This U.S. non-provisional patent application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2012-0095588, filed on Aug. 30, 2012, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Some of example embodiments of the inventive concepts relate to semiconductor packages, and in particular, to a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor packages.
In general, an image sensor is configured to convert one-dimensional or two-dimensional optical information into electric signals. The image sensor may be classified into a CMOS image sensor and a charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensor. The image sensor can be applied to realize cameras, camcorders, multimedia personal computers, and/or security cameras, and demands for the image sensor are rapidly increasing.
A package for the CMOS image sensor may include a ceramic substrate. The ceramic substrate prevents or mitigates warpage of a semiconductor chip, and thus, the ceramic substrate is being used for high quality image sensor packages. However, in general, the ceramics substrate is expensive and difficult to process. A transparent compound or a lead frame molded with plastic may be used to package the CMOS image sensor. However, these materials have not been widely adopted so far because of several technical difficulties (e.g., a problem related to an assembling process or a definition issue caused by moisture-absorption).
Example embodiments of the inventive concepts provide semiconductor packages having an improved warpage property and improved reliability.
According to an example embodiments of the inventive concepts, a semiconductor package may include an image sensor chip mounted on a substrate, an attaching part interposed between the substrate and the image sensor chip, a holder provided on the substrate and surround a side surface of the image sensor chip, and a transparent cover provided on the holder and spaced apart from the substrate and facing the substrate. The attaching part may include a first attaching part, and a second attaching part provided to cover or surround at least a side surface of the first attaching part and the second attaching part has a rigidity lower than the first attaching part.
The first attaching part may include at least one of a polyimide-based material and an epoxy-based material.
The first attaching part may include a first surface being in contact with the image sensor chip, a second surface being in contact with the substrate, and a side surface connecting the first surface to the second surface and being in contact with the second attaching part.
The substrate may include an epoxy-based material.
The semiconductor package may further include a bonding wire connecting the image sensor chip to an internal pad provided on the substrate and electrically connecting the image sensor chip to the substrate.
The transparent cover may be hermitically combined with the holder to define a void between the substrate and the transparent cover.
According to an example embodiment of the inventive concepts, a semiconductor package may include a substrate having first and second surfaces facing each other and including an epoxy-based material, an image sensor chip provided on the first surface of the substrate, an attaching part provided between the first surface of the substrate and the image sensor chip and including a first attaching part and a second attaching part, a bonding wire connecting the image sensor chip to the substrate, a holder attached to an edge of the first surface of the substrate, and a transparent cover provided on the holder. The first attaching part may be in contact with the image sensor chip at a center thereof, the second attaching part may be in contact with the image sensor chip an edge thereof, and the second attaching part may include a material, whose modulus is lower than that of the first attaching part.
The first attaching part may include at least one of a polyimide-based materials and an epoxy-based material.
According to an example embodiment, a semiconductor package, an image sensor chip on the substrate, a first attaching layer coupling the substrate to the semiconductor chip at the center portion of the semiconductor chip, and a second attaching layer filling a space defined between the substrate, the semiconductor chip, and the first attaching layer. At least a portion of the second attaching layer is coupled to a side surface of the first attaching layer and the second attaching layer is less rigid than the first attaching layer. The substrate may include a substrate including an epoxy-based material
The semiconductor package may further include a transparent cover over the image sensor chip. The semiconductor package may further include a void hermitically defined between the transparent cover and the image sensor chip. The semiconductor package may further include a holder being coupled to the substrate at an edge of the substrate, the holder surrounding at least a side surface of the image sensor chip and supporting the transparent cover.
The first attaching layer may include at least one of a polyimide-based material or an epoxy-based material.
The first attaching layer and the second attaching layer may form an attaching structure, which has a trapezoidal cross-section.
The first attaching layer may be formed to have one of a square shape, an elliptical shape, a cross shape, a letter x shape, and a star-like shape in a plan view.
Example embodiments will be more clearly understood from the following brief description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawings represent non-limiting, example embodiments as described herein.
It should be noted that these figures are intended to illustrate the general characteristics of methods, structure and/or materials utilized in certain example embodiments and to supplement the written description provided below. These drawings are not, however, to scale and may not precisely reflect the precise structural or performance characteristics of any given embodiment, and should not be interpreted as defining or limiting the range of values or properties encompassed by example embodiments. For example, the relative thicknesses and positioning of molecules, layers, regions and/or structural elements may be reduced or exaggerated for clarity. The use of similar or identical reference numbers in the various drawings is intended to indicate the presence of a similar or identical element or feature.
Example embodiments of the inventive concepts will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the example embodiments are shown. Example embodiments of the inventive concepts may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of example embodiments to those of ordinary skill in the art. In the drawings, the thicknesses of layers and regions are exaggerated for clarity. Like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements, and thus their description will be omitted.
It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are no intervening elements present. Like numbers indicate like elements throughout. As used herein the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements or layers should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” “on” versus “directly on”).
It will be understood that, although the terms “first”, “second”, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another element, component, region, layer or section. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of example embodiments.
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. It will be understood that 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. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes” and/or “including,” if used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups thereof.
Example embodiments of the inventive concepts are described herein with reference to cross-sectional illustrations that are schematic illustrations of idealized embodiments (and intermediate structures) of example embodiments. As such, variations from the shapes of the illustrations as a result, for example, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances, are to be expected. Thus, example embodiments of the inventive concepts should not be construed as limited to the particular shapes of regions illustrated herein, but are to include deviations in shapes that result, for example, from manufacturing. For example, an implanted region illustrated as a rectangle may have rounded or curved features and/or a gradient of implant concentration at its edges rather than a binary change from implanted to non-implanted region. Likewise, a buried region formed by implantation may result in some implantation in the region between the buried region and the surface through which the implantation takes place. Thus, the regions illustrated in the figures are schematic in nature and their shapes are not intended to illustrate the actual shape of a region of a device and are not intended to limit the scope of example embodiments.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which example embodiments of the inventive concepts belong. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly-used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
[Semiconductor Packages]
Referring to
The substrate 100 may be a printed circuit board (PCB), in which patterns are provided. The substrate 100 may include a first surface 100a and a second surface 100b, which face each other. The substrate 100 may include a base substrate 110, an internal pad 120, a through via 130, and/or an outer connecting terminal 140. The base substrate 110 may include an epoxy-based material and/or a ceramics material. The base substrate 110 may have a thermal expansion coefficient of about 17 ppm/° C. The internal pad 120 may be provided on the first surface 100a of the substrate 100 and include a conductive material. The through via 130 may be provided through the substrate 100, thereby reducing an overall size (e.g., height) of the semiconductor package 1, thereby increasing a signal delivering speed. For example, the through via 130 may be formed through the substrate 100 to connect the first surface 100a with the second surface 100b. The through via 130 may include a conductive material (e.g., W, Ti, Ni, Cu, Au, Ti/Cu, Ti/Ni and/or alloys thereof). The through via 130 may be configured to connect the internal pad 120 to the outer connecting terminal 140 provided on the second surface 100b. The outer connecting terminal 140 may include an outer pad 141 and/or a solder ball 143 provided on the outer pad 141. Each of the outer pad 141 and the solder ball 143 may include a conductive material. The outer connecting terminal 140 may be configured to electrically connect the semiconductor package 1 to an external electronic device (e.g., a motherboard).
The image sensor chip 200 may include a CMOS image sensor (CIS) chip. The image sensor chip 200 may be configured to convert optical signals obtained from a subject into electrical signals.
The attaching part 300 may be provided between the substrate 100 and the image sensor chip 200 to couple the substrate 100 to the image sensor chip 200. The attaching part 300 may include a first attaching part 310 and a second attaching part 320. The first attaching part 310 may include a first surface 310a being in contact with the image sensor chip, a second surface 310b being in contact with the substrate 100, and a side surface 310c connecting the first surface 310a to the second surface 310b. At least a portion of the second attaching part 320 may be in contact with the side surface 310c of the first attaching part 310.
Referring to
Referring to Table 1 and
According to an example embodiment of the inventive concepts, the attaching part 300 may be configured to have a structure capable of preventing the warpage of the image sensor chip 200 from occurring. For example, the attaching part 300 may be formed to have a trapezoidal cross-section. The plane coverage between the attaching part 300 and the image sensor chip 200 may also be adjusted. Referring to Table 1 and
The first attaching part 310 may achieve high reliability of the semiconductor package 1 in association with the second attaching part 320. The second attaching part 320 of the attaching part 300 may be formed of a material exhibiting a modulus and/or yield stress value being lower than those of the first attaching part 310. Thus, the warpage of the image sensor chip 200 can be reduced. Further, the use of the second attaching part 320 may make it possible to use the epoxy-based material, which has a relatively high thermal expansion coefficient, as a material for the substrate 100 of the semiconductor package 1. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce a fabrication cost of the semiconductor package 1 and process the substrate 100 with relative ease.
Referring back to
The holder 500 may be provided on an edge of the first surface 100a of the substrate 100. The holder 500 may be provided to surround the image sensor chip 200. The holder 500 may be attached to the substrate 100 to support the transparent cover 600. The holder 500 may protect the image sensor chip 200. The holder 500 may include a dielectric material. For example, the holder 500 may include a silicone polymer material.
The transparent cover 600 may be provided on the holder 500 and be spaced apart from and face the image sensor chip 200. The transparent cover 600 may be hermetically combined with the holder 500 to define a void C between the transparent cover 600 and the image sensor chip 200. For example, the transparent cover 600 may be formed of a transparent material (e.g., glass). The transparent cover 600 may be configured to serve as an infrared light (IR) filter. The transparent cover 600 may be configured to prevent the image sensor chip 200 from being polluted. Further, due to the presence of the transparent cover 600, pollutants (e.g., particles) on the transparent cover 600 can be removed by a user without substantially damaging the image sensor chip 200.
Referring to
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[Methods of Fabricating a Semiconductor Package]
Referring to
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Referring back to
According to some example embodiments of the inventive concepts, the semiconductor package 1 may be fabricated by attaching the image sensor chip 200 on the substrate 100 and forming the holder 500 and the transparent cover 600. However, in other embodiments, a plurality of the semiconductor packages 1 may be simultaneously fabricated.
[Application]
Referring to
Referring to
According to example embodiments of the inventive concepts, a semiconductor package may include an attaching part provided between a substrate made of an epoxy-based material and an image sensor chip, and the attaching part may include a first attaching part and a second attaching part. The first attaching part may achieve high reliability of the semiconductor package in association with the second attaching part. The first attaching part may be an internal portion of the attaching part, and the second attaching part may surround the first attaching part. The second attaching part may include a material having a low rigidity, and thus, it is possible to reduce or prevent warpage of the image sensor chip from occurring. Because the attaching part may further include the second attaching part, coverage between the first attaching part and the image sensor chip can be reduced. Thus, the warpage of the image sensor chip can be reduced or prevented more effectively.
While example embodiments of the inventive concepts have been particularly shown and described, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that variations in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the attached claims and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2012-0095588 | Aug 2012 | KR | national |