1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electrical circuitry and, more particularly, to techniques for packaging electronic devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present invention, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Packaging of integrated circuit devices is a key element in the technological development of systems implementing electrical components. Various techniques have been developed to meet the continued demands for improving system performance and hardware capabilities, while the space in which to provide these improved hardware capabilities continues to decrease.
Multiple integrated circuit devices may be fabricated within a single package, thereby forming a multi-chip module. A single multi-chip module may include two or more independent integrated circuit devices, which may be arranged adjacent to one another or on top of one another on a substrate, and which are encapsulated such that a single discrete package having multiple chips or integrated circuit devices is formed. Each of the integrated circuit devices that make up the multi-chip module may be electrically coupled to the substrate. The substrate may include one or more layers of conductive traces separated by dielectric materials. The traces redistribute signals from the integrated circuit devices. The multi-chip module may be implemented in a system. Techniques for packaging electronic components and forming multi-chip modules provide a number of fabrication challenges with respect to electrical conductivity, heat-transfer, limited design space, manufacturability, robustness, package density, operability, and the like.
Advantages of the invention may become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings in which:
One or more specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below. In an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments, not all features of an actual implementation are described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure.
Turning now to the drawings, and referring initially to
The device 10 may include a power supply 14. For instance, if the device 10 is portable, the power supply 14 may advantageously include permanent batteries, replaceable batteries, and/or rechargeable batteries. The power supply 14 may also include an A/C adapter, so that the device may be plugged into a wall outlet, for instance. In fact, the power supply 14 may also include a D/C adapter, so that the device 10 may be plugged into a vehicle's cigarette lighter, for instance.
Various other devices may be coupled to the processor 12, depending upon the functions that the device 10 performs. For instance, a user interface 16 may be coupled to the processor 12. The user interface 16 may include an input device, such as buttons, switches, a keyboard, a light pin, a mouse, and/or a voice recognition system, for instance. A display 18 may also be coupled to the processor 12. The display 18 may include an LCD display, a CRT, LEDs, and/or an audio display. Furthermore, an RF subsystem/baseband processor 20 may also be coupled to the processor 12. The RF subsystem/baseband processor 20 may include an antenna that is coupled to an RF receiver and to an RF transmitter (not shown). A communication port 22 may also be coupled to the processor 12. The communication port 22 may be adapted to be coupled to a peripheral device 24, such as a modem, a printer, or a computer, for instance, or to a network, such as a local area network or the Internet.
Because the processor 12 controls the functioning of the device 10 generally under the control of software programming, memory may be coupled to the processor 12 to store and facilitate execution of the software program. For instance, the processor 12 may be coupled to volatile memory 26, which may include dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), Double Data Rate (DDR) memory, etc. The processor 12 may also be coupled to non-volatile memory 28. The non-volatile memory 28 may include a read only memory (ROM), such as an EPROM or Flash Memory, to be used in conjunction with the volatile memory. The size of the ROM is typically selected to be just large enough to store any necessary operating system, application programs, and fixed data. The volatile memory, on the other hand, is typically quite large so that it can store dynamically loaded applications. Additionally, the non-volatile memory 28 may include a high capacity memory such as a disk drive, tape drive memory, CD ROM drive, DVD, read/write CD ROM drive, and/or a floppy disk drive.
As can be appreciated, one or more of the components of the device 10 may be packaged together to form a portion of the device 10. For instance, a number of memory chips or devices may be coupled to a substrate and encapsulated together to form a package for use in the volatile memory 26. Alternatively, a package may be formed such that the processor 12 and a memory device are coupled to a substrate and encapsulated together. As can be appreciated, any number of component combinations may be implemented to form system-in-package (SIP) modules. As used herein, “SIPs” or “SIP modules,” generally refer to packages having two or more integrated circuit die, such as a memory devices and/or processors, which are coupled to a substrate or carrier and encapsulated together to form a multi-chip package. As described below, the SIP module may include a number of conductive elements and an interposer to facilitate the redistribution of electrical signals to and from the devices. By packaging a number of devices together, SIP modules may be implemented in a variety of system applications, as can be appreciated by those skilled in the art.
Referring specifically to
As can be appreciated, each of the first and second I/C dice 30 and 32 may be attached or laminated to a substrate or carrier 34, using an adhesive material 36 for example. The adhesive material 36 may comprise an epoxy, paste, or tape, for example. The carrier 34 may comprise a ceramic material, polyimade material, silicon, or glass, for example. In one embodiment, the carrier 34 may comprise a substantially rigid material. Alternatively, the carrier 34 may be comprise a flexible material, such as a polyimide film. Further, the carrier 34 may comprise a conductive material, such as copper. Advantageously, a conductive carrier 34, such as a copper carrier, may provide a heat-sink for the dice 30 and 32.
Each of the dice 30 and 32 may include a number of conductive elements that are electrically coupled to conductive pads (not shown) on the backside of the dice 30 and 32. As can be appreciated, the conductive pads on each dice 30 and 32 are coupled to integrated circuits within the dice 30 and 32 to provide signal/voltage paths to and from the dice 30 and 32. In the present exemplary embodiment, the conductive elements comprise conductive balls, such as solder balls 38. However, depending on the size of the dice 30 and 32 and manufacturing capabilities, the conductive elements may comprise stud bumps, metal ribbons, or other conductive materials, as can be appreciated by those skilled in the art. In one exemplary embodiment, the solder balls 38 may be coupled to the dice 30 and 32 before lamination to the carrier 34. Alternatively, the solder balls 38 may be coupled to the dice 30 and 32 after lamination of the dice 30 and 32 to the carrier 34.
After deposition of the solder balls 38 (or alternative conductive elements), an encapsulant 40 may be disposed about the dice 30 and 32, as illustrated in
As can be appreciated, if the encapsulant 40 is disposed such that the solder balls 38 (or alternative conductive elements) are completely covered, a planarizing or grinding technique may be implemented after the encapsulation process to expose portion of the conductive elements. For instance, if a transfer molding technique or a liquid encapsulating technique is implemented to dispose the encapsulant 40, the surface of the encapsulant 40 may be ground to such a depth as to expose the underlying solder balls 38, as illustrated with reference to
Alternatively, the multi-chip package 42 may be fabricated such that the solder balls 38 are completely omitted. In this exemplary embodiment, the conductive pads on the backside of the dice 30 and 32 comprise the conductive elements. Accordingly, the encapsulant 40 may be disposed such that the conductive pads on the backsides of the dice 30 and 32 are left exposed. Alternatively, the encapsulant 40 may be omitted entirely.
After fabricating the multi-chip package 42 having exposed conductive elements, an interposer 44 may be coupled to the multi-chip package 42, as illustrated in
Generally, the interposer 44 includes one or more conductive layers which are patterned to form signal paths. Dielectric layers are disposed on the outer surfaces of the interposer 44, as well as between the conductive layers. Vias are generally formed through the interposer 44, and a conductive material is disposed in the vias to provide a vertical path for electrical signals, as can be appreciated. The present exemplary interposer 44 includes an adhesive layer 46. The adhesive layer 46 may comprise a non-conductive tape, paste, or epoxy for example. Alternatively, if a compression molding technique is implemented to encapsulate the die 30 and 32, such that the encapsulant conforms about the solder balls 38 and provides an exposed portion, as illustrated in
The present exemplary interposer 44 further may include a first solder mask layer 48, a polyimade layer 50, a conductive trace layer 52, and a second solder mask layer 54. However, as can be appreciated, the interposer 44 may include a number of acceptable conductive and dielectric materials to facilitate the redistribution of signal paths from the dice 30 and 32. The trace layer 52 may comprise a layer of metal, such as gold or aluminum, which is disposed and etched to form conductive traces. The conductive traces are implemented to carry electrical signals to and from desired locations on the dice 30 and 32. As can be appreciated, the interposer 44 may include more than one trace layer 52 separated from adjacent trace layers by dielectric layers. The trace layer 52 may include a number of conductive pads 56 and 58 that are exposed through openings in the second solder mask layer 54. The conductive pads 56 and 58 may be implemented to electrically couple the die 30 and 32 to discrete devices, other multi-chip packages, or a system board, as described further below.
Further, the interposer 44 comprises a plurality of vias 60 which are configured to provide openings to expose the underlying conductive elements, here the planarized surface of the solder balls 38. As used herein, “adapted to,” “configured to,” and the like refer to elements that are arranged or manufactured to form a specified structure or to achieve a specified result. As can be appreciated, the vias 60 are aligned with the conductive elements (planarized solder balls 38) during lamination of the interposer 44 to the multi-chip package 42. Further, the first layer of the interposer 44, here the adhesive layer 46, may be configured to provide openings at the bottom of each of the vias 60, such that the openings in the adhesive layer 46 correlate approximately to the size of the exposed conductive elements (planarized solder balls 38). As can be appreciated, the walls of the vias 60 may be coated with the same material that is implemented in the conductive trace layer 52 to further increase the conductivity through the vias 60.
Referring to
Advantageously, by implementing the backside of the interposer 44 for components, such as the discrete device 66, space savings may be realized. The discrete device 66 comprises an integrated circuit die which may be encapsulated in a molding compound, for example. As can be appreciated, the multi-chip module may or may not include one or more discrete devices, such as the discrete device 66, coupled to the side of the interposer 44 opposite the multi-chip package.
After attaching any additional devices, such as the discrete device 66, to the backside of the interposer 44, the conductive material 64 disposed on the conductive pads 56 may be reflowed during a heating process to form conductive balls 68, as illustrated in
Finally, the multi-chip package 42 may be singulated to form the integrated circuit module 70, as illustrated in
The techniques described above may be also be implemented in conjunction with stacking techniques to advantageously improve electrical performance capabilities without increasing the space occupied on a system board.
The package 74 includes an I/C module 70A comprising an interposer 44A having dice 30A and 32A disposed thereon. The exemplary stacked package 74 also includes a multi-chip package 42B. As previously described, the multi-chip package 42B may include a plurality of dice, such as the dice 30B and 32B. The dice 30A, 32A, 30B and 32B may include any combination of semiconductor devices, such as microprocessors, microcontrollers, random access memory (RAM) devices, read only memory (ROM), flash memory devices, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), integrated optic devices, integrated sensors, power devices, etc.
The multi-chip package 42B may be fabricated as described above with reference to
Advantageously, the I/C module 70A may be fabricated separately from the multi-chip package 42B and subsequently attached to the multi-chip package 42B. The I/C module 70A comprises an interposer 44A. As previously described, the interposer 44A includes one or more conductive layers which are patterned to form conductive traces to provide electrical signal paths. Dielectric layers are disposed on the outer surfaces of the interposer 44A, as well as between the conductive layers. Vias are generally formed through the interposer 44A and a conductive material is disposed in the vias to provide a vertical path for electrical signals.
More specifically, the present exemplary interposer 44A includes a first solder mask layer 54, a polyimade layer 50, a conductive trace layer 52 and a second solder mask layer 48. However, as can be appreciated, the interposer 44A may include a number of acceptable conductive and dielectric materials to facilitate the redistribution of signals from the dice 30A and 32A which are attached to the interposer via an adhesive material 36. The adhesive material may comprise an epoxy, paste, or tape, for example. The conductive layer 52 may comprise a layer of metal, such as gold or aluminum, which is disposed and etched to form conductive traces. The conductive traces are implemented to carry electrical signals to and from desired locations on the dice 30A and 32A. Accordingly, to carry signals to and from the dice 30A and 32A, the dice 30A and 32A are electrically coupled to the trace layer 52 via bond wires 76. As can be appreciated, bond pads (not shown) are disposed on the top surface of each of the dice 30A and 32A. The bond wires 76 are coupled from the respective bond pads to a corresponding pad or trace on the conductive layer 52. As previously described, vias filled with a conductive material (e.g., solder or gold) 62 may be implemented to carry signals vertically through the interposer 44A.
After encapsulation, the I/C module 70A may be coupled to the multi-chip package 42B. The vias filled with conductive material 62 of the interposer 44A are configured to align with the conductive elements, here solder balls 38B, of the multi-chip module 42B. Accordingly, the dice 30B and 32B may be electrically coupled to the dice 30A and 32A via the signal paths created by the solder balls 38B of the multi-chip package 42B, the vias filled with conductive material 62, the traces of the conductive layer 52 and the bond wires 76. Further, solder balls 38B on the topside of the dice 30A and 32A may be implemented to electrically couple the I/C module 70A to a system board 78. Advantageously, the electrically conductive paths provided in the present stacked configuration provide signal paths to and from each of the dice 30A and 32A, as well as the dice 30B and 32B. As can be appreciated, additional I/C modules 70A may included in the stacked package 74. For instance, a second I/C module (not shown) may be coupled between the I/C module 70A and the system board 78. As can be appreciated, by pre-fabricating each of the I/C modules 70A and the multi-chip module 42B and then laminating them together, fabrication of the stacked package 74 may be simplified.
As can be appreciated, because the present exemplary multi-chip package 42B is compression molded, and therefore the conductive elements, here solder balls 38B, protrude beyond the plane of the encapsulant 40, an adhesive layer may be omitted between the multi-chip package 42B and the I/C module 70A. The present exemplary interposer 44A does not include an adhesive layer 46 (previously described with reference to
While the invention may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and have been described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following appended claims.
This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/490,082, filed Jun. 6, 2012, which is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/839,834, filed Jul. 20, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,213,348, which is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/708,196, filed Feb. 20, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,781,875, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/021,175, filed on Dec. 23, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,179,681, which is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/386,254, filed on Mar. 11, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,856,009.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
5903049 | Mori | May 1999 | A |
5994166 | Akram | Nov 1999 | A |
6081429 | Barrett | Jun 2000 | A |
6143581 | Johnson et al. | Nov 2000 | A |
6210992 | Tandy et al. | Apr 2001 | B1 |
6294825 | Bolken et al. | Sep 2001 | B1 |
6329220 | Bolken et al. | Dec 2001 | B1 |
6376914 | Kovats et al. | Apr 2002 | B2 |
6395579 | Tandy et al. | May 2002 | B2 |
6400574 | Stephenson et al. | Jun 2002 | B1 |
6417018 | Bolken et al. | Jul 2002 | B1 |
6444501 | Bolken | Sep 2002 | B1 |
6521980 | Tandy et al. | Feb 2003 | B1 |
6531763 | Bolken et al. | Mar 2003 | B1 |
6538311 | Bolken | Mar 2003 | B2 |
6558600 | Williams et al. | May 2003 | B1 |
6573592 | Bolken | Jun 2003 | B2 |
6576496 | Bolken et al. | Jun 2003 | B1 |
6583502 | Lee | Jun 2003 | B2 |
6737750 | Hoffman et al. | May 2004 | B1 |
6762488 | Maeda et al. | Jul 2004 | B2 |
6787917 | Lee et al. | Sep 2004 | B2 |
6835592 | Hall et al. | Dec 2004 | B2 |
6841858 | Shim et al. | Jan 2005 | B2 |
6856009 | Bolken et al. | Feb 2005 | B2 |
6919631 | Hoffman et al. | Jul 2005 | B1 |
6936929 | Mostafazadeh et al. | Aug 2005 | B1 |
6939746 | Bolken | Sep 2005 | B2 |
6964881 | Chua et al. | Nov 2005 | B2 |
7015587 | Poddar | Mar 2006 | B1 |
7030473 | Reiss et al. | Apr 2006 | B2 |
7095096 | Mostafazadeh | Aug 2006 | B1 |
7122404 | Bolken et al. | Oct 2006 | B2 |
7144800 | Mostafazadeh et al. | Dec 2006 | B2 |
7179681 | Bolken | Feb 2007 | B2 |
7256070 | Reiss et al. | Aug 2007 | B2 |
7279366 | Bolken | Oct 2007 | B2 |
7425758 | Corisis et al. | Sep 2008 | B2 |
7518236 | Delgado et al. | Apr 2009 | B2 |
7544727 | Ikezawa et al. | Jun 2009 | B2 |
7638362 | Ishino et al. | Dec 2009 | B2 |
7642643 | Hall et al. | Jan 2010 | B2 |
7684205 | Pai | Mar 2010 | B2 |
7781875 | Bolken et al. | Aug 2010 | B2 |
7791205 | Bolken | Sep 2010 | B2 |
7804171 | Bolken et al. | Sep 2010 | B2 |
8212348 | Bolken et al. | Jul 2012 | B2 |
20010008780 | Tandy et al. | Jul 2001 | A1 |
20030038376 | Bolken | Feb 2003 | A1 |
20030038381 | Bolken | Feb 2003 | A1 |
20030164550 | Lee et al. | Sep 2003 | A1 |
20030164551 | Lee et al. | Sep 2003 | A1 |
20030183950 | Bolken | Oct 2003 | A1 |
20030201548 | Ikezawa et al. | Oct 2003 | A1 |
20030218237 | Hall et al. | Nov 2003 | A1 |
20040178482 | Bolken | Sep 2004 | A1 |
20040178488 | Bolken | Sep 2004 | A1 |
20040217389 | Hall et al. | Nov 2004 | A1 |
20050023662 | Bolken et al. | Feb 2005 | A1 |
20050106779 | Bolken et al. | May 2005 | A1 |
20050133916 | Karnezos | Jun 2005 | A1 |
20050255637 | Bolken | Nov 2005 | A1 |
20050280143 | Hall et al. | Dec 2005 | A1 |
20060017148 | Lee | Jan 2006 | A1 |
20060055020 | Bolken et al. | Mar 2006 | A1 |
20060240595 | Lee et al. | Oct 2006 | A1 |
20070145556 | Bolken et al. | Jun 2007 | A1 |
20080054429 | Bolken et al. | Mar 2008 | A1 |
20080299709 | Corisis et al. | Dec 2008 | A1 |
20080316728 | Corisis et al. | Dec 2008 | A1 |
20090026607 | Huebner et al. | Jan 2009 | A1 |
20090057887 | Mclellan et al. | Mar 2009 | A1 |
20100044878 | Ha et al. | Feb 2010 | A1 |
20100052087 | McElrea et al. | Mar 2010 | A1 |
20100117224 | McElrea et al. | May 2010 | A1 |
20100283151 | Bolken et al. | Nov 2010 | A1 |
20120241956 | Bolken et al. | Sep 2012 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20140099753 A1 | Apr 2014 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 13490082 | Jun 2012 | US |
Child | 14102310 | US | |
Parent | 12839834 | Jul 2010 | US |
Child | 13490082 | US | |
Parent | 11708196 | Feb 2007 | US |
Child | 12839834 | US | |
Parent | 10386254 | Mar 2003 | US |
Child | 11021175 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 11021175 | Dec 2004 | US |
Child | 11708196 | US |