The present embodiments relate to semiconductor packages and related methods, and more particularly to semiconductor packages with thermal-enhanced conformal shielding and related methods.
As operation speed increases and device size decreases, semiconductor packages encounter problems with both electromagnetic shielding and thermal dissipation. In particular, higher clock speeds cause more frequent signal transitions between different levels, and increase the intensity of electromagnetic emissions under high frequency or short wavelength. Electromagnetic emissions may radiate from one semiconductor device to an adjacent semiconductor device. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) negatively affects the operation of a semiconductor device if electromagnetic emissions of the adjacent semiconductor device are of higher intensity. If an electronic system has a high-density distribution of semiconductor devices, then the EMI among the semiconductor devices becomes even worse.
Semiconductor devices inherently generate heat during normal operation, and excessive heat build-up can adversely affect the operation of the semiconductor device as well as shorten its lifetime. Accordingly, a need exists for semiconductor packages that have enhanced thermal dissipation and shielding effectiveness without destructively impacting device reliability, safety, longevity, and cost.
One of the present embodiments comprises a semiconductor package having a substrate with an upper surface, a lower surface opposite the upper surface, and a lateral surface adjacent to a periphery of the substrate and extending between the upper surface and the lower surface. The package further comprises a grounding segment disposed adjacent the periphery of the substrate. The package further comprises a die disposed adjacent to the upper surface of the substrate. The package further comprises a package body disposed adjacent to the upper surface of the substrate and at least partially encapsulating the die. The package further comprises a first metal layer disposed over the package body and the die. The package further comprises a second metal layer disposed on the first metal layer and the lateral surface of the substrate, and electrically connected to the grounding segment.
Another of the present embodiments comprises a semiconductor package having a substrate with an upper surface, a lower surface opposite the upper surface, and a lateral surface adjacent to a periphery of the substrate and extending between the upper surface and the lower surface. The package further comprises a die disposed adjacent to the upper surface of the substrate. The package further comprises a package body disposed adjacent to the upper surface of the substrate and at least partially encapsulating the die. The package further comprises a first metal layer disposed over the package body and the die. The package further comprises a second metal layer having a top portion disposed on the first metal layer and a side portion disposed on the lateral surface of the substrate. A thickness of the first metal layer is at least five times greater than a thickness of the top portion of the second metal layer.
Another of the present embodiments comprises a method for making a semiconductor package. The method comprises providing a substrate having an upper surface and a grounding segment. The method further comprises disposing a plurality of dice adjacent to the upper surface of the substrate. The method further comprises forming a package body on the upper surface of the substrate to encapsulate the die. The method further comprises forming a seed layer on the package body. The method further comprises forming a first metal layer on the seed layer. The method further comprises conducting a singulation process to form a plurality of package units. The method further comprises forming a second metal layer on the first metal layer and the substrate of each of the package units to cover the grounding segment.
Common reference numerals are used throughout the drawings and the detailed description to indicate the same elements. The present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
The substrate 10 has an upper surface 101, a lower surface 102, at least one lateral surface 103, a plurality of upper pads 104, a plurality of lower pads 105, a plurality of circuit layers 106 and at least one grounding segment 107. The lower surface 102 is opposite to the upper surface 101, and the lateral surface 103 is disposed at the periphery of the substrate 10 and extends between the lower surface 102 and the upper surface 101. The upper pads 104 are disposed on the upper surface 101, and the lower pads 105 are disposed on the lower surface 102. The substrate 10 is a multi-layer structure, that is, the circuit layers 106 are disposed inside the substrate 10. The grounding segment 107 may be one or more conductive vias extending between the upper surface 101 and the lower surface 102. Alternatively, the grounding segment 107 is a portion of the circuit layers 106. In this embodiment, the grounding segment 107 is electrically connected to a ground potential and exposed at the lateral surface 103 to provide a ground connection.
The die 12 and the passive elements 14 are attached to the upper pads 104 on the upper surface 101 of the substrate 10. In this embodiment, the die 12 has an active surface 121, a backside surface 122 and a plurality of bumps 123. The bumps 123 are disposed on the active surface 121 and connected to the upper pads 104. Thus, the die 12 is attached to the upper surface 101 of the substrate 10 by flip chip bonding. However, in other embodiment, the die 12 may be attached to the upper surface 101 of the substrate 10 by wire bonding, for example.
The package body 16 is disposed on the upper surface 101 of the substrate 10 so as to encapsulate the die 12 and the passive element 14. The package body 16 has an upper surface 161 and at least one side surface 162. In this embodiment, a part of the die 12 is exposed from the upper surface 161 of the package body 16, and the backside surface 122 of the die 12 is substantially coplanar with the upper surface 161 of the package body 16. In addition, the side surface 162 of the package body 16 is substantially coplanar with the lateral surface 103 of the substrate 10.
With continued reference to
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
Referring to
As illustrated in
Referring to
Below, Table I illustrates results of a thermal simulation of different types of semiconductor packages, wherein the maximum junction temperature of the die 12 and the thermal resistance of the die 12 to ambient are listed. In Table I, Type 1 is a semiconductor package similar to the semiconductor package 1b of
The simulation conditions are as follows. The die is 1×1 mm and has 9 copper pillars, each with a height of 80 μm, a diameter of 80 μm, and a height of the solder on the copper pillar is 30 μm. The power consumption is 1 W. The substrate 10 is 3×3 mm and has a thickness of 300 μm. The thickness of the first metal layer 18 is 100 μm, and the thickness of the extending portion 181 (in Type 5) of the first metal layer 18 is 60 μm. The thickness of the top portion of the second metal layer 20 is 4 μm, and the thickness of the side portion of the second metal layer 20 is 1 μm. The thickness of the package body is 0.7 mm, and the gap between the upper surface 161 of the package body 16 and the backside surface 122 of the die 12 is 150 μm (in Types 1-4).
As illustrated in Table I, the Type 4-6 semiconductor packages of the present embodiments have reduced maximum junction temperatures and the thermal resistances compared with the Type 1-3 semiconductor packages. In particular, the maximum junction temperature and the thermal resistance of the Types 4 and 5 semiconductor packages are reduced significantly, since the first metal layer 18 directly contacts the backside surface 122 of the die 12 in these embodiments.
Below, Table II illustrates results of a thermal simulation of different thicknesses of the first metal layer 18 of the semiconductor package 1 of
As illustrated in Table II, the maximum junction temperature and the thermal resistance rise as the thickness of the first metal layer decreases. But, the rate of the rise decreases as the thickness increases. Thus, there is a range that has been found to be optimal when balancing the considerations of performance vs. material cost and fabrication time. Results have shown that little further improvement is possible beyond a thickness of the first metal layer 18 of 60 μm. Thus, the thickness of the first metal layer 18 is preferably about 30-60 μm.
Table III illustrates results of a thermal simulation of different thicknesses of the first metal layer 18 of the semiconductor package 1a of
As illustrated in Table III, the maximum junction temperature and the thermal resistance rise as the thickness of the first metal layer decreases. The maximum junction temperature and the thermal resistance are further improved compared to the semiconductor packages of Tables 1 and 2, due to the extending portions 181, which enhance the ability of the first metal layer 18 to dissipate heat from the die 12 by carrying the heat downward to the substrate 10.
A plurality of dies 12 and passive elements 14 are attached to the upper pads 104 on the upper surface 101 of the substrate 10. In this embodiment, the die 12 has an active surface 121, a backside surface 122, and a plurality of bumps 123 disposed on the active surface 121. The die 12 is attached to the upper surface 101 of the substrate 10 by flip chip bonding. Thus, the bumps 123 are connected to the upper pads 104. However, in other embodiments the die 12 may be attached to the upper surface 101 of the substrate 10 by wire bonding, for example.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Subsequently, a second metal layer 20 is formed on the first metal layer 18, the side surface 162 of the package body 16 and the lateral surface 103 of the substrate 10 of the package unit, so as to obtain the semiconductor package 1 of
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
While the invention has been described and illustrated with reference to specific embodiments thereof, these descriptions and illustrations do not limit the invention. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. The illustrations may not be necessarily drawn to scale. There may be distinctions between the artistic renditions in the present disclosure and the actual apparatus due to manufacturing processes and tolerances. There may be other embodiments of the present invention which are not specifically illustrated. The specification and the drawings are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. Modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation, material, composition of matter, method, or process to the objective, spirit and scope of the invention. All such modifications are intended to be within the scope of the claims appended hereto. While the methods disclosed herein have been described with reference to particular operations performed in a particular order, it will be understood that these operations may be combined, sub-divided, or re-ordered to form an equivalent method without departing from the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, unless specifically indicated herein, the order and grouping of the operations are not limitations of the invention.
This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/779,249, filed on Feb. 27, 2013, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
5557064 | Isern-Flecha et al. | Sep 1996 | A |
6596937 | Mazurkiewicz | Jul 2003 | B2 |
6965071 | Watchko et al. | Nov 2005 | B2 |
7701728 | Hatanaka et al. | Apr 2010 | B2 |
8156644 | Babb et al. | Apr 2012 | B2 |
9001528 | Yorita et al. | Apr 2015 | B2 |
20030193113 | Glovatsky | Oct 2003 | A1 |
20040020673 | Mazurkiewicz | Feb 2004 | A1 |
20040080041 | Kimura | Apr 2004 | A1 |
20040150102 | Lee et al. | Aug 2004 | A1 |
20040231872 | Arnold | Nov 2004 | A1 |
20070030661 | Morris et al. | Feb 2007 | A1 |
20080145974 | Freitag | Jun 2008 | A1 |
20080157340 | Yang et al. | Jul 2008 | A1 |
20080179717 | Wu | Jul 2008 | A1 |
20080258293 | Yang et al. | Oct 2008 | A1 |
20090159320 | Sanjuan et al. | Jun 2009 | A1 |
20090256244 | Liao et al. | Oct 2009 | A1 |
20090321898 | Pagaila et al. | Dec 2009 | A1 |
20100013064 | Hsu | Jan 2010 | A1 |
20100032815 | An et al. | Feb 2010 | A1 |
20100108370 | Kapusta et al. | May 2010 | A1 |
20100207259 | Liao et al. | Aug 2010 | A1 |
20100230789 | Yorita et al. | Sep 2010 | A1 |
20100276792 | Chi | Nov 2010 | A1 |
20100319981 | Kapusta et al. | Dec 2010 | A1 |
20110090659 | Liao et al. | Apr 2011 | A1 |
20110115060 | Chiu et al. | May 2011 | A1 |
20110163457 | Mohan | Jul 2011 | A1 |
20110248389 | Yorita et al. | Oct 2011 | A1 |
20110298105 | Chi | Dec 2011 | A1 |
20120049347 | Wang | Mar 2012 | A1 |
20120139097 | Jin et al. | Jun 2012 | A1 |
20120171814 | Choi et al. | Jul 2012 | A1 |
20120280374 | Choi et al. | Nov 2012 | A1 |
20120299165 | Pagaila | Nov 2012 | A1 |
20130052775 | Kim et al. | Feb 2013 | A1 |
20130093067 | Clark et al. | Apr 2013 | A1 |
20130105950 | Bergemont et al. | May 2013 | A1 |
20130240261 | Song et al. | Sep 2013 | A1 |
20130307128 | Lin | Nov 2013 | A1 |
20140124907 | Park | May 2014 | A1 |
20140252568 | Hwang et al. | Sep 2014 | A1 |
20140319661 | Pagaila | Oct 2014 | A1 |
20150118794 | Lin et al. | Apr 2015 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
1774804 | May 2006 | CN |
101840910 | Sep 2010 | CN |
102074551 | May 2011 | CN |
Entry |
---|
Office Action on corresponding foreign application (TW Application No. 103106537) from the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office dated Nov. 12, 2015. |
Office Action on corresponding foreign application (CN Application No. 201410069420.5) from the State Intellectual Property Office of China dated Mar. 29, 2016. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20170012007 A1 | Jan 2017 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 13779249 | Feb 2013 | US |
Child | 15271555 | US |