Techniques for joining an opto-electronic module to a semiconductor package

Abstract

The present invention provides a technique for manufacturing a low cost device that provides a true die to external fiber optic connection. Specifically, the present invention relates to several techniques for joining an optical device package to a semiconductor device package. The first technique involves using wirebond studs and an adhesive material, the second technique involves the use of an anisotropic conductive film, and the third technique involves the use of solder material. Each of these techniques provides high levels of thermal, electrical and optical performance. The methods apply to optical sub-assembly and chip sub-assembly interfaces in transceivers, transmitters, as well as receivers for opto-electronic packages.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0004] The present invention relates to semiconductor packages, and more particularly, to a semiconductor package assembly that provides a true die to external fiber optic cable connection.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0005] Most computer and communication networks today rely on copper wiring to transmit data between nodes in the network. Since the data transmitted over the copper wire and the data processed within the nodes are both represented in the form of electrical signals, the transfer of data at the node-copper wire interface is straight forward. Other than perhaps a level shift and signal amplification, no other signal processing is required for data transmitted over the copper wire to be decoded by the node. The drawback with using copper wire is its relatively low bandwidth. Copper's ability to transmit data is significantly limited compared to other mediums, such as fiber optics. Accordingly much of the computer and communication networks being built today, including the Internet, are using fiber optic cabling instead of copper wire.

[0006] With fiber optic cabling, data is transmitted using light signals, not electrical signals. For example, a logical one may be represented by a light pulse of a specific duration and a logical zero may be represented by the absence of a light pulse for the same duration. In addition, it is also possible to transmit at the same time multiple colors of light over a single strand of optic fiber, with each color of light representing a distinct data stream. Since light is attenuated less in fiber than electrons traveling through copper, and multiple data streams can be transmitted at one time, the bandwidth of optic fiber is significantly greater than copper.

[0007] While fiber optic cabling is very efficient for transferring data, the use of light signals to process data is still very difficult. Data is typically transferred and stored in various locations before, during and after it is operated on in a computer. There still is no efficient way to “store” light signals representative of data. Networks will therefore likely continue using fiber optics for transmitting data between nodes and silicon chips to process the data within the nodes for the foreseeable future. The interface between the fiber optic cable and the nodes that process the data is therefore problematic because signals need to be converted between the electrical and the light domains.

[0008] Fiber optic transceivers, which convert light signals from a fiber optic cable into electrical signals, and vice versa, are used as the interface between a fiber optic line and a computer node. A typical transceiver includes a substrate, grooves etched in the substrate to receive the individual fiber optic strands, one or more semiconductor devices mounted on the substrate, one or more discrete optical detectors for converting light signals received over the fiber optic cables into electrical signals, one or more discrete optical emitters for converting electrical signals from the semiconductor devices into light signals. A number of fiber optic transceivers are commercially available from Hewlett Packard, AMP, Sumitomo, Nortel and Siemens. The problem with all of these fiber optic transceivers is that they are expensive and difficult to fabricate. With each transceiver, the semiconductor devices, emitters, and optical detectors have to be individually mounted onto the substrate, which is a costly and time consuming process. This limits the applications in which optical interconnects could be substituted for traditional copper usage. Furthermore the use of discrete emitters and optical detectors adversely affects the performance of the transceiver because electrical parasitics between discrete components are sources of electrical attenuation of inter-chip signals at Gigabit per second speeds that are generally used with such transceivers, more power is consumed for driving these traces than would not be needed for an integrated device. The form factor of the on-board optical transceiver is relatively large and therefore does not facilitate inter-board and chip-to-chip optical interconnectability.

[0009] A low cost semiconductor device that provides a true die to external fiber optic connection is therefore needed.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0010] The present invention provides a technique for manufacturing a low cost device that provides a true die to external fiber optic connection. Specifically, the present invention relates to several techniques for joining an optical device package to a semiconductor device package. The first technique involves using wirebond studs and an adhesive material, the second technique involves the use of an anisotropic conductive film, and the third technique involves the use of solder material. Each of these techniques provides high levels of thermal, electrical and optical performance. The methods apply to optical sub-assembly and chip subassembly interfaces in transceivers, transmitters, as well as receivers for opto-electronic packages.

[0011] In one aspect of the present invention, a method for attaching an optical device package to a semiconductor device package involves applying a plurality of solder ball formations onto electrical contact surfaces located on a top surface of the semiconductor device package and placing a bottom surface of the optical device package onto the top surface of the semiconductor device package such that electrical contact surfaces on the bottom surface of the optical device package make contact with the solder ball formations.

[0012] In another aspect of the present invention, the semiconductor device package can take the form of a molded plastic package that contains an embedded semiconductor die wherein the top surface of the die contains up-linking contacts that are exposed through the top surface of the device package. The semiconductor device package can take various forms such as, but not limited to, a leadless leadframe package, a ball grid array package, a small outline package, a quad flat package, or a dual inline package.

[0013] These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be presented in more detail in the following specification of the invention and the accompanying figures, which illustrate by way of example the principles of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] The invention, together with further advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

[0015] FIG. 1 illustrates a flow diagram representing the operations for joining an optical device package to a semiconductor device package according to one implementation of the present invention.

[0016] FIG. 2A illustrates a side plan view of a portion of a chip subassembly having wirebond studs formed on its top surface.

[0017] FIG. 2B illustrates a side plan view of CSA having screen-printed adhesive material covering the wirebond studs.

[0018] FIG. 2C illustrates a side plan view of CSA having dispensed adhesive material covering the wirebond studs.

[0019] FIG. 2D illustrates a side plan view of an OSA placed on top of CSA such that the electrical contact surfaces of the OSA are aligned with the wirebond studs.

[0020] FIG. 2E illustrates a side plan view of an OSA joined to a CSA where underfill material fills the gaps between the wirebond studs that connect the two subassemblies.

[0021] FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram representing the operations for joining an optical subassembly to a chip subassembly by using an anisotropic conductive film according to one implementation of the present invention.

[0022] FIG. 4A illustrates a hard particle for use in an anisotropic conductive film that has a hard nickel core and a gold outer layer.

[0023] FIG. 4B illustrates a relatively soft particle for use in an anisotropic conductive film that is made of a soft polymer core and a gold outer layer.

[0024] FIG. 5A illustrates a side plan view of an OSA having an applied ACF and a CSA having wirebond studs.

[0025] FIG. 5B illustrates a side plan view of the OSA and the CSA of FIG. 5A after they have been placed together.

[0026] FIG. 6A illustrates a side plan view of an OSA having wirebond studs and a CSA having an applied ACF.

[0027] FIG. 6B illustrates a side plan view of the OSA and the CSA of FIG. 6A after they have been placed together.

[0028] FIG. 7A illustrates a side plan view of an OSA having contact pads that will be placed onto CSA having a layer of ACF.

[0029] FIG. 7B illustrates a side plan view of the OSA and the CSA in FIG. 7A after they have been joined to each other.

[0030] FIG. 8 illustrates a flow diagram that represents the technique for attaching an OSA to a CSA by using solder material according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0031] FIG. 9A illustrates a side plan cross-sectional view of a CSA having solder balls formed on the electrical conduits of the CSA.

[0032] FIG. 9B illustrates a side plan cross-sectional view of an OSA placed on top of the solder balls of the CSA.

[0033] FIG. 9C illustrates a side plan view of the OSA and the CSA of FIG. 9B after underfill material has been injected into the interface between the two subassemblies.

[0034] FIG. 10A is a top plan view of a conventional lead frame strip suitable for use in forming leadless leadframe packages.

[0035] FIG. 10B is an enlarged top plan view of one end of the lead frame strip of FIG. 10A, illustrating one array of device areas.

[0036] FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional side view of a conventional leadless leadframe package.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0037] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to a few preferred embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the present invention may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well known operations have not been described in detail so not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention.

[0038] The present invention relates to several techniques for joining an optical device package to a semiconductor device package. The first technique involves using wirebond studs and an adhesive material, the second technique involves the use of an anisotropic conductive film, and the third technique involves the use of solder material. Each of these techniques provides high levels of thermal, electrical and optical performance. Although these techniques are preferably used to join optical and semiconductor packages, these same techniques can be used to join other combinations of packages. For instance, these techniques can also be used to join two semiconductor packages.

[0039] The techniques of the present invention are preferably implemented together with optical device packages that have electrical contacts on a bottom surface and semiconductor device packages that have electrical contacts on a top surface. The optical and semiconductor device packages are then joined together by connecting their respective electrical contacts. When combining optical and semiconductor devices into a single device, the optical device packages and semiconductor device packages are commonly referred to as optical subassemblies (OSA) and chip subassemblies (CSA), respectively. As such, the terms OSA and CSA will be used throughout this specification. Each of these techniques will now be described.

[0040] FIG. 1 illustrates a flow diagram 100 representing the operations for joining an optical device package to a semiconductor device package according to one implementation of the present invention. To facilitate the description of the wirebond stud technique, FIGS. 2A-2E will be referenced throughout the description of FIG. 1. FIGS. 2A-2E illustrate side plan views of a CSA 200 being joined to an OSA 202 according to the operations of FIG. 1.

[0041] The process of attaching an OSA to a CSA using wirebond studs starts at block 102 where wirebond studs are formed on the electrical contacts located on the top surface of a CSA. FIG. 2A illustrates a side plan view of a portion of a CSA 200 having wirebond studs 204 formed on its top surface. CSA 200 includes a semiconductor die 206 that is attached to a die attach pad 208, solder balls 210 that form the electrical contacts for the CSA 200, and a plastic molding material 212. The plastic molding material encapsulates these components except for leaving an exposed area of the solder ball 210 so that an external electrical connection can be made. The wirebond studs 204 are formed on the exposed area of the solder balls 210. The method for forming wirebond studs, as is commonly known, is performed by using wirebonding techniques of forming a ball bond, extruding a short length of wire, then cutting the wire. Typically, the wire is gold and the wires can have diameters in the range of 0.6 to 1.2 mils. Other materials and diameters are feasible depending upon the specific design requirements, for example, the dimensions of the exposed area of the solder balls 210. Typically, the diameter of the ball bonded portion of the wirebond stud is 2-2.5 times larger than the diameter of the wire portion.

[0042] It is important that a leveling step be included right after gold wirebond stud formation. This step involves flattening the wirebond studs to a desired height by pushing these studs against a smooth, level, and hard surface. By careful force and position control, a controlled amount of leveling can be achieved to provide a desired standoff (height) to the wirebond studs. This step ensures that the gap between the OSA and CSA stays within a repeatable and well-controlled distance for best alignment and mechanical coupling.

[0043] It is preferable to form the wirebond studs on the CSA's rather than the OSA's because the CSA's are typically aligned in a matrix of columns and rows during manufacturing processes. Therefore, it is more efficient to form the wirebond studs using automated processes while the CSA's are in the matrix during these manufacturing processes. However, in alternative embodiments of the invention, it is possible to form the wirebond studs on the OSA rather than the CSA.

[0044] After the wirebond studs 204 are formed, an adhesive material is applied over top of the wirebond studs 204. Adhesive material can be applied to the wirebond studs 204 in alternative methods. One method is represented in block 104 and 106 where a stencil is placed over top of the CSA and then the adhesive material is screen printed onto the CSA through the stencil. FIG. 2B illustrates a side plan view of CSA 200 having screen-printed adhesive material 214 covering the wirebond studs 204.

[0045] An alternative method is represented in block 108 where an adhesive material is dispensed over the wirebond studs 204. A pressurized volumetric dispenser can be used to dispense the desired amounts of adhesive over the wirebond studs 204. FIG. 2C illustrates a side plan view of CSA 200 having dispensed adhesive material 216 covering the wirebond studs 204.

[0046] The adhesive material can be epoxy, conductive solder, or an appropriate glue material. In the case that the wirebond studs 204 were formed on an OSA rather than the CSA, then it follows that the adhesive material would be placed on the OSA to cover the wirebond studs.

[0047] In block 110, the OSA is placed on top of the CSA such that the electrical contacts on the bottom surface of the OSA are aligned with the wirebond studs formed on the CSA. The operation of block 110 is illustrated in FIG. 2D. FIG. 2D illustrates a side plan view of an OSA placed on top of CSA 200 such that the electrical contact surfaces of the OSA are aligned with the wirebond studs 204. The OSA in FIG. 2D shows that the OSA has a body 202, an emitter 250 and an optical detector (not shown), and optical fibers 254. The body 202 can be formed of plastic, ceramic or any other material that is light in weight and suitable for supporting emitters and receivers. The transmiter 250 and the detector are commonly known devices used to send and receive light signals that pass through the fibers 254. The emitter 250 and the detector are each electrically connected to a flexible circuitry tape 256, which is a flexible tape with embedded circuitry traces. The flexible circuitry tape 256 wraps around the side and the bottom surface of the OSA body 202 so that the emitter 250 and the detector 252 can be connected to the die 206. The circuit traces on the tape 256 are connected to the solder balls 210 through the wirebond studs 204.

[0048] The operation of placing the OSA on top of the CSA can be an automated process such that multiple numbers of OSA are placed on respective CSA that are aligned in a matrix array. The height of the wirebond studs can be varied to provide a desired standoff distance between the CSA and the OSA.

[0049] In block 112 the OSA and CSA combination is put through a curing process to cure the adhesive material. For improved accuracy of placing the OSA onto the CSA, snap curing is preferable. Without snap curing, there is the possibility that the OSA structure may move during curing due to the lowering of the glue viscosity prior to the onset of cure. Such motion will defeat the pick and place accuracy obtained prior to cure and required for best mechanical coupling and alignment.

[0050] In block 114, underfill material is injected into the interface between the OSA and the CSA. The underfill material serves to increase the strength of the bond between the two components and can increase heat dissipation performance. The underfill material is preferably a low-stress epoxy, for example, Dexter FP4549 or Namics 8437-2. FIG. 2E illustrates a side plan view of an OSA 202 joined to a CSA 200 where underfill material 218 fills the gaps between the wirebond studs 204 that connect the two subassemblies. Injection of the underfill material 218 is an optional operation, without which, a sufficiently strong connection between the OSA 202 and the CSA 200 can still be formed.

[0051] In block 116, the OSA and CSA combination is put through a curing process to cure the underfill material 218. At this point, the wiredbond stud technique for joining the OSA to the CSA is completed.

[0052] FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram 300 representing the operations for joining an OSA to a CSA by using an anisotropic conductive film according to one implementation of the present invention. FIGS. 4A-7B will be referenced and described during the explanation of FIG. 3 to facilitate the description of FIG. 3. Anisotropic conductive film (ACF) is a polymer-based film loosely filled with conductive particles. The film becomes conductive only when pressure is applied to force contact between these particles. These particles can vary in hardness and are selected to fill a film based upon the construction of the interconnection interface between the OSA and the CSA. FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate two types of particles. FIG. 4A illustrates a hard particle 400 for use in an anisotropic conductive film that has a hard nickel solid core 402 and a gold outer layer 404. The hard particle 400 is intended to break through the oxide layer that typically forms on the surface of aluminum contact pads so that a good electrical contact can be formed. FIG. 4B illustrates a relatively soft particle 406 for use in an anisotropic conductive film that is made of a soft polymer shell 408 and a gold outer layer 410. The relatively softer particle 406 is designed so that the polymer core collapses upon application of force, which allows for a smaller standoff gap between an OSA and a CSA. The ACF can contain only one type of conductive particle or it can contain a mixture of the two mentioned types of particles depending upon design parameters.

[0053] The technique of flow diagram 300 starts with block 302 where wirebond studs are formed on either the CSA or the OSA. In block 304, an ACF is placed on an OSA if the wirebond studs were formed on a CSA, and an ACF is placed on a CSA if the wirebond studs were formed on an OSA. The process decision of placing the wirebond studs on the CSA or the OSA and the ACF on the respective OSA or CSA for attachment depends upon factors such as the assembly equipment parameters. For example, the pick and place mechanisms, the film handling mechanisms, the thermode configuration, etc., all can effect the decision. The chronological order of applying ACF and the application of wire ball studs is not important. These operations can be performed simultaneously. FIG. 5A illustrates a side plan view of an OSA 202 having an applied ACF 500 and a CSA 200 having wirebond studs 204. On the other hand, FIG. 6A illustrates a side plan view of an OSA 202 having wirebond studs 204 and a CSA 200 having an applied ACF 500.

[0054] In block 306, the OSA and the CSA are placed together such that the wirebond studs 204 sink into the ACF 500.

[0055] In block 308, pressure and heat are applied to the OSA and CSA combination so that the wirebond studs 204 make contact with and apply pressure to the loose particles 502 within the ACF 500 so that the particles 502 make contact with each other. As a result, the particles 502 and the wirebond studs 204 provide an electrically conductive path between the electrical contact surfaces of the OSA 202 and the CSA 200. FIG. 5B illustrates a side plan view of the OSA 202 and the CSA 200 of FIG. 5A after they have been placed together. Similarly, FIG. 6B illustrates a side plan view of the OSA 202 and the CSA 200 of FIG. 6A after they have been placed together. It is noted that since no gaps exist between the joined OSA and CSA, underfill is not required. The ACF can provide equivalent bonding support and heat dissipation qualities that underfill material provides. It is also noted that adhesive material does not need to be specifically applied to the wirebond studs since the ACF provides the adhering properties. After block 308 a separate curing process can be performed to cure the ACF material 500. At this point the combination of the OSA and the CSA is completed. Due to the arrangement in which CSA's are aligned in a matrix array during manufacturing processes, it is preferable to apply the ACF to CSA rather than the OSA.

[0056] FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate an alternative technique for use with ACF. FIG. 7A illustrates a side plan view of an OSA 202 having contact pads 700, rather than wirebond studs, that will be placed onto a CSA 200 having a layer of ACF 500. FIG. 7B illustrates a side plan view of the OSA 202 and the CSA 200 in FIG. 7A after they have been joined to each other. Heat and pressure are applied to the OSA and CSA combination to complete the joining technique. In alternative embodiments, the plates 700 can be attached to the CSA 200 and the ACF attached to the OSA 202.

[0057] FIG. 8 illustrates a flow diagram 800 that represents the technique for attaching an OSA to a CSA by using solder material according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 9A-9C will be referenced and described throughout the description of FIG. 8 to facilitate the description of the solder attachment technique.

[0058] The solder technique of flow diagram 800 starts with block 802 where solder ball formations are applied to the electrical contact surfaces on the top of the CSA. Solder material can be applied to the CSA in various manners. First, solder wire material can be attached to the CSA through wire bonding technique where a solder wirebond stud is formed. The solder wirebond stud is then reflowed to form a solder ball formation. Secondly, solder paste can be screen printed directly onto the surface of the electrical contact surfaces of the CSA. The thickness of the solder material depends upon the thickness of the stencil and the size of the apertures within the stencil. Typically, stencils vary in thickness from 3 mils (minimum) and upward to 15 mils.

[0059] Another method is to dispense solder balls onto the electrical contact surfaces using a pressure-driven volumetric dispenser. Solder balls can also be placed on the CSA through the openings of a mesh placed on top of the CSA. Yet another method of applying solder balls onto the electrical contacts of a CSA is to place pre-formed solder balls onto the CSA. The size of the solder balls affects the standoff height between the CSA and the OSA. The solder balls have an initial height before the attachment of the OSA to the CSA and then they collapse to a shorter height after attachment.

[0060] FIG. 9A illustrates a side plan cross-sectional view of a CSA 900 having solder balls 902 formed on the electrical conduits 904 of the CSA 900. The CSA 900 is a leadless leadframe package, which includes a die attach pad 906, which supports a semiconductor die 908. On top of the die 908 are the electrical conduits 904, which can also be formed of solder material. Electrical contacts 912 are wirebonded to the die 908 and allow for the connection of the CSA 900 to an external device. The die attach pad 906, the die 908, the electrical contacts 912, and the electrical conduits 904 are packaged within a plastic molding material 910.

[0061] In block 804, the solder material applied to the CSA in block 902 is reflowed to form the solder ball interface. In block 806, flux is applied to the solder balls. As is commonly known, flux is applied to the surface of the solder balls to facilitate the flowing of the solder material and to prevent the formation of oxides.

[0062] In block 808, an OSA 914 is placed on top of the solder balls 902 such that pads and electrical traces on the OSA that connect to the laser emitter 916 and the optical detector (not shown) of the OSA are connected to the electrical conduits 904 of the CSA 900 through solder balls 902. FIG. 9B illustrates a side plan cross-sectional view of an OSA 914 placed on top of the solder balls 902 of the CSA 900. The solder balls 902 make contact with pads and electrical traces connected to the laser emitter 916 and the optical detector of the OSA 914.

[0063] In block 810, the OSA and CSA combination undergoes a reflowing process to join the solder balls to the contacts on the OSA and the CSA, respectively. In block 812, underfill material is injected into the interface between the OSA 914 and the CSA 900. The underfill 900, as described before, increases the strength of the bond between the OSA and the CSA and facilitates heat dissipation. In block 814, the joined CSA and OSA undergo a curing process to secure the bond between the two subassemblies.

[0064] In one embodiment of the technique of using solder material to join a CSA and an OSA, the solder balls 904 in the CSA 900 are high lead (95Pb/5Sn) solder balls. The solder balls 902 used to connect the OSA and the CSA are (63Pb/37Sn) solder balls and can have diameters of approximately 5-10 mils. Actually, any high lead composition or lead-free compositions, for example, SnAgCu, SnAg, or SnCu, can be used in the CSA 900. The requirement for the solder balls 904 in the CSA 900 is that they need to withstand the typical molding temperatures (170-180 degrees Celsius) without deformation. Solder balls 902 forming the interface between the CSA and the OSA can be eutectic SnPb or any solder composition with melting temperature within a range of 170-190 degrees Celcius. These requirements ensure that subsequent assembly steps do not thermally affect previous operations.

[0065] From a manufacturing standpoint, the solder method described in FIG. 8 is preferable over the wirebond stud and the ACF techniques of FIGS. 1 and 3, respectively. One reason is that the OSA centers itself upon the solder balls during reflow due to the surface tension effects of the solder balls. As a result, the process of placing the OSA on top of the CSA does not need to be as accurate as for the wirebond stud and ACF techniques.

[0066] A specific type of CSA is a leadless leadframe package (LLP). An LLP contemplates the use of a metal (typically copper) substrate in the formation of a chip scale package (CSP). As illustrated in FIGS. 10A and 10B, in typical leadless leadframe packages, a copper leadframe strip or panel 10 is patterned to define a plurality of arrays or matrixes 11 of semiconductor device areas 12. Each device area 12 includes a die attach pad 13 and a plurality of contacts 15 disposed about their associated die attach pad 13. Very fine tie bars 16 are used to support the die attach pads 13 and contacts 15.

[0067] FIG. 11 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a typical resulting leadless leadframe package 14. The die attach pad 13 supports a die 17 which is electrically connected to its associated contacts 15 by bonding wires 18. A molded cap 20 encapsulates the die 17 and bonding wires 18, and fills the gaps between the die attach pad 13 and the contacts 15 thereby serving to hold the contacts 15 in place. It should be appreciated that during singulation of the individual packages 14, the tie bars 16 are cut and therefore the only materials holding the contacts 15 in place is the molding material. The resulting packaged chip can then be surface mounted on a printed circuit board or other substrate using conventional techniques.

[0068] The techniques of this present invention can be implemented for various CSA form factors that have exposed electrical contact surfaces located on a portion of the CSA's packaging surface. Such form factors may include SOP, QFP, DIP, BGA, etc.

[0069] While this invention has been described in terms of several preferred embodiments, there are alteration, permutations, and equivalents, which fall within the scope of this invention. It should also be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing the methods and apparatuses of the present invention. It is therefore intended that the following appended claims be interpreted as including all such alterations, permutations, and equivalents as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for attaching an optical device package to a semiconductor device package, the bottom surface of the optical device package having electrical contact pads, comprising: applying a plurality of solder ball formations onto electrical contact surfaces located on a top surface of the semiconductor device package; reflowing the solder ball formations; placing a bottom surface of the optical device package onto the top surface of the semiconductor device package such that electrical contact surfaces on the bottom surface of the optical device package make contact with associated ones of the solder ball formations; and reflowing the solder ball formations whereby a strong bond is created between the optical and semiconductor device packages.

2. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the solder ball formations separate and create a standoff gap between the optical device package and the semiconductor device package, the method further comprising: injecting and filling the standoff gap with underfill material; and curing the underfill material.

3. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the applying of a plurality of solder ball formations comprises: forming a plurality of solder wirebond studs on the electrical contact surfaces on the top surface of the semiconductor device package; and reflowing the plurality of solder wirebond studs such that each of the solder wirebond studs becomes a solder ball formation.

4. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the applying of a plurality of solder ball formations comprises: screen printing solder material onto the electrical contact surfaces on the top surface of the semiconductor device package.

5. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the applying of a plurality of solder ball formations comprises: dispensing individual solder balls onto each of the electrical contact surfaces on the top surface of the semiconductor device package.

6. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the electrical contact surface on the optical device package is part of a flexible tape material having embedded circuit traces, the embedded circuit traces having a first end connected to an optical device component and a second end that forms the electrical contact surface of the optical device package.

7. A method as recited in claim 6 wherein the flexible circuit tape is adhered to a side and a bottom surface of the optical device package.

8. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising providing the semiconductor device package, the operation of providing the semiconductor device package including, providing a semiconductor die that has a top surface; forming up-linking contacts on the top surface of the semiconductor die; and encapsulating the semiconductor die and the up-linking contacts within a protective molding material such that a top surface of each up-linking contact is exposed and forms the electrical contact surfaces on the top surface of the semiconductor device package.

9. A method as recited in claim 8 wherein the semiconductor device package is a leadless leadframe package or a ball grid array package.

10. A method as recited in claim 8 wherein the semiconductor device package is a small outline package, quad flat package, or a dual inline package.

11. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising: forming the optical device package by attaching at least one optical device component to a side surface of a support block wherein the electrical contact surfaces on the bottom surface of the optical device package are located on the bottom surface of the support block.

12. A method for attaching an optical device package to a semiconductor device package, the bottom surface of the optical device package having electrical contact pads, comprising: providing the semiconductor package wherein the semiconductor package is a leadless leadframe package having a top, a bottom, and a plurality of side surfaces, the semiconductor package having contact leads that are flush with the bottom surface of the semiconductor package and which do not extend beyond each of the side surfaces of the semiconductor package; applying a plurality of solder ball formations onto electrical contact surfaces located on the top surface of the semiconductor device package; reflowing the solder ball formations; placing a bottom surface of the optical device package onto the top surface of the semiconductor device package such that electrical contact surfaces on the bottom surface of the optical device package make contact with associated ones of the solder ball formations; and reflowing the solder ball formations whereby a strong bond is created between the optical and semiconductor device packages.

13. A method as recited in claim 12 further comprising: forming the optical device package by attaching at least one optical device component to a side surface of a support block wherein the electrical contact surfaces on the bottom surface of the optical device package are located on the bottom surface of the support block.

14. A method as recited in claim 13 wherein the electrical contact surfaces on the bottom surface of the support block are part of a flexible tape material having embedded circuit traces, the embedded circuit traces having a first end connected to the optical device component and a second end that forms the electrical contact surfaces on the bottom surface of the support block.

15. A method as recited in claim 14 wherein the flexible circuit tape is adhered to the side and a bottom surface of the support block.