The present invention relates to a method of producing chip stacks.
Stacks of semiconductor chips can be produced by a procedure in which contact areas are in each case produced at the top sides of the semiconductor chips in a topmost metal layer of the wiring planes, which contact areas are covered with a passivation, a plated-through hole is in each case produced through the passivation and an electrically conductive connection is produced between the plated-through hole and an associated interconnect applied on the top side. The chips are arranged with the relevant top sides facing one another and opposite one another in such a way that the interconnects to be connected to one another are located one on top of the other. The interconnects are permanently connected to one another using diffusion soldering known per se, in particular the SOLID process. In order to produce the soldered connection, a thin solder layer is applied to the relevant interconnects of at least one of the semiconductor chips.
This production method affords the advantage, inter alia, of an additional relatively thin metal plane in the connecting zone (interface) of the two chips which can be used for wiring purposes. By way of example, in this interconnect plane which is provided only for connecting the chips, a rewiring of the chip contacts may be performed or the chips may be contact-connected by means of this plane to interconnects suitable for high frequencies (strip lines).
The connecting plane is formed in a single layer, however, so that the interconnects present therein cannot be bridged. A bridging of the interconnects present in the connecting plane is only possible if suitable electrically conductive connections are provided in one of the metallization planes of the wiring of the semiconductor chips themselves, which connections, via the plated-through holes to the interconnects connected to one another by means of diffusion soldering, short-circuit the interconnects. This requires two plated-through holes (vias) and a metal bridge in the topmost metallization plane of one of the chips that are to be connected to one another. A corresponding adaptation in the design of the metallization planes is therefore required as early as in the production of the chip.
A plurality of interconnect layers are produced on a top side of one or two semiconductor chips, and are mutually isolated from one another in each case by insulation layers that are patterned in such a way that an interconnect layer applied as bridge makes contact with the interconnects applied previously.
Examples of the method according to the invention are described in more detail below with reference to
It is an object of the present invention to specify a method which makes it possible to realize in principle any desired connections of the topmost interconnects during the production of chip stacks by means of diffusion soldering.
The method involves covering an interconnect to be bridged on the top side of a semiconductor chip with an insulation layer or insulation covering. The interconnect to be bridged can then be bridged by a further interconnect layer applied to the same semiconductor chip; or the bridging is effected by means of an interconnect of the other semiconductor chip during the connection of the two semiconductor chips by means of diffusion soldering. It is possible, in particular, to produce a plurality of interconnect layers on the top side of one or the two semiconductor chips, which are mutually isolated from one another in each case by insulation layers. These insulation layers are patterned in such a way that regions of the surfaces of the interconnect plane applied previously are in each case uncovered and, at these locations, the respective subsequent interconnect layer makes contact with the interconnects applied previously. In the case of this method, therefore, the design of the semiconductor chips does not have to be adapted to a wiring that is only performed during the production of the semiconductor chip stack.
A further interconnect, representing an interconnect 13 to be bridged, is depicted as an example in
Therefore, in accordance with the cross section of
The interconnect layer 6 may be thin if further layers are provided before the topmost metal layer is applied for the connection by means of diffusion soldering. Until the topmost metal layer is attained, therefore, the further interconnect layers may be formed independently of the metallurgical requirements imposed by the diffusion soldering. In this case, the layer thickness depends, in particular, only on the electrical requirements and may e.g. typically be 0.5 μm. The interconnect layers are at any rate preferably thinner than 1 μm. The interconnects 3 applied first may likewise have this small thickness. The planarizing properties of the electrodeposition have a very advantageous effect. On account of the small layer thickness, the layers may, however, also be applied by means of sputtering and etching processes.
The illustration of
The second semiconductor chip 12, which is intended to be combined with the first semiconductor chip 11 to form the chip stack, is illustrated at the top in the cross section of
It can additionally be discerned in
If the interconnects 3, 23 of the two chips are brought into contact, the molten solder material of the solder layer 8 (e.g. tin) is laterally displaced by the upper portion 18 of the insulation covering 17. This process is noncritical for the production of the connection since the displaced volume of the solder material is restricted to the width of the interconnects and the upper portion 18 of the insulation covering 17 is sufficiently thin. Beside the interconnects, therefore, there is a sufficiently large volume which is initially still free and in which the portions of the solder layer 8 are taken up. Photopatternable polyimide is preferably taken into consideration as material for the insulation covering 17. The insulation covering is preferably deposited with a thickness of less than 1 μm. Instead of polyimide, it is possible to use some other material which withstands the soldering temperature of typically approximately 300° C. and does not react with the solder material.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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103 13 047 | Mar 2003 | DE | national |
This application is a continuation of International Patent Application Serial No. PCT/DE2004/000544, filed Mar. 17, 2004, which published in German on Oct. 7, 2004 as WO 2004/086497, and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20060055051 A1 | Mar 2006 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/DE04/00544 | Mar 2004 | US |
Child | 11236311 | US |