Patent Application
20240387588
The present invention relates to technology field of image sensor package, and more particularly, image sensor packages having multi-step cavity and method of manufacturing the same.
High resolution image sensor modules have been widely applied in digital devices, for example digital cameras, cellular phones, security cameras, smartphones, tablets, etc., which are becoming more popular, and demands for small, light-weight and low-cost image sensor modules are increasing accordingly.
The image sensor modules include image sensors for converting image information into electrical information. Particularly, an image sensor may include semiconductor devices capable of converting photons to electrons to display and store images. In some embodiments, the image sensors can include charge coupled device (CCD), complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor, etc.
A conventional image sensor module may include a module substrate and an image sensor package disposed on the module substrate. As depicted in
Conventional image sensor package 100 shown in
According to the aforementioned drawback, an idea that can fix a cover glass by designing a stopper stage and perform image/electrical tests to verify validity of image sensor packages before performing the final sealing of the cover glass is therefore needed.
In one aspect, the present invention provides an image sensor package with a multi-step cavity formed in or on a substrate, which includes an image sensor bonded onto bottom of the multi-step cavity, and a cover glass placed and sealed on a lower portion of the multi-step cavity. Lower portion of the multi-step cavity includes at least a first and a second raised-step structures protruding from the bottom of the multi-step cavity, and the cover glass is placed and sealed over the first raised-step structure.
The image sensor package with a multi-step cavity further includes a third raised-step structure over the first and the second raised-step structures.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a method for forming an image sensor package, which includes forming a multi-step cavity in or on a substrate, bonding an image sensor to a bottom of the multi-step cavity, assigning a placement stopper stage from lower portion of the multi-step cavity, placing a cover glass to the placement stopper stage, and performing test of the image sensor.
The components, characteristics and advantages of the present invention may be understood by the detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiments outlined in the specification and the drawings attached:
Some preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in greater detail. However, it should be recognized that the preferred embodiments of the present invention are provided for illustration rather than limiting the present invention. In addition, the present invention can be practiced in a wide range of other embodiments besides those explicitly described, and the scope of the present invention is not expressly limited except as specified in the accompanying claims.
To overcome the deficiency encountered by the conventional image sensor package module during its package process, novel image sensor packages and related manufacturing methods are proposed.
In some embodiments, the substrate 201 can be a ceramic substrate and the multi-step cavity 203 is formed within the ceramic substrate.
In some embodiments, the image sensor package 200 can further include a third raised-step structure 203-3 disposed over the second raised-step structure 203-2 to form an upper portion of the multi-step cavity 203.
To unambiguously point out the first, the second and the third raised-step structures in
In some embodiments, the adhesive 220 can be consisted of two kinds of glues with different viscosities, the bottom one 220a is used for prefixing purpose while the top one 220b is used for final fixing of the cover glass 207. The glue may be an epoxy or the like. In other alternatives, the glue may be optically or thermally cross-linkable, for example UV curable glue.
As shown in
In some embodiments, an opening of the multi-step cavity for the cover glass 207 to be interposed, i.e., the opening enclosed by side-wall surface 230 of the second raised-step structure 203-2, is wider than that of the bottom of the multi-step cavity 203.
In some embodiments, the cover glass 207 is planar including a bottom surface disposed onto the top surface 240 of the first raised-step structure 203-1 and sides bonded to the side-wall surface 230 of the second raised-step structure 203-2 that is adjoint to top surface 240 of the the first raised-step structure 203-1.
In some embodiments, the ceramic substrate 201 may include oxide of aluminum, silicon, zinc, or the like.
In some embodiments, the substrate 301 may be a plastic substrate and the multi-step cavity 303 is formed over the plastic substrate and formed within a molding material.
In some embodiments, the image sensor package 300 can further include a third raised-step structure 303-3 disposed over the second raised-step structure 303-2 to form an upper portion of the multi-step cavity 303.
Similarly, three dashed lines 10′, 20′ and 30′ are used to locate each of these three raised-step structures. The raised-step structure (or ledge) located between dashes lines 10′ and 20′ is the first raised-step structure 303-1; the raised-step structure (or ledge) located between dashes lines 20′ and 30′ is the second raised-step structure 303-2, and the raised-step structure (or ledge) located above dashes line 30′ is the third raised-step structure 303-3.
In some embodiments, an opening of the multi-step cavity for the cover glass 307 to be interposed, i.e., the opening enclosed by side-wall surface 330 of the second raised-step structure 303-2, is wider than a that of the bottom of the multi-step cavity.
In some embodiments, the cover glass 307 is planar and includes a bottom surface disposed onto the top surface 340 of the first raised-step structure 303-1 and sides bonded to the side-wall surface 330 of the second raised-step structure 303-2 that is adjoint to top surface of the the first raised-step structure 303-1.
In some embodiments, the glue 320 may be an epoxy or the like. In other alternatives, the glue may be optically or thermally cross-linkable, for example UV curable glue.
In some embodiments, the substrate 401 may be a plastic substrate and the multi-step cavity 403 is formed over the plastic substrate 401 and within an organic material.
In some embodiments, the image sensor package 300 can further include a third raised-step structure 303-3 disposed over the second raised-step structure 303-2 to form an upper portion of the multi-step cavity.
Similarly, three dashed lines 10″, 20″ and 30″ are used to locate each of these three raised-step structures. The raised-step structure (or ledge) located between dashes lines 10″ and 20″ is the first raised-step structure 403-1; the raised-step structure (or ledge) located between dashes lines 20″ and 30″ is the second raised-step structure 403-2, and the raised-step structure (or ledge) located above dashes line 30″ is the third raised-step structure 403-3.
In some embodiments, an opening of the multi-step cavity for the cover glass 407 to be interposed, i.e., the opening enclosed by side-wall surface 430 of the second raised-step structure 403-2, is wider than a that of the bottom of the multi-step cavity.
In some embodiments, the cover glass 407 is planar and includes a bottom surface disposed onto the top surface 440 of the first raised-step structure 403-1 and sides bonded to the side-wall surface 430 of the second raised-step structure 403-2 that is adjoint to top surface of the the first raised-step structure 403-1.
In some embodiments, the glue 420 may be an epoxy or the like. In other alternatives, the glue may be optically or thermally cross-linkable, for example UV curable glue.
In an embodiment, the lower portion of the multi-step cavity as shown in
In an embodiment, the multi-step cavity as shown in
While various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by a way of example and not limitation. Numerous modifications and variations within the scope of the invention are possible. The present invention should only be defined in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.
