Semiconductor devices and integrated circuits are typically manufactured on a single semiconductor wafer. The semiconductor dies of the wafer may be processed and packaged with other semiconductor devices or dies at the wafer level, and various technologies have been developed for the wafer level packaging.
Those individual semiconductor dies are formed by sawing the integrated circuits along scribe lines of the semiconductor wafer. The individual semiconductor dies are then packaged separately. The semiconductor packages may further connected to circuit substrates by, for example, a flip bonding technology. As those semiconductor packages are mounted onto the circuit substrates and protected with underfills and/or molding compounds, the reliability of the protective layer(s) becomes important and crucial.
Aspects of the present disclosure are best understood from the following detailed description when read with the accompanying figures. It should be noted that, in accordance with the standard practice in the industry, various features are not drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity of discussion.
The following disclosure provides many different embodiments, or examples, for implementing different features of the provided subject matter. Specific examples of components and arrangements are described below to simplify the present disclosure. These are, of course, merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. For example, the formation of a first feature over or on a second feature in the description that follows may include embodiments in which the first and second features are formed in direct contact, and may also include embodiments in which additional features may be formed between the first and second features, such that the first and second features may not be in direct contact. In addition, the present disclosure may repeat reference numerals and/or letters in the various examples. This repetition is for the purpose of simplicity and clarity and does not in itself dictate a relationship between the various embodiments and/or configurations discussed.
Furthermore, spatially relative terms, such as “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,” “upper” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. The spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. The apparatus may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein may likewise be interpreted accordingly.
The term “substantially” in the description, such as in “substantially flat” or in “substantially coplanar”, etc., will be understood by the person skilled in the art. In some embodiments the adjective substantially may be removed. Where applicable, the term “substantially” may also include embodiments with “entirely”, “completely”, “all”, etc. Where applicable, the term “substantially” may also relate to 90% or higher, such as 95% or higher, especially 99% or higher, including 100%. Furthermore, terms such as “substantially parallel” or “substantially perpendicular” are to be interpreted as not to exclude insignificant deviation from the specified arrangement and may include for example deviations of up to 10°. The word “substantially” does not exclude “completely” e.g. a composition which is “substantially free” from Y may be completely free from Y.
Terms such as “about” in conjunction with a specific distance or size are to be interpreted so as not to exclude insignificant deviation from the specified distance or size and may include for example deviations of up to 10%. The term “about” in relation to a numerical value x may mean x±5 or 10%.
Some embodiments of the disclosure are described.
As shown in
The semiconductor wafer 100W may include a semiconductor substrate 100S. The semiconductor substrate 100S may include bulk silicon, doped or undoped, or an active layer of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate. Generally, an SOI substrate includes a layer of a semiconductor material such as silicon, germanium, silicon germanium, or combinations thereof. The semiconductor substrate 100S may include integrated circuit devices (not shown) and an interconnect structure (not shown). The integrated circuit devices may include active devices (e.g., transistors). The active devices may be formed using any suitable methods either within or else on the semiconductor substrate 100S. In some embodiments, the interconnect structure is formed over the semiconductor substrate 100S and the active devices and are designed to connect the various active devices to form functional circuitry. In some embodiments, the interconnect structure is formed of alternating layers of dielectric and conductive material and may be formed through any suitable process (such as deposition, damascene, dual damascene, etc.). The dielectric layers may include low-k dielectric layers, for example, with k values lower than about 3.0.
In some embodiments, conductive pads 101 are formed at the front surface 100a (which is also referred to as an active surface) of the semiconductor substrate 100S, and are electrically coupled to integrated circuit devices through the interconnect structure. The conductive pads 101 may be bonding pads that made of metals such as aluminum, copper, nickel, gold, and combinations thereof. The conductive pads 101 may be formed using a deposition process, such as sputtering, to form a layer of material and the layer of material may then be patterned via a suitable process (such as lithography and etching) to form the contact pads.
In some embodiments, conductive pillars 103, such as copper pillars, copper alloy pillars, or other suitable metal pillars, are formed on conductive pads 101. The conductive pillars 103 are formed on conductive pads 101. For example, the conductive pillars 103 may be formed by initially placing a photoresist and then patterning the photoresist into the desired pattern for the conductive pillars. A plating process is then utilized to form the conductive material (e.g., copper) in connection with the conductive pads 101. However, any suitable methods may be utilized.
In some embodiments, an insulating protective layer 102 is formed to cover the active surface 100a of the semiconductor substrate 100S and a portion of the conductive pad 102. The material of insulating protective layer 102 may be selected from solder resists, a polymer such as polyimide (PI), polybenzoxazole (PBO), benzocyclobutene (BCB), molding compound, and the like. Alternatively, the material of insulating protective layer 102 may be selected from silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride, silicon carbide, another suitable material, or a combination thereof.
In some embodiments, the conductive pillar 103 extend above the insulating protective layer 102 from the corresponding conductive pad 101, as shown in
In some embodiments, after the conductive pillars 103 are formed, an electrical connector 105 (e.g., microbump) is correspondingly bonded on each of the conductive pillars 103 of the semiconductor wafer 100W. For example, the electrical connectors 105 may be solder balls and formed on the conductive pillars 103 using a ball-mounting head (not shown), as shown in
After the bump structures 107 are formed, a singulation process is performed to form semiconductor dies 100S1 and 100S2 are formed, as shown in
Afterwards, the rear surface 100b (which is also referred to as a non-active surface) of semiconductor substrate 100S is diced along the scribe lines (not shown) of the semiconductor substrate 100S by a sawing process, an etching process, or a combination thereof. For example, the rear surface 100b of semiconductor substrate 100S may be diced by a sawing process using one or more blades. After the semiconductor wafer 100W (i.e., the semiconductor substrate 100S) is diced, the semiconductor dies 100S1 and 100S2 are formed and separated from each other.
After the singulated semiconductor dies 100S1 and 100S2 are formed, an interposer substrate 110 formed over a carrier substrate 200 is provided and bonded with the interconnect structure of the semiconductor dies (e.g., the semiconductor dies 100S1 and 100S2), as shown in
In some embodiments, the interposer substrate 110 includes a redistribution layer (RDL) structure 114 that is formed in an insulating base layer 112 and covered by an insulating protective layer 115 (which may be referred to as a passivation layer) that is attached onto the carrier substrate 200 via the de-bonding layer. The interposer substrate 110 may be used as a fan-out RDL structure for routing. More specifically, the redistribution structure 114 of the interposer substrate 110 includes one or more conductive layers embedded within one or more dielectric layers (which form the insulating base layer 112). The redistribution structure 114 may provide conductive routing for signals. Furthermore, the redistribution structure 114 may also provide structures such as integrated inductors or capacitors. In some embodiments, the insulating base layer 112 includes an organic material such as polybenzoxazole (PBO), polyimide (PI), one or more other suitable polymer materials, or a combination thereof. In those cases, the interposer substrate 110 is also referred to as an organic substrate or an organic interposer substrate. The dielectric layers may be formed by, e.g., a spin-coating process, although any suitable method may be used. After the first of the dielectric layers has been formed, openings (not shown) may be made through the first dielectric layer.
Once the first dielectric layer has been formed and patterned, the first of the conductive layers (such as copper layer) is formed over the first dielectric layer and through the openings in the first dielectric layer. In some embodiments, the first conductive layer is formed using a suitable formation process, such as electroplating, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or sputtering. However, while the material and methods discussed are suitable to form the conductive layer, this material is merely exemplary. Any other suitable materials, such as aluminum, tungsten, nickel, titanium, gold, platinum, silver, another suitable material, or a combination thereof, and any other suitable processes of formation, such as CVD or physical vapor deposition (PVD), may be used to form the conductive layers.
Once the first conductive layer has been formed, a second dielectric layer and a second conductive layer may be formed by repeating steps that are similar to the steps for the first dielectric layer and first conductive layer. These steps may be repeated as desired in order to form an electrical connection between the conductive layers. In some embodiments, the deposition and patterning of the conductive layers and the dielectric layers may be continued until the redistribution structure 114 has the desired number of conductive layers, while the insulating base layer 112 has the desired number of dielectric layers.
The insulating protective layer 115 may be a single layer or a multi-layer structure. In some embodiments, the insulating protective layer 115 is a single layer and has openings exposing conductive layers of the redistribution structure 114. Bond pads (not shown) may be formed over the exposed redistribution structure 114. The insulating protective layer 115 is made of dielectric material(s) and provides stress relief for bonding stress incurred during subsequent bonding processes. For example, the insulating protective layer 115 may be made of a polymer material, such as polyimide, PBO, BCB, the like, or a combination thereof. Alternatively or additionally, the insulating protective layer 115 may include silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride, silicon carbide, another suitable material, or a combination thereof.
Multiple deposition, coating, and/or etching processes may be used to form the interposer substrate 110 including the redistribution structure 114, the insulating base layer 112, and the insulating protective layer 115. In some embodiments, one or more thermal processes are performed during the formation the interposer substrate 110. For example, the insulating protective layer 115 may be made of a polymer material that is formed using a process involving a thermal operation.
After the interposer substrate 110 is provided, at least two semiconductor dies (e.g., the semiconductor dies 100S1 and 100S2) are removed from the carrier substrate 1000 and placed over the interconnect structure 110 using, for example, a pick and place tool (not shown) and then the bump structures 107 of the semiconductor dies 100S1 and 100S2 are mounted over the interposer substrate 110.
For example, two homogeneous dies (e.g., semiconductor dies 100S1 and 100S2) may be mounted over the die regions D1 and D2 of the interposer substrate 110, respectively, through the bump structures 107. The die regions D1 and D2 are separated from each other by a gap region G1 of the interposer substrate 110, so that the adjacent semiconductor dies 100S1 and 100S2 are also separated from one another by the gap region G1. In some embodiments, both of the semiconductor dies 100S1 and 100S2 are SoC dies or memory dies. Optional under bump metallization (UBM) layers (not shown) and the overlying solder bump structures (not shown) may be correspondingly formed below the bump structures 107 and over the interposer substrate 110 prior to the placement of the semiconductor dies 100S1 and 100S2.
After the interposer substrate 110 is bonded with the semiconductor dies (e.g., the semiconductor dies 100S1 and 100S2), an insulating structure is formed over the interposer substrate 110 to separate adjacent semiconductor dies 100S1 and 100S2 from one another and fills the space/gap between the interposer substrate 110 and the semiconductor die 100S1 and the space/gap between the interposer substrate 110 and the semiconductor die 100S2, as shown in
The insulating structure (which is also referred to as gap filling structure) is a multi-layer structure and includes insulating layers (or gap-filling layers) 120 formed over the gap region G1 of the interposer substrate 110 (as shown in
Each of the insulating layers 120 includes a first portion 121 and a second portion 122 extending from the first portion 121 along the sidewalls of the semiconductor die 100S1 and 100S2, as shown in
As shown in
In some embodiments, the insulating layer 130 also includes a first portion 131 and a second portion 132 extending from the first portion 131 along the sidewalls of the semiconductor die 100S1 and 100S2, as shown in
As shown in
In some embodiments, the insulating layers 120 are made of a different underfill material than an underfill material layer of the insulating layer 130. In those cases, both of the insulating layers 120 and the insulating layer 130 are also referred to as underfill material layers. In those cases, the underfill material layers 120 and 130 are employed to protect and support the semiconductor dies 100S1 and 100S2 from operational and environmental degradation, such as stresses caused by the generation of heat during operation. The underfill material may be made of an epoxy-based resin or other protective material. In some embodiments, the formation of the underfill material layer involves an injecting process, a dispensing process, a film lamination process, one or more other applicable processes, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, a thermal curing process is then used to cure the underfill material.
In some embodiments, the underfill material layer 130 also serves as a stable die bonding adhesive to enhance the adhesion between the semiconductor dies 100S1 and 100S2 and the interposer substrate 100. Furthermore, the underfill material layers 120 also serve as stress buffer layers between the underfill material layer 130 and the semiconductor dies 100S1 and 100S2, and between the underfill material layer 130 and the subsequently formed encapsulating layer. In some embodiments, the underfill material layers 120 have a number of different characteristics than the underfill material layer 130. More specifically, the underfill material layers 120 have a Young's modulus, a glass transition temperature (Tg), and a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) that are different than those of the underfill material layer 130. Specifically, the underfill material layers 120 have a greater Young's modulus and glass transition temperature (Tg) than those of the underfill material layer 130. Furthermore, the underfill material layers 120 have a lower coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) than that of the underfill material layer 130. In some embodiments, the underfill material layers 120 have a glass transition temperature (Tg) in a range from about 50° C. to about 200° C. Moreover, the underfill material layers 120 have a Young's modulus in a range from about 2 GPa to about 10 GPa and a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) in a range from about 10 ppm/° C. to 50 ppm/° C. when the temperature of the underfill material layers 120 is lower than their glass transition temperature (Tg). In addition, the underfill material layers 120 have a Young's modulus in a range from about 0.1 GPa to about 1.5 GPa and a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) in a range from about 50 ppm/° C. to 200 ppm/° C. when the temperature of the underfill material layers 120 is higher than their glass transition temperature (Tg). As a result, the underfill material layers 120 can reduce die-to-die stress in the underfill material layer 130 due to CTE mismatch between the interposer substrate 100 and the subsequently formed package substrate. Therefore, the delamination between the semiconductor dies 100S1 and 100S2 and the underfill material layer 130 can be prevented, and the damage (e.g., crack) in the underfill material layer 130 can be reduced, thereby obtaining good, long-term reliability for the chip package structure.
In some embodiments, in order to effectively reduce such a die-to-die stress, the area of the underfill material layer 130 between the semiconductor dies 100S1 and 100S2 (i.e., the second portion 132 of the underfill material layer 130) is greater than the area of the underfill material layer 120 between the semiconductor dies 100S1 and 100S2 (i.e., the second portion 122 of the underfill material layer 120). Moreover, the total volume of the second portion 122 of the underfill material layers 120 is less than the volume of the second portion 132 of the underfill material layer 130. In some embodiments, the volume or area ratio of the second portion 122 of the underfill material layers 120 to the second portion 132 of the underfill material layer 130 and the second portion 122 of the underfill material layers 120 is in a range from about 10% to 50%. In some other embodiments, the volume or area ratio of the second portion 122 of the underfill material layers 120 to the second portion 132 of the underfill material layer 130 and the second portion 122 of the underfill material layers 120 is in a range from about 10% to 30%. The sufficient volume or area ratio is designed to effectively prevent the delamination and crack issues as mentioned above, while avoiding the gap filling difficulty of the underfill material layer 130 from being increased after formation of the underfill material layers 120.
After the underfill material layers 120 and the underfill material layer 130 are formed, an encapsulating layer 140 (which is also referred to as package layer) is formed over the interposer substrate 110 to cover the semiconductor dies 100S1 and 100S2 and surround the semiconductor dies 100S1 and 100S2 and the underfill material layers 120 and 130, as shown in
As shown in
In some embodiments, the encapsulating layer 140 is made of a molding compound material. For example, a liquid molding compound material is applied over the interposer substrate 110, the semiconductor dies 100S1, and 100S2, and the underfill material layers 120 and 130. Afterwards, a thermal process is then applied to harden the liquid molding compound material. In those cases, the encapsulating layer 140 is referred to as a molding compound layer.
Afterwards, the carrier substrate 200 is removed and bump structures 142 (e.g., controlled collapse chip connection (C4) bumps) are formed in the passivation layer 115 of the interposer substrate 110, as shown in
Subsequently, the encapsulating layer 140 may be attached to a carrier substrate 210. Similarly, the carrier substrate 210 includes a de-bonding layer (not shown) coated thereon. The carrier substrate 210 may be a glass carrier substrate, a ceramic carrier substrate or any suitable carrier substrate. The de-bonding layer may include an LTHC layer or an adhesive layer (such as a ultra-violet curable adhesive or a heat curable adhesive layer).
After the removal of the carrier substrate 200 and the attachment of the carrier substrate 210, the bump structures 142 are formed in the openings of the insulating protective layer 115 that exposes bond pads (not shown) of the redistribution structure 114. In some embodiments, the bump structures 142 have a size that is greater than that of the bump structures 107. The bump structures 142 may include a material such as tin, silver, lead-free tin, or copper. The bump structures 142 serve as an electrical connection between the interposer substrate 110 and an external circuit (not shown). Optional under bump metallization (UBM) layers (not shown) may be correspondingly formed between the bond pads of the redistribution structure 114 and the bump structures 142.
Afterwards, the carrier substrate 210 is removed to expose the top surface of the encapsulating layer 140, and an etch back process is performed on the exposed top surface of the encapsulating layer 140, as shown in
Afterwards, the tape layer 220 is removed from the overlying structure, in accordance with some embodiments. The top surfaces of the encapsulating layer 140, the second portion 120 of the underfill material layers 120, the second portion 130 of the underfill material layer 130, and the semiconductor dies 100S1 and 100S2 are then attached to a tape layer (not shown), such as a dicing tape layer. Afterwards, the interposed substrate 110 and the encapsulating layer 140 are successively diced by a sawing process, an etching process, or a combination thereof, so as to form individual chip package structures.
After the sawing process and the removal of the dicing tape layer, the interposer substrate 110 is bonded with a circuit substrate 160, as shown in
Afterwards, an insulating layer 162 is formed to fill in the spaces/gaps between the circuit substrate 300 and the interposer substrate 110. The insulating layer 162 may be made of an underfill material, and therefore insulating layer 162 may be referred as to an underfill material layer. In some embodiments, the underfill material layer 162 fills up the spaces in between adjacent bump structures 142 and covers the bump structures 142. In some embodiments, the underfill material layer 162 covers and is in contact with the sidewalls and the bottom surface of the interposer substrate 110. In some other embodiments, the underfill material layer 162 further surrounds a portion of sidewalls of the encapsulating layer 140.
Many variations and/or modifications can be made to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the chip package structure shown in
Unlike the chip package structure shown in
Many variations and/or modifications can be made to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the chip package structure shown in
As shown in
Similar to the chip package structure shown in
As shown in
Similar to the chip package structure shown in
Similar to the chip package structure shown in
As shown in
Embodiments of the disclosure provide structures and formation methods of chip package structures. The chip package structure includes a first semiconductor die and an adjacent second semiconductor die arranged over a first die region and a second die region an interposer substrate, respectively. At least two gap-filling layers with different Young's modulus are formed between a gap between the first semiconductor die and the second semiconductor die. The gap-filling layer with relatively higher Young's modulus can protect the gap-filling layer with relatively lower Young's modulus from damage due to CTE mismatch between the interposer substrate and the subsequently formed package substrate. Therefore, the delamination between the first and second semiconductor dies and the gap-filling layer with relatively lower Young's modulus and/or the crack in the gap-filling layer with relatively lower Young's modulus can be prevented or mitigated, thereby obtaining good, long-term reliability for the chip package structure.
In accordance with some embodiments, a chip package structure is provided. The chip package structure includes an interposer substrate including a first die region and a second die region that are separated by a gap region. The chip package structure also includes a first semiconductor die and a second semiconductor die respectively arranged over the first die region and the second die region. The chip package structure further includes a first gap-filling layer and a second gap-filling layer formed over the gap region and separated from each other. In addition, the chip package structure includes a third gap-filling layer over the gap region and between the first gap-filling layer and the second gap-filling layer. The Young's modulus of the third gap-filling layer is less than the Young's modulus of the first gap-filling layer and the Young's modulus of the second gap-filling layer.
In accordance with some embodiments, a chip package structure is provided. The chip package structure includes an organic interposer substrate and semiconductor dies arranged over the organic interposer substrate. The chip package structure also includes an encapsulating layer formed over the organic interposer substrate and surrounding the semiconductor dies. The chip package further structure includes an insulating structure formed over the organic interposer substrate to separate adjacent semiconductor dies from one another. The insulating structure includes a first insulating layer having ends, and second insulating layers in direct contact with the ends of the first insulating layer, respectively, and surrounded by the encapsulating layer. In addition, the chip package structure includes a package substrate bonded with the organic interposer substrate. The chip package structure also includes a third insulating layer formed between the package substrate and the organic interposer substrate and surrounding the organic interposer substrate.
In accordance with some embodiments, a method for forming a chip package structure is provided. The method includes mounting a plurality of semiconductor dies over die regions of an interposer substrate. Adjacent die regions are separated from one another by a gap region of the interposer substrate, and the gap region has a plurality of ends. The method also includes forming first underfill material layers over the interposer substrate and adjacent to the ends of the gap region. The method further includes forming a second underfill material layer over the interposer substrate and corresponding to the gap region. The second underfill material layer is in direct contact with each of the first underfill material layers. The Young's modulus of the second underfill material layer is less than the Young's modulus of the first underfill material layers. In addition, the method includes forming an encapsulating layer over the interposer substrate to surround the semiconductor dies, the first underfill material layers, and the second underfill material layer.
In accordance with some embodiments, a method for forming a chip package structure is provided. The method includes mounting semiconductor dies over die regions of an interposer substrate. Adjacent die regions are separated from one another by a gap region having ends of the interposer substrate. The gap region has ends. The method also includes forming first underfill material layers over the interposer substrate and adjacent to the ends of the gap region. The method further includes forming a second underfill material layer over the interposer substrate and corresponding to the gap region. The second underfill material layer is in direct contact with each of the first underfill material layers, in which a Young's modulus of the second underfill material layer is less than a Young's modulus of the first underfill material layers.
In accordance with some embodiments, a method for forming a chip package structure is provided. The method includes mounting semiconductor dies that is arranged in an array over die regions of an interposer substrate. The method also includes forming first underfill material layers over the interposer substrate. Each of the first underfill material layers has a T-shaped contour as viewed from a top-view perspective to separate two adjacent semiconductor dies of the plurality of semiconductor dies and form a gap enclosed by the semiconductor dies and the plurality of first underfill material layers. The method further includes forming a second underfill material layer and a third underfill material layer over the interposer substrate. The second underfill material layer surrounds the array of the semiconductor dies and the first underfill material layers and the third underfill material layer is connected to the second underfill material layer and fills the gap.
In accordance with some embodiments, a method for forming a chip package structure is provided. The method includes mounting a first semiconductor die and a second semiconductor die over an interposer substrate. The first semiconductor die has a first sidewall and a second sidewall adjacent to the first sidewall and the second semiconductor die has a third sidewall facing to the first sidewall and a fourth sidewall adjacent to the third sidewall and aligned to the second sidewall. The method also includes forming a first underfill material layer over the interposer substrate. The first underfill material layer includes a first portion partially covering a lower portion of the second sidewall and a lower portion of the fourth sidewall to expose an upper portion of the second sidewall and an upper portion of the fourth sidewall, and a second portion between the first sidewall and the third sidewall, vertically extending from a top surface of the interposer substrate to a level of top surfaces of the first semiconductor die and the second semiconductor die and laterally extending to be aligned to the second sidewall and the fourth sidewall. The method further includes forming a second underfill material layer over the interposer substrate. The second underfill material layer includes a first portion covering the second sidewall and the fourth sidewall and the first portion of the first underfill material layer, a second portion between the first sidewall and the third sidewall and has a top surface that is level to a top surface of the second portion of the first underfill material layer, and a third portion between the first and the second semiconductor dies and the interposer substrate to connect the first and second portions of the second underfill material layer.
The foregoing outlines features of several embodiments so that those skilled in the art may better understand the aspects of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they may readily use the present disclosure as a basis for designing or modifying other processes and structures for carrying out the same purposes and/or achieving the same advantages of the embodiments introduced herein. Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, and that they may make various changes, substitutions, and alterations herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.
This application is a Divisional of pending Ser. No. 17/462,458, filed Aug. 31, 2021, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 17462458 | Aug 2021 | US |
Child | 18753139 | US |