The present application relates to semiconductor packaging technologies.
Microelectronic devices contain many electronic components, such as transistors, capacitors, resistors, etc., within a silicon chip. To form a usable device, a silicon chip requires protection from the environment as well as electrical and mechanical connections to other components. Electronic packaging deals with these requirements. An electronic package containing a silicon chip should provide access to the terminals or bond pads on the silicon chip for input power and signal transmission. The package may also provide the electrical wiring for interconnection among the electronic components on the chip. In addition, the electronic package should protect the circuits on the chip from damage during the chip's service life, and allow heat generated by the operation of the circuits to dissipate.
A typical electronic device package comprises various conducting and insulating materials that have different coefficients of thermal expansions (CTE). For example, an ball grid array (BGA) package may be constructed by attaching a chip to the topside of a substrate with epoxy glue. Bond wires provide connections between the bond pads on the chip pads and bond fingers on the substrate. The chip and the bond wires are embedded within a molding compound, such as a molding epoxy, on the topside of the substrate. Due to the different CTE's of the different materials used for assembling the package, the package may warp seriously during subsequent thermal processes such as a package board mounting reflow process. The warping is more prominent for lead (Pb) free packages because the reflow temperature for Pb free solder is as high as 240° C. to 260° C. The warping of the package may cause problems in solder joints between the package and the board, and consequently the reliability of the device.
The present invention overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages by providing an electronic package comprising a substrate, an electronic device mounted on the substrate, and a stiffener on top of the electronic device, wherein the stiffener has a hole at or near its center. The electronic device has bond pads connected to respective bond fingers on the substrate by bond wires. The stiffener and the substrate together define a space that houses the chip and the bond wires. A molding compound fills the space and covers the stiffener. In one embodiment of the present invention, a method for assembling the electronic package comprises the steps of bonding an electronic device to a substrate, and placing a stiffener on the substrate so that the stiffener and the substrate define a space for housing the electronic device. The stiffener has a hole at or near its center and a molding compound is injected into the hole of the stiffener. The molding compound fills the space and overflows out of the hole to cover the stiffener.
Additional objects and features of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description and appended claims when taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:
The substrate 120 also includes support pins 126 for supporting the stiffener 140. The stiffener 140 is in the shape of a plate having a topside 141, an underside 142, and a hole 144 at or near a center of the stiffener 140. The underside of the stiffener has ridges 146, and when the stiffener is placed on the substrate 120, the ridges 146 are above the support pins 126 on the substrate. The ridges 146 can be attached to the support pins 126 by an adhesive material 136, such as epoxy glue. The stiffener 140 and the substrate 120 thus form a void 150 or space for housing the chip 110 and the bond wires 130. Other spaces, such as spaces 151 and 152 may also be formed between the stiffener 140 and the substrate 120. A molding compound 160 fills the void 150 and spaces 151 and 152, and encapsulates the chip 110, the bond fingers 124, the bond wires 130, and the stiffener 140. As shown in
The stiffener 140 may comprise metal or any other solid material that is mechanically robust enough and that has a relatively high thermal conductivity. The mechanical robustness is to keep the substrate 120 from warping during subsequent thermal processes. An advantage of using a relatively high thermal conductivity material for the stiffener 140 is that the stiffener will provide a thermal dissipation path as well as mechanical robustness for the package 100. In one embodiment of the present invention, the stiffener 140 includes metal, such as copper, as a core material.
The size of the stiffener 140 is about the same as or slightly smaller or bigger than the size of the substrate. Depending on the material used for the stiffener, the stiffener should be sufficiently thick to be mechanically robust. But the stiffener should not be too thick as to make the package too bulky for practical usage. In one embodiment of the present invention, the stiffener is made of copper and the thickness of the stiffener is about 0.5–2 mm. Also, the size of the hole 144 should be big enough to allow easy injection of the molding compound into the space 150, but it should not be too big to significantly reduce the strength of the stiffener for counteracting the warping force of the substrate 120. In one embodiment of the present invention, the size of the hole 120 is about 1–2 mm. Furthermore, there should be enough molding compound 160 covering the stiffener so that the stiffener is not likely to be delaminated from the molding compound during a thermal process when the package attempts to warp. In one embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of the molding compound 160 covering the stiffener is greater than 0.1 mm.
Although package 100 has been described using the package configuration shown in
For faster processing and ease of handling, package 100 can be made in a packaging process together with other similarly configured packages arranged in an array.
In step 340, the molding compound 160, such as a molding epoxy, is injected into the central hole 144 of the stiffener 140. By injecting the molding compound into the space 150 through the hole 144, which is above the center of the space 150, wire sweeping due to the flow of the molding compound is minimized. After the molding compound fills the space 150, it continues to flow to the topside 141 of the stiffener until the stiffener is covered and/or encapsulated in the molding compound. The molding compound 160 dries up quickly and forms a mold that holds the stiffener 140 in position and prevents the stiffener from being delaminated from the package.
While the present invention has been described with reference to a few specific embodiments, the description is illustrative of the invention and is not to be construed as limiting the invention. Various modifications may occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
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