1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to semiconductor structures and methods for fabricating the same, and more specifically, to a multi-channel stackable semiconductor device and a method for fabricating the same, and a stacking substrate applied to the semiconductor device.
2. Description of Related Art
Due to increasing demands of electronic products on miniaturization and high-speed operation, also in order to enhance performance and capacity of a single semiconductor package structure for use with miniaturized electronic products, the semiconductor industry has developed designs of integrating a plurality of semiconductor packages to a circuit board for creating devices with special electronic functions, and such designs are called modulization.
In a common modulized semiconductor device, a plurality of semiconductor packages are mounted on a circuit board in a side by side layout, or a double-layered structure is formed by mounting a plurality of semiconductor packages on two opposite sides of a circuit board. However, no matter it is a side by side layout or a double-layered layout, a great deal of space and volume of the circuit board is taken, and the space of the circuit board required for incorporating the semiconductor packages should be increased to cope with an increasing number of the semiconductor packages.
In order to overcome the abovementioned space-inefficiency drawback, a multi-chip module has been wildly applied to the semiconductor package structure in recently years, wherein two or more chips are stacked up or laid side by side, and are integrated into a single package structure, thereby reducing the overall size of circuit structure of an electronic product, enhancing electrical performance, and providing a thin and light multi-chip modular package at low cost. For instances, according to U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,791,178, 5,994,166, 5,323,060 and 6,051,878, package structures, including side by side layout, stacked layout, and combination of both layouts, are disclosed. However, a major disadvantage of the multi-chip module relates to failure in ensuring the use of known good dies (KGDs), which makes the cost of multi-chip module package structure difficult to reduce.
Accordingly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,798,054 provides an improved multi-chip module package structure, wherein semiconductor packages that have passed test, namely having known good dies (KGDs), are combined and integrated with other chips into a single semiconductor device.
In addition, in order to increase memory capacity of a memory module, e.g. flash memory, the number of the above stacked semiconductor packages must be increased accordingly. Related prior arts include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,247,423, 6,225,689, 6,190,944 and 4,996,587, wherein a plurality of semiconductor packages are vertically stacked and are electrically connected to one another by means of pin to pin parallel connection, namely, one-channel stacking. Although the one-channel stacked memory module has increased memory chip capacity, problems of low transmission speed and low efficiency of the memory module are encountered.
In view of the above drawbacks, a multi-channel module structure has been proposed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,996,583 and 5,677,569. According to U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,583, tape automated bonding, TAB, is applied in the packaging process, which however makes the fabrication processes complicated and requires expensive tapes. According to U.S. Pat. No. 5,677,569, another special packaging method is adopted but it has high cost. Thus, both the packaging techniques are not able to effectively solve the existing problems.
Therefore, the problem to be solved here is to provide a multi-channel stackable semiconductor device and a method for fabricating the same, which can effectively solve the drawbacks in the prior art as mentioned above.
In view of the disadvantages of the prior art mentioned above, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a multi-channel stackable semiconductor device and a method for fabricating the same, and a stacking substrate applied to the semiconductor device, which are capable of using universal package members having known good dies.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a multi-channel stackable semiconductor device and a method for fabricating the same, and a stacking substrate applied to the semiconductor device, which are capable of using universal package members having know good dies and stacking the universal package members.
It is still another objective of the present invention to provide a multi-channel stackable semiconductor device and a method for fabricating the same, and a stacking substrate applied to the semiconductor device, which are capable of performing the fabrication processes without needing specially made package members.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a multi-channel stackable semiconductor device and a method for fabricating the same, and a stacking substrate applied to the semiconductor device, which do not require expensive or complicatedly fabricated package members.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a multi-channel stackable semiconductor device and a method for fabricating the same, and a stacking substrate applied to the semiconductor device, which can reduce the fabrication cost and increase the yield.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a multi-channel stackable semiconductor device and a method for fabricating the same, and a stacking substrate applied to the semiconductor device, which can avoid using expensive materials and also simplify the fabrication processes.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a multi-channel stackable semiconductor device and a method for fabricating the same, and a stacking substrate applied to the semiconductor device, which can enhance the transmission speed and efficiency.
To achieve the aforementioned and other objectives, a multi-channel stackable semiconductor device is provided according to the present invention. The multi-channel stackable semiconductor device comprises: a modular circuit board; a plurality of stacking substrates each comprising a first surface, a second surface opposite to the first surface, a plurality of electrical bond pads and ball pads formed on the first surface, and a plurality of electrical terminals formed on the second surface, wherein the ball pads are electrically connected to the electrical terminals by conductive structures formed in each of the stacking substrates, and a plurality of corresponding connection paths are provided between at least one of the electrical bond pads and at least some of the ball pads, so as to allow each of the electrical bond pads to be selectively electrically connected to the ball pads; and a plurality of package members having known good dies, each of the package members being mounted on a corresponding one of the stacking substrates and being electrically connected to the electrical bond pads of the corresponding one of the stacking substrates, wherein the stacking substrates with the package members mounted thereon are stacked and electrically connected to the modular circuit board, and adjacent ones of the stacked stacking substrates are electrically interconnected by solder balls bonded to the ball pads of an overlying one of the stacking substrates and to the electrical terminals of an underlying one of the stacking substrates.
According to the above structure, each of the stacking substrates comprises conductive vias for electrically connecting the ball pads on the first surface to the electrical terminals on the second surface. The electrical bond pads of each of the stacking substrates can be selectively electrically connected to the ball pads by conductive traces or passive components with nearly zero resistance. Each of the stacking substrates can be formed with an opening for receiving a corresponding one of the package members. Each of the package members can be a thin small outline package (TSOP) or a thin and fine-pitch ball grid array (TFBGA) structure.
The present invention also provides a fabrication method of a multi-channel stackable semiconductor device, comprising the steps of: providing a plurality of stacking substrates, each of the stacking substrates comprising a first surface, a second surface opposite to the first surface, a plurality of electrical bond pads and ball pads formed on the first surface, and a plurality of electrical terminals formed on the second surface, wherein the ball pads are electrically connected to the electrical terminals by conductive structures formed in each of the stacking substrates, and a plurality of corresponding connection paths are provided between at least one of the electrical bond pads and at least some of the ball pads; mounting a plurality of package members having known good dies on the stacking substrates respectively and electrically connecting each of the package members to the electrical bond pads of a corresponding one of the stacking substrates, and implanting solder balls on the ball pads of the stacking substrates; determining electrical connections to be formed between the electrical bond pads and the ball pads of each of the stacking substrates, so as to allow each of the electrical bond pads to be selectively electrically connected to the ball pads; and stacking the stacking substrates with the package members mounted thereon, and electrically connecting the stacked stacking substrates to a modular circuit board, wherein adjacent ones of the stacked stacking substrates are electrically interconnected by bonding the solder balls on the ball pads of an overlying one of the stacking substrates to the electrical terminals of an underlying one of the stacking substrates.
According to the above fabrication method, the electrical bond pads of each of the stacking substrates are electrically connected to the ball pads by conductive traces initially, and then a laser trim process is performed to cut off the electrical connections between the electrical bond pads and the ball pads partially, so as to allow each of the electrical bond pads to be selectively electrically connected to predetermined corresponding ones of the ball pads. Alternatively, the electrical bond pads of each of the stacking substrates are free of being electrically connected to the balls pads initially, and each of the electrical bond pads is selectively electrically connected to predetermined corresponding ones of the ball pads by passive components with nearly zero resistance, depending on a stacking position of each of the stacking substrates in relation to the other stacking substrates.
The present invention further provides a semiconductor device, comprising: a stacking substrate comprising a first surface, a second surface opposite to the first surface, a plurality of electrical bond pads and ball pads formed on the first surface, and a plurality of electrical terminals formed on the second surface, wherein the ball pads are electrically connected to the electrical terminals by conductive structures formed in the stacking substrate, and a plurality of corresponding connection paths are provided between at least one of the electrical bond pads and at least some of the ball pads, so as to allow each of the electrical bond pads to be selectively electrically connected to the ball pads; and a package member having a know good die, the package member being mounted on the stacking substrate and electrically connected to the electrical bond pads of the stacking substrate.
The present invention further provides a stacking substrate, comprising: a substrate body having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface; a plurality of electrical bond pads and ball pads formed on the first surface of the substrate body, wherein a plurality of corresponding connection paths are provided between at least one of the electrical bond pads and at least some of the ball pads, so as to allow each of the electrical bond pads to be selectively electrically connected to the ball pads; and a plurality of electrical terminals formed on the second surface of the substrate body, wherein the ball pads are electrically connected to the electrical terminals by conductive structures formed in the substrate body.
Therefore, according to the multi-channel stackable semiconductor device and the method for fabricating the same in the present invention, a plurality of stacking substrates and package members having known good dies are provided. Each of the stacking substrates comprises a first surface, a second surface opposite to the first surface, a plurality of electrical bond pads and ball pads formed on the first surface, and a plurality of electrical terminals formed on the second surface. The ball pads are electrically connected to the electrical terminals by conductive structures formed in each of the stacking substrates, and a plurality of corresponding connection paths are provided between at least one of the electrical bond pads and at least some of the ball pads, so as to allow each of the electrical bond pads to be selectively electrically connected to the ball pads. Each of the package members is mounted on a corresponding one of the stacking substrates and is electrically connected to the electrical bond pads of the corresponding one of the stacking substrates. The stacking substrates with the package members mounted thereon are stacked and electrically connected to the modular circuit board, wherein adjacent ones of the stacked stacking substrates are electrically interconnected by solder balls bonded to the ball pads of an overlying one of the stacking substrates and to the electrical terminals of an underlying one of the stacking substrates. Thereby, the package members, such as flash memories, can be stacked up on the modular circuit board directly, avoiding the side by side layout that takes up too much space on the circuit board as in the prior art, while providing multi-channel electrical connection outlets so as to enhance the operational and processing speed of the memories. Furthermore, the present invention adopts package members having known good dies, thereby improving the yield, and without needing specially made package members, expensive tapes or complicated processes, thereby decreasing the cost and simplifying the fabrication processes.
The present invention can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, with reference made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Preferred embodiments of a multi-channel stackable semiconductor device and a method for fabricating the same, and a stacking substrate applied to the semiconductor device as proposed by the present invention are described in detail as follows with reference to
As shown in
A plurality of corresponding connection paths are provided between the singular electrical bond pads and the plurality of ball pads on one side of the stacking substrate, so as to allow the electrical bond pads to be selectively electrically connected to the corresponding ball pads. As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
In this embodiment, for example (but not limited to), stacking of four stacking substrates 10 mounted with package members 20 to form a multi-channel stackable semiconductor device is illustrated. For the stacking substrate 10 shown in
As shown in
Accordingly, the present invention allows the package members, e.g. flash memories, to be stacked on the circuit board directly, avoiding the side by side layout that takes up much space on the circuit board as in the prior art, while providing multi-channel electrical connection outlets (as shown in
The present invention further discloses a multi-channel stackable semiconductor device, which comprises: a modular circuit board 30; a plurality of stacking substrate 10 each comprising a first surface, a second surface opposite to the first surface, a plurality of electrical bond pads 12 and ball pads 13 formed on the first surface, and a plurality of electrical terminals 13′ formed on the second surface, wherein the ball pads 13 are electrically connected to the electrical terminals 13′ by conductive structures formed in the stacking substrate 10, and a plurality of corresponding connection paths are provided between singular the electrical bond pads 12 and the plurality of ball pads 13, so as to allow each of the electrical bond pads 12 to be selectively electrically connected to the ball pads 13; and a plurality of package members 20 having known good dies, each of the package members 20 being mounted on a corresponding one of the stacking substrates 10 and being electrically connected to the electrical bond pads 12 of the corresponding stacking substrate 10, wherein the stacking substrates 10 mounted with the package members 20 are stacked up and are electrically connected to the modular circuit board 30, wherein an overlying stacking substrate 10 is electrically connected via the solder balls 130 on the ball pads 13 thereof to the electrical terminals 13′ of an underlying the stacking substrate 10.
The present invention further provides a stacking substrate 10, comprising: a substrate body 11 having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface; a plurality of electrical bond pads 12 and a plurality of ball pads 13, which are formed on the first surface of the substrate body 11, wherein a plurality of corresponding connection paths are provided between singular electrical bond pads 12 and the plurality of ball pads 13, so as to allow each of the electrical bond pads 12 to be selectively electrically connected to the ball pads 13; and a plurality of electrical terminals 13′ formed on the second surface of the substrate body 11, wherein the ball pads 13 are electrically connected to the electrical terminals 13′ by conductive structures formed within the stacking substrate 10.
The present invention further provides a semiconductor device 100, comprising: a stacking substrate 10, which comprises a first surface, a second surface opposite to the first surface, a plurality of electrical bond pads 12 and ball pads 13 formed on the first surface, and a plurality of electrical terminals 13′ formed on the second surface, wherein the ball pads 13 are electrically connected to the electrical terminals 13′ by conductive structures formed in the stacking substrate 10, and a plurality of corresponding connection paths are provided between singular electrical bond pads 12 and the plurality of ball pads 13, so as to allow each of the electrical bond pads 12 to be selectively electrically connected to the ball pads 13; and a package member 20 having a known good die, wherein the package member 20 is mounted on and electrically connected to the electrical bond pads 12 of the stacking substrate 10.
The electrical bond pads 121 and 122 on the stacking substrate 10 initially are not electrically connected to the corresponding ball pads 131, 132, 133 and 134 and the corresponding ball pads 135, 136, 137 and 138 respectively. According to a stacking position of the stacking substrate 10 in relation to other stacking structures to be stacked thereto (for example, the stacking structure shown in
Therefore, according to the multi-channel stackable semiconductor device and the method for fabricating the same in the present invention, a plurality of stacking substrates and package members having known good dies are provided. Each of the stacking substrates comprises a first surface, a second surface opposite to the first surface, a plurality of electrical bond pads and ball pads formed on the first surface, and a plurality of electrical terminals formed on the second surface. The ball pads are electrically connected to the electrical terminals by conductive structures formed in each of the stacking substrates, and a plurality of corresponding connection paths are provided between at least one of the electrical bond pads and at least some of the ball pads, so as to allow each of the electrical bond pads to be selectively electrically connected to the ball pads. Each of the package members is mounted on a corresponding one of the stacking substrates and is electrically connected to the electrical bond pads of the corresponding one of the stacking substrates. The stacking substrates with the package members mounted thereon are stacked and electrically connected to the modular circuit board, wherein adjacent ones of the stacked stacking substrates are electrically interconnected by solder balls bonded to the ball pads of an overlying one of the stacking substrates and to the electrical terminals of an underlying one of the stacking substrates. Thereby, the package members, such as flash memories, can be stacked up on the modular circuit board directly, avoiding the side by side layout that takes up too much space on the circuit board as in the prior art, while providing multi-channel electrical connection outlets so as to enhance the operational and processing speed of the memories. Furthermore, the present invention adopts package members having known good dies, thereby improving the yield, and without needing specially made package members, expensive tapes or complicated processes, thereby decreasing the cost and simplifying the fabrication processes.
The invention has been described using exemplary preferred embodiments. However, it is to be understood that the scope of the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements. The scope of the claims, therefore, should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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097100949 | Jan 2008 | TW | national |