared shoulders at the upper and lower ends of the passband; and provide excellent rejection outside of the passband. SAW resonators are often employed at frequencies below 1.5 GHz. SAW- and BAW-based filters have relatively low insertion loss, tend to decrease in size as the frequency of operation increases, and are relatively stable over wide temperature ranges. As such, SAW- and BAW-based filters are the filters of choice for many 3rd Generation (3G) and 4th Generation (4G) wireless devices, and are destined to dominate filter applications for 5th Generation (5G) wireless devices. Most of these wireless devices support cellular, wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), Bluetooth, and/or near field communications on the same wireless device, and as such, pose extremely challenging filtering demands. While these demands keep raising the complexity of the wireless devices, there is a constant need to improve the performance of SAW and BAW resonators and filters as well as decrease the cost and size associated therewith.
While performance, cost, and size are a driving developmental force, long-term reliability of these devices is critical. The acoustic resonators are typically fabricated with a cap structure that provides an air cavity about the active portion of the acoustic resonator. The cavity allows the active portion to resonate in free space. However, if an appropriate seal is not provided to separate the cavity from ambient, over-mold materials, moisture, dust, and other hazards may enter the cavity and adversely affect the functionality of the acoustic resonator. As such, there is a need for a cost-effective, easy to fabricate, and reliable cap structure for such devices.
The present disclosure relates to a wafer level package (WLP) device that includes a wafer level core and a cap structure. At least one component is formed in or on the wafer level core, and the cap structure resides on the top surface of the wafer level core and forms a cavity over the component. The cap structure includes a perimeter wall that rests on the top surface of the wafer level core and extends about the component. The perimeter wall has a top surface divided into a covered portion that extends along an inner portion and an uncovered portion that extends along an outer portion. The lid has a bottom surface, wherein an outer periphery of the bottom surface of the lid rests on and only covers the covered portion of the perimeter wall, such that the cavity is defined at least in part by portions of the bottom surface of the lid, an interior sidewall of the perimeter wall, and a top surface of the wafer level core.
In one embodiment, perimeter wall extends completely around the component. The cap structure may include interior walls that extend between the bottom surface of the lid and the top surface of the wafer level core. The interior walls separate different cavities that are defined within the cap structure.
In one embodiment, the covered portion of the top surface of the perimeter wall is no more than a maximum width. The maximum width may be defined as 0.002267*(WW)2+0.5539*WW−1.045, wherein WW is the overall width of the perimeter wall. This maximum width is particularly beneficial when the overall width of the perimeter wall is 5 μm to 50 μm, and a thickness of the lid is 10 μm to 100 μm. In other embodiments, the covered portion of the top surface of the perimeter wall is no more than 50%, 60%, 70%, or 80% of the overall width of the perimeter wall.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate the scope of the present disclosure and realize additional aspects thereof after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments in association with the accompanying drawing figures.
The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the disclosure, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.
The embodiments set forth below represent the necessary information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and illustrate the best mode of practicing the embodiments. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the disclosure and will recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the disclosure and the accompanying claims.
It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
It will be understood that when an element such as a layer, region, or substrate is referred to as being “on” or extending “onto” another element, it can be directly on or extend directly onto the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on” or extending “directly onto” another element, there are no intervening elements present. Likewise, it will be understood that when an element such as a layer, region, or substrate is referred to as being “over” or extending “over” another element, it can be directly over or extend directly over the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly over” or extending “directly over” 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 connected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are no intervening elements present.
Relative terms such as “below” or “above” or “upper” or “lower” or “horizontal” or “vertical” may be used herein to describe a relationship of one element, layer, or region to another element, layer, or region as illustrated in the Figures. It will be understood that these terms and those discussed above are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in addition to the orientation depicted in the Figures.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” and/or “including” when used herein specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms used herein should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
The present disclosure relates to a wafer level package (WLP) device that includes a wafer level core and a cap structure. At least one component is formed in or on the wafer level core, and the cap structure resides on the top surface of the wafer level core and forms a cavity over the component. The cap structure includes a perimeter wall that rests on the top surface of the wafer level core and extends about the component. The perimeter wall has a top surface divided into a covered portion that extends along an inner portion and an uncovered portion that extends along an outer portion. The lid has a bottom surface, wherein an outer periphery of the bottom surface of the lid rests on and only covers the covered portion of the perimeter wall, such that the cavity is defined at least in part by portions of the bottom surface of the lid, an interior sidewall of the perimeter wall, and a top surface of the wafer level core.
Prior to delving into the details of the inventive concepts associated with this disclosure, overviews of a typical BAW resonator and wafer level package (WLP) device that includes a BAW resonator are provided. Notably, the typical WLP device includes a more conventional cap structure. The walls of this conventional cap structure are prone to delaminating from an underlying WLP core, as described below. While the BAW resonator is used in the examples for this disclosure, those skilled in art will recognize that other types of acoustic resonators, such as SAW resonators, and electronic components in general may be fabricated on the WLP device.
Bulk Acoustic Wave (BAW) resonators are used in many high-frequency filter applications. An exemplary BAW resonator 10 is illustrated in
The BAW resonator 10 is divided into an active region 24 and an outside region 26. The active region 24 generally corresponds to the section of the BAW resonator 10 where the top and bottom electrodes 20 and 22 overlap, and also includes the layers below the overlapping top and bottom electrodes 20 and 22. The outside region 26 corresponds to the section of the BAW resonator 10 that surrounds the active region 24.
For the BAW resonator 10, applying electrical signals across the top electrode 20 and the bottom electrode 22 excites acoustic waves in the piezoelectric layer 18. These acoustic waves primarily propagate vertically. A primary goal in BAW resonator design is to confine these vertically-propagating acoustic waves in the transducer 16. Acoustic waves traveling upwardly are reflected back into the transducer 16 by the air-metal boundary at the top surface of the top electrode 20. Acoustic waves traveling downwardly are reflected back into the transducer 16 by the reflector 14, or by an air cavity, which is provided just below the transducer in a Film BAW Resonator (FBAR).
The reflector 14 is typically formed by a stack of reflector layers (RL) 28, which alternate in material composition to produce a significant reflection coefficient at the junction of adjacent reflector layers 28. Typically, the reflector layers 28 alternate between materials having high and low acoustic impedances, such as tungsten (W) and silicon dioxide (SiO2). While only five reflector layers 28 are illustrated in
The magnitude (Z) and phase (φ) of the electrical impedance as a function of the frequency for a relatively ideal BAW resonator 10 is provided in
For the phase, the BAW resonator 10 acts like an inductance that provides a 90° phase shift between the series resonance frequency (fs) and the parallel resonance frequency (fp). In contrast, the BAW resonator 10 acts like a capacitance that provides a −90° phase shift below the series resonance frequency (fs) and above the parallel resonance frequency (fp). The BAW resonator 10 presents a very low, near zero, resistance at the series resonance frequency (fs), and a very high resistance at the parallel resonance frequency (fp). The electrical nature of the BAW resonator 10 lends itself to the realization of a very high Q (quality factor) inductance over a relatively short range of frequencies, which has proven to be very beneficial in high frequency filter networks, especially those operating at frequencies around 1.8 GHz and above.
Unfortunately, the phase (φ) curve of
As illustrated in
The BO ring 30 corresponds to a mass loading of the portion of the top electrode 20 that extends about the periphery of the active region 24. The BO ring 30 may correspond to a thickened portion of the top electrode 20 or the application of additional layers of an appropriate material over the top electrode 20. The portion of the BAW resonator 10 that includes and resides below the BO ring 30 is referred to as a BO region 32. Accordingly, the BO region 32 corresponds to an outer, perimeter portion of the active region 24 and resides inside of the active region 24.
While the BO ring 30 is effective at suppressing spurious modes above the series resonance frequency (fs), the BO ring 30 has little or no impact on those spurious modes below the series resonance frequency (fs), as shown by the ripples in the phase curve below the series resonance frequency (fs) in
Apodization tries to avoid, or at least significantly reduce, any lateral symmetry in the BAW resonator 10, or at least in the transducer 16 thereof. The lateral symmetry corresponds to the footprint of the transducer 16, and avoiding the lateral symmetry corresponds to avoiding symmetry associated with the sides of the footprint. For example, one may choose a footprint that corresponds to a pentagon instead of a square or rectangle. Avoiding symmetry helps reduce the presence of lateral standing waves in the transducer 16. Circle C of
With reference to
The cap structure 36 includes a perimeter wall 42 and a lid 44. The perimeter wall 42 rests on the top of the WLP core 38, and in this example, the passivation layer 40. The lid 44 rests on a top surface of the perimeter wall 42 and forms a cavity 46 that is defined by the top surface of the WLP core 38, the inside surfaces of the perimeter wall 42, and the exposed portion of the bottom surface of the lid 44. In this example, the active region of the BAW resonator 10 is covered by the cavity 46, such that no portion of the perimeter wall 42 rests directly on or above the active region of the BAW resonator 10.
Notably, the lid 44 is formed such that the sidewalls of the lid 44 extend out to and are aligned with the sidewalls of the perimeter wall 42. As such, the lid 44 essentially covers the entire top surface of the perimeter wall 42. Further, the cap structure 36 may reside between one or more interconnect structures, such as a first interconnect structure 48 and a second interconnect structure 50. The first and second interconnect structures 48, 50 may represent copper pillars, which are capped with some form of solder to facilitate physical and electrical attachment to another printed circuit board, module, or the like. In this example, the first interconnect structure 48 is electrically coupled to the bottom electrode 22 of the BAW resonator 10, and the second interconnect structure 50 is electrically coupled to the top electrode 20 of the BAW resonator 10.
Unfortunately, the cap structure 36 is prone to delaminate from the WLP core 38. The perimeter wall 42 and the lid 44 are often formed from photo-definable dry film epoxies, which tend to shrink as they are cured during typical wafer processing. Once the lid 44 is attached to the top surface of the perimeter wall 42 and temperatures rise during subsequent processing steps, the lid 44 is prone to shrink along the lateral plane, as illustrated in
To significantly reduce, if not eliminate, the delamination described above, the present disclosure relates to forming a unique cap structure 54 wherein only a portion of the top surface of a perimeter wall 56 is covered by a lid 58, as illustrated in
In one embodiment, the covered portion CP is at least 5 microns (um). The maximum size of the covered portion CP is typically a function of the width WW of the perimeter wall 56. The wider the perimeter wall 56, the better the perimeter wall 56 is anchored to the WLP core 38, and the better the perimeter wall 56 can withstand torque and resist delamination from the WLP core 38. Table 1 below provides exemplary maximum widths (CPmax) of the covered portion CP for various perimeter wall widths WW. This solution is generally valid at least for perimeter wall thicknesses TW of 5 um to 50 um and lid thicknesses TL of 10 um to 100 um. The relationship in Table 1 is represented by the quadratic equation:
CPmax=0.002267*(WW)2+0.5539*WW−1.045.
In different embodiments, the covered portion CP of the top surface TS of the perimeter wall 56 is no more than 50%, 60%, 70%, or 80% of the width WW of the perimeter wall 56.
The WLP core 38 may be a portion of the wafer formed from any material system, such as gallium arsenide, gallium nitride, silicon, silicon carbide, silicon germanium, and the like. The perimeter wall 56 and the lid 58 may be formed from the same or different materials. In the embodiments described above, the perimeter wall 56 and the lid 58 are formed from photo-definable dry film epoxies, which tend to be 10-80 um thick. Examples of such films include SU8, TMMF, or other permanent photodefinable polyimides
Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure. All such improvements and modifications are considered within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein and the claims that follow.
This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/280,747, filed Jan. 20, 2016, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62280747 | Jan 2016 | US |