High power density is desirable for modern electronic devices to support industrial, automotive and other applications calling for increased device performance and smaller package sizes with good energy efficiency. Increasing the thermal conductivity of the epoxy molding compound (EMC) used in forming the device package structure can facilitate thermal performance improvements. However, changing the EMC material can affect the thermal coefficient of expansion (TCE). Mismatches between the molded package structure TCE and that of structures such as substrates and/or lead frames joined to the molded package structure can adversely affect overall device performance in terms of component level reliability, system or board level reliability, and manufacturability, such as strip warpage for flip-chip chip scale packages (FCCSP). Moreover, testing to ensure qualification with respect to manufacturability, board and component level reliability can be lengthy.
In one aspect, an electronic device includes a semiconductor die with a conductive terminal along a first side thereof, a conductive lead electrically coupled to the conductive terminal of the semiconductor die, a package structure that forms a top side of the electronic device and encloses a portion of the semiconductor die. The package structure includes a first molding compound having a first thermal conductivity. The electronic device includes a thermally conductive layer on at least a portion of the second side of the semiconductor die, and the thermally conductive layer includes a second molding compound having a second thermal conductivity that is greater than the first thermal conductivity.
In another aspect, a system includes a circuit board and an electronic device. The electronic device includes a semiconductor die having opposite first and second sides and a conductive terminal along the first side, as well as a conductive lead electrically coupled to the circuit board and to the conductive terminal of the semiconductor die. The electronic device includes a package structure that forms a top side of the electronic device and encloses a portion of the semiconductor die, the package structure including a first molding compound having a first thermal conductivity. The electronic device includes a thermally conductive layer on at least a portion of the second side of the semiconductor die, the thermally conductive layer including a second molding compound having a second thermal conductivity that is greater than the first thermal conductivity.
In a further aspect, a method of fabricating an electronic device includes: forming a thermally conductive layer on at least a portion of a side of a semiconductor die; attaching the semiconductor die to a substrate or a lead frame; and forming a package structure that forms a portion of a top side of the electronic device and encloses a portion of the semiconductor die, the package structure including a molding compound having a first thermal conductivity that is less than a second thermal conductivity of the thermally conductive layer.
In the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout, and the various features are not necessarily drawn to scale. Also, the term “couple” or “couples” includes indirect or direct electrical or mechanical connection or combinations thereof. For example, if a first device couples to or is coupled with a second device, that connection may be through a direct electrical connection, or through an indirect electrical connection via one or more intervening devices and connections. One or more operational characteristics of various circuits, systems and/or components are hereinafter described in the context of functions which in some cases result from configuration and/or interconnection of various structures when circuitry is powered and operating.
The electronic device 100 also includes a semiconductor die 110 with opposite first and second sides 111 and 112, respectively. The semiconductor die 110 has one or more conductive terminals 113 (e.g., conductive metal terminals, such as copper pillars, pumps, etc.) along the first side 111, and the semiconductor die 110 includes one or more electronic components (e.g., resistor, transistor, capacitor, etc.) forming a circuit electrically coupled to at least one of the conductive terminal 113 and an associated one of the conductive leads 102. The molded package structure 106 forms a top side 116 of the electronic device 100 and encloses a portion of the semiconductor die 110. The package structure 106 includes a first molding compound that has a first thermal conductivity K1.
The electronic device 100 includes a thermally conductive layer 114 on at least a portion of the top or second side 112 of the semiconductor die 110. In one example, the thermally conductive layer 114 is a high thermal conductivity epoxy molding compound. The thermally conductive layer 114 includes a second molding compound having a second thermal conductivity K2 that is greater than the first thermal conductivity K1. The thermally conductive layer 114 has a top side 115 that is exposed. In one example, the top side 115 of the thermally conductive layer 114 is approximately coplanar with the top side 116 of the electronic device 100, although not a requirement of all possible implementations. In one example, the thermally conductive layer 114 is formed by any suitable technique, such as molding, coating, deposition, etc. on the top or second side 112 of the semiconductor die 110 prior to flip chip attachment of the semiconductor die 110 to the substrate 104, and prior to molding processing that forms the molded package structure 106. In certain implementations, the top side 115 of the thermally conductive layer 114 can be slightly beneath the top side 116.
Referring also to
The molded package structure 156 includes a first molding compound that has the first thermal conductivity K1 as discussed above in connection with the electronic device 100 of
In the electronic devices 100 and 150, the thermally conductive layer 114 provides a heat dissipation path between the semiconductor die 110 and the exterior of the electronic device 100, 150 in order to facilitate good thermal performance. Moreover, the thermally conductive layer 114 does not interface with the base 154, the substrate 104 or the other passive components 107 and structures of the electronic device 100, 150, and therefore does not present a design modification that requires extensive testing with respect to board level reliability, system level reliability, and/or other manufacturability qualifications. In this manner, the thermally conductive layer 114 provides a solution to facilitate enhanced heat dissipation with respect to circuitry of the semiconductor die 110 and other components of the electronic device 100, 150 (e.g., the capacitors 107 in
In one example, the second thermal conductivity K2 is greater than twice the first thermal conductivity K1 (e.g., K2 >2K1). In this or other examples, the second thermal conductivity K2 is approximately 2 W/mK (watts per thousandth of a degree Kelvin) or more and approximately 10 W/mK or less. In the above or other examples, the second thermal conductivity K2 is approximately 3 W/mK or more and approximately 9 W/mK or less. In the above or other examples, the first thermal conductivity K1 is approximately 1 W/mK or less. In the above or other examples, the molding compound of the package structure 106, 156 is a first epoxy molding compound having the first thermal conductivity K1. In the above or other examples, the thermally conductive layer 114 has a thickness 117 of approximately 50 μm or more and approximately 200 μm or less.
Referring also to
At 206 in
As shown in
At 208 in
The method 200 continues at 210 with die attach processing to attach individual semiconductor dies 110 to a substrate or lead frame.
At 212 in
In one example, the method 200 of
The method 200 also includes package separation at 214 and
Described examples facilitate improving thermal performance of packaged electronic devices by including a thermally conductive layer 114 along at least a portion of a side of a semiconductor die 110, without changing any previously engineered CTE matching between the remainder of the molded package structure 106 and other structures of the finished electronic device 100, 150. In this manner, localize thermal conductivity improvements are enabled without extensive engineering development time, qualification testing, etc., while facilitating desired overall device performance in terms of component level reliability, system or board level reliability such as thermo-mechanical reliability examined by temperature cycling testing, and manufacturability, such as mitigating strip warpage for flip-chip chip scale packages (FCCSP). The described examples also find utility in designs that cannot be implemented with exposed die structures, for example certain FCCSP subject to design rules with respect to low mold compound volume percentage in designs having large semiconductor dies 110 and associated large die area to package ratios. Rather than requiring design and development of an entirely new thermally conductive package structure to support these applications, the described examples provide a solution that allows large semiconductor dies and includes capacitors or other passive components on a substrate or lead frame structure, with selective use and location of the thermally conductive layer 114 to enhance thermal performance of the finished packaged electronic device 100 while mitigating adverse effects on one or more of board level reliability, component level reliability (e.g., failures of die to substrate cracked solder interconnection and/or metal layer damage inside die), system level reliability and/or other manufacturability considerations, and while avoiding potentially length the requalification testing and certification. These benefits, moreover, can be used alone or in combination with the addition of heatsinks, heat slugs, or other heat spreader structures on top of the packaged electronic device for further thermal performance advantages.
Thermal and mechanical simulation results indicate thermal enhancement in the described examples compared with a single standard package structure 106 extending above the semiconductor die 110, and comparable thermal performance compared to using a single high thermal conductivity mold compound for the entire device with lower reliability risks and reduced development time in component level reliability and manufacturability. One example was simulated for a 196 pin ACP FCCSP package with 12×12 mm package size, 8.6×9.5×0.2 mm die size, and a 6 layer laminated substrate 104, with the following parameters kept constant: ambient temperature of 25 degrees C., die power of 11 W, in a system installation using a 4 layer printed circuit board and a 19×19×20 mm heat spreader, 0.005″ thick TIM2 @4 W/mK for variations in the molding compound materials of the package structure 106 (POR mold with a thermal conductivity of 0.95 W/mK) and the thermally conductive layer 114 in a mixed epoxy molding compound structure with the thermally conductive layer 114 having thermal conductivities of approximately 3 W/mK and approximately 8.7 W/mK extending over the top side of the semiconductor die 110 and the package structure 106 having a thermal conductivity of 0.95 W/mK. These results show approximately 3-4° C. reduction in die junction temperature for the examples using the thermally conductive layer 114 compared to the use of a normal package with only the lower thermal conductivity package structure 106. The following Table 1 shows the simulated junction to case thermal resistance (T_die-T_case)/Total Power and junction to air thermal resistance (T_die-T_air)/Total Power.
The following Table 2 shows board level mechanical simulations with respect to board level reliability for the simulated 196 pin ACP FCCSP package with 12×12 mm package size, 8.6×9.5×0.2 mm die size, and a 6 layer laminated substrate 104, with the following parameters kept constant: ambient temperature of 25 degrees C., die power of 11 W, in a system installation using a 4 layer printed circuit board and a 19×19×20 mm heat spreader, 0.005″ thick TIM2 @ 4 W/mK for variations in the molding compound materials of the package structure 106 (POR mold with a thermal conductivity of 0.95 W/mK) and the thermally conductive layer 114 in a mixed epoxy molding compound structure with the thermally conductive layer 114 having thermal conductivity of approximately 3 W/mK extending over the top side of the semiconductor die 110 and the package structure 106 having a thermal conductivity of 0.95 W/mK. The mechanical simulation helps evaluate ball crack risk under board level reliability thermal cycle loading (−40/125C) for the proposed and standard packages, where the described examples with the thermally conductive layer 114 having thermal conductivity of approximately 3 W/mK extending over the top side of the semiconductor die 110 and the package structure 106 having a thermal conductivity of 0.95 W/mK shows better performance than normal standard package having only the package structure 106
The described examples have similar or better reliability performance and enhanced thermal performance and minimal cost impact as adding only a single process at 206 in
Modifications are possible in the described examples, and other implementations are possible, within the scope of the claims.