Patent Application
20100127392
The present invention relates to a semiconductor die and, more particularly, to a semiconductor die that is made without having to involve a packaging process and can directly be connected to a printed circuit board (“PCB”) or a package substrate.
An active semiconductor device may be a diode, an integrated circuit, a transistor (MOS, FET or IGBT), a high-power semiconductor device, a photoactive element or a photocell of gallium arsenide. An active semiconductor device is generally made in a preparatory process, an front-end process and a back-end process. In the preparatory process, a semiconductor substrate is made from silicon or gallium. In the front-end process, a semiconductor die is made on the semiconductor die. In the back-end process, a semiconductor device is made by packaging the semiconductor die.
Referring to
In the front-end process, the semiconductor substrate 3 is subjected to repeated photolithography, etching and impurity-dosing. By a thermal diffusion method, an ion-injection method or an epitaxial growth method, an epitaxial growth layer 31 and an isolating layer 32 such as an oxide film are formed on the semiconductor substrate 3. By vapor deposition, aluminum, copper, titanium, chromium, platinum, gold or alloy is provided on the semiconductor die to form electrodes 51 including electrodes 51 include a gate, a collector and a source and wiring. Thus, a semiconductor die 5 is made.
Referring to
In a quad flat package (“QFP”), a semiconductor die 50 is formed with electrodes 51. A wire frame 60 is formed with pins 61. The semiconductor die 50 is located on the wire frame 60. By bonding, wires 62 are provided for connecting the electrodes 51 of the semiconductor die 50 to the pins 61 of the wire frame 60. By plastic packaging, the semiconductor die 50 and the wires 62 are packaged in a package 65. Then, the pins 61 of the wire frame 60 are connected to a printed circuit 91 of a substrate 90. This conventional manufacturing process is complicated and requires special and expensive equipment such as a soldering machine and a plastic packaging machine. Moreover, the heat dissipation of the semiconductor die 50 is poor so that the performance of the semiconductor die 50 is unstable.
In a solder ball grid array (“BGA”), a semiconductor die 50 is formed with electrodes 51. The semiconductor die 50 is located on a wire board 70. By bonding, wires 71 are provided for connecting the electrodes 51 of the semiconductor die 50 to contacts of the wire board 70. By plastic packaging, the semiconductor die 50 and the wires 71 are packaged in a package 75. By solder ball-implanting, solder balls 72 are formed beneath the wire board 70. By soldering, the solder balls 72 of the wire board 70 are connected to a printed circuit 91 of a substrate 90. This conventional manufacturing process is complicated and requires special and expensive equipment such as a soldering machine, a solder ball-implanting machine and a plastic packaging machine. Moreover, the heat dissipation of the semiconductor die 50 is poor so that the performance of the semiconductor die 50 is unstable.
In a flip semiconductor die (“FC”), a semiconductor die 50 is formed with electrodes 51. Then, in a semiconductor-manufacturing process, bumps 55 are formed on the electrodes 51 of the semiconductor die 50. The bumps 55 may be tin or gold solder balls. The bumps 55 are attached to a wire board 80. By solder ball-implanting, solder balls 82 are formed beneath the wire board 80. By plastic injection, the semiconductor die 50 and the bumps 55 are packaged in a package 85. By soldering, the solder balls 82 of the wire board 80 are connected to a printed circuit 91 of a substrate 90. This conventional manufacturing process is complicated and requires special and expensive equipment such as a solder ball-implanting machine and a plastic packaging machine. Moreover, the heat dissipation of the semiconductor die 50 is poor so that the performance of the semiconductor die 50 is unstable.
In a semiconductor wafer level semiconductor die scale package (“WLCSP”), a semiconductor die 50 is formed with electrodes 51. In a semiconductor-manufacturing process, bumps 55 are formed on the electrodes 51 of the semiconductor die 50. The bumps 55 may be tin or gold solder balls. The bumps 55 are connected to a printed circuit 91 of a substrate 90. The heat dissipation of the semiconductor die 50 is good. However, the diameter or height of the bumps 55 is often inadequate so that the yield is low.
The present invention is therefore intended to obviate or at least alleviate the problems encountered in prior art.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide an inexpensive semiconductor die.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a semiconductor die with excellent heat radiation.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a semiconductor die for use at a low cost.
To achieve the foregoing objectives, the semiconductor die includes a semiconductor substrate, electrodes provided on the semiconductor substrate, an isolating layer provided on the electrodes, an upper protective layer provided on the electrodes and the isolating layer, pads provided on the upper protective layer and connectors inserted through the upper protective layer and used to connect the electrodes to the pads. The area of the pads is larger than that of the electrodes.
Other objectives, advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description referring to the attached drawings.
The present invention will be described via the detailed illustration of embodiments versus the prior art referring to the drawings.
Referring to
An upper protective layer 77 is provided on the isolating layer 71 and the electrodes 72. A peripheral protective layer 78 is provided around the semiconductor substrate 6. The upper protective layer 77 and the peripheral protective layer 78 are made of an isolating, water-proof and thermally conductive material to protect the semiconductor substrate 6 from vapor, oxidation and short-circuiting and facilitate the heat radiation of the semiconductor substrate 6. Therefore, there is no need for a package that often entails a high cost and a low yield.
A pad array 75 is provided on the upper protective layer 77 during a semiconductor-manufacturing process such as epitaxial growth, etching or vapor deposition. The pad array 75 includes at least one pad 750, at least one pad 751 and at least one pad 752. The pads 750, 751 and 752 are made of gold, silver, copper, aluminum, tin, chromium, palladium, platinum, molybdenum and an alloy. The area of the pads 750, 751 and 752 is larger than that of the gate 720, the collector 721 and the source 722.
A connector unit 76 is inserted through the upper protective layer 77. The connector unit 76 includes connectors 760, 761 and 762. The connector 760 is used to connect the pad 750 to the gate 720. The connector 761 is used to connect the pad 751 to the collector 721. The connector 762 is used to connect the pad 752 to the gate 722.
Referring to
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In several aspects, the semiconductor die according to the present invention is advantageous over the conventional semiconductor die discussed in the BACKGROUND OF INVENTION. At first, the semiconductor die 6 is inexpensive compared with the prior art because it is protected without the need for a package. The isolating layer 71 and the electrodes 72 are protected with the upper protective layer 77, and the periphery of the semiconductor die 6 is protected with the peripheral protective layer 78. The protective layers 77 and 78 are made of an isolating, water-proof and thermally conductive material to protect the semiconductor substrate 6 from vapor, oxidation and short-circuiting and facilitate the heat radiation of the semiconductor substrate 6.
Secondly, the heat radiation of the semiconductor die 6 is better than that of the prior art. The semiconductor die 6 is not packaged in a package so that heat can effectively be radiated from the semiconductor die 6 without being hindered by a package.
Thirdly, the cost in the use of the semiconductor 6 is inexpensive compared with that of the prior art. The pads 75 are large so that they can directly be connected to the printed circuit board 90 or the package substrate 59 based on the surface mounted technology. There is no need for pins or solder balls.
The present invention has been described via the detailed illustration of the preferred embodiment. Those skilled in the art can derive variations from the preferred embodiment without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the preferred embodiment shall not limit the scope of the present invention defined in the claims.
