Patent Application
20150356395
The present invention relates to a transponder layer, in particular for producing a laminate structure, for example being embodied as a chip card, having an antenna substrate, which, on an antenna side, is equipped with an antenna formed from a wire conductor as well as with a chip, and which, on the antenna side, has terminal conductors for connecting the chip to the wire conductor of the antenna, in such a manner that the chip is arranged adjacently to terminal ends of the wire conductor, and in such a manner that both the terminal ends of the wire conductor and chip terminals, which are arranged on a contact side of a semiconductor body of the chip, the contact side facing towards the antenna substrate, are contacted with the terminal conductors.
Furthermore, the invention relates to a laminate inlay for a laminate structure that is formed from multiple laminate layers, having such a transponder layer, to a chip card having such a laminate inlay, and to a method for producing such a transponder layer.
In particular when producing noncontact chip cards, it is known, for making it easier to contact the chip as well as for achieving a mechanical protection for the chip, to arrange the chip in a housing on a contact carrier, wherein the contact carrier forms a chip module together with the chip that is accommodated in the housing. On its contact surface that is embodied by the contact carrier, the chip module has module contact surfaces which are larger than the terminal faces of the chip, and which make it easier to contact the chip with the terminal ends of the antenna.
In comparison to the dimensions of the semiconductor body of the chip, the chip module has external dimensions that are considerably larger. In particular, the height of the chip module is considerably larger than the height of the actual chip, such that arranging a chip module in a laminate structure already demands a corresponding number of laminate layers. In known cards that have a laminate structure, on a regular basis, a laminate layer is therefore already required for accommodating the contact carrier of the chip module, the contact carrier being equipped with the larger terminal faces, and a second laminate layer is required in order to accommodate the housing in the laminate structure, the housing enclosing the semiconductor body of the chip.
If it is assumed that on a regular basis at least one further laminate layer is in each case necessary for covering the antenna of the antenna substrate as well as for covering the chip module, with the known chip cards that are constructed as a laminate structure, a minimum number of four laminate layers is the result, to which laminate layers further external laminate layers might be added, the external layers, as visible layers, being essential for the external design of the chip cards.
The present invention is based on the object to allow for the production of a chip card with the smallest possible number of laminate layers.
In order to attain this object, a transponder layer in accordance with the invention has the features of claim 1, a laminate inlay in accordance with the invention has the features of claim 9, a chip card in accordance with the invention has the features of claim 13 and the method in accordance with the invention, in a first variant, has the features of claim 16, in a second variant, it has the features of claim 21 and, in a third variant, it has the features of claim 22.
The transponder layer in accordance with the invention has an antenna substrate, which, on an antenna side, is equipped with an antenna formed from a wire conductor as well as with a chip, and which, on the antenna side, has terminal conductors for connecting the chip to the wire conductor of the antenna. The chip is arranged adjacently to the terminal ends of the wire conductor, wherein both the terminal ends of the wire conductor and chip terminals, which are arranged on a contact side of the semiconductor body of the chip, the contact side facing towards the antenna substrate, are contacted with the terminal conductors.
The transponder layer that is embodied in accordance with the invention allows for arrangement of the chip on one and the same substrate as the antenna, omitting a housing that accommodates the chip, wherein the chip and the terminal ends of the wire conductor of the antenna can substantially be arranged in one plane and wherein the terminal ends of the wire conductor that accommodate the chip between each other—subject to corresponding mechanical properties of the wire conductor—form a structure that acts in a mechanically supporting or stiffening way in the direct environment of the chip. In this way, the chip is not only arranged on the antenna side of the antenna substrate such that it protrudes beyond the cross-section of the terminal ends only marginally, thus allowing for a particularly small constructional height of the antenna substrate or of the transponder layer, but the chip is moreover also accommodated between the terminal ends of the wire conductor in a protected way.
Thus, in the transponder layer in accordance with the invention, even though a housing of a chip module for accommodating the semiconductor body of the chip is omitted, the semiconductor body of the chip is in particular protected from an alternating bending stress, which occurs, for example, when using a chip card having the transponder layer, or corresponding dynamic loads are at least partially absorbed by the terminal ends of the wire conductor, the terminal ends accommodating the chip between each other.
Moreover, the transponder layer in accordance with the invention allows for a secure contacting between the chip and the terminal ends of the wire conductor, due to the terminal conductors which are arranged on the antenna side, and which can have a large surface extension in comparison to the chip terminals. Here, the chip does not have to be arranged on a contact substrate that is independent from the antenna substrate, as it is the case in a chip module, in order to provide terminal faces that are larger in comparison to the chip terminals, for contacting with the terminal ends of the antenna.
The transponder layer in accordance with the invention, even though a chip module is omitted, allows for secure contacting between the chip and the antenna in that terminal conductors are provided on the antenna substrate, which allow for both a connection to the terminal ends of the antenna and a connection to the chip terminals of the chip.
In a preferred embodiment, the chip is arranged between the terminal ends of the wire conductor, such that accommodating the chip in a way that is as compact as possible is allowed for, wherein the terminal ends of the wire conductor are arranged on both sides.
In a first embodiment, the terminal conductors for connecting the chip to the wire conductor of the antenna are embodied as contact pads and are arranged on the antenna side in such a manner that the contact pads, for being contacted with the antenna, have an antenna contact portion having an antenna contact side facing towards the antenna side and, for being contacted with the chip, have a chip contact portion that is opposite to the antenna contact side and faces away from the antenna side.
In this embodiment, owing to the fact that contacting with the terminal ends of the antenna and with the chip terminals has been effected on opposite sides of the terminal conductors, namely on the antenna contact side and on the chip contact side, the terminal conductors that are arranged on the antenna side of the antenna substrate are arranged between the chip terminals and the terminal ends. For this reason, a transponder layer can be produced starting from an antenna substrate, which has only one wire conductor that is arranged or laid on the antenna substrate for forming the antenna.
A particularly good and extensive contact between the contact pads and the terminal ends of the wire conductor of the antenna becomes possible if the contact pads, for being contacted with the antenna, are embodied in such a way as to fit tightly against the cross-sectional outline of the wire conductor with their antenna contact side.
A particularly simple application, on the antenna side of the antenna substrate, of the terminal conductors that are embodied as contact pads, the antenna contact sides simultaneously being arranged on the terminal ends of the wire conductor, becomes possible if the contact pads, with their chip contact side, are arranged on a carrier substrate and if the chip terminals, for contacting the chip with the contact pads, extend through the carrier substrate, such that the contact pads, due to being arranged on a common carrier substrate, can be handled in a simple way and can be placed at precise positions.
In a further preferred embodiment, the terminal conductors for connecting the chip to the wire conductor of the antenna are embodied as contact pads and are arranged in the antenna substrate in such a manner that, with a contact side, which serves both for contacting with the antenna and for contacting with the chip, they are arranged at the surface of the antenna side of the antenna substrate. Thus, it is possible, for producing the transponder layer, to use an antenna substrate, which can already be equipped with contact pads before the wire conductor of the antenna is arranged on the antenna side of the antenna substrate, without the contact pads influencing the height of the antenna substrate.
In particular if the contact pads are embodied as packings, which fill substrate recesses in the antenna substrate, the contact pads can have a volume of material, which, if the material that is used for the packings, is selected correspondingly or suitably, simultaneously provides the connection material that is required for contacting between the terminal ends of the wire conductor and the contact pads or between the chip terminals and the contact pads. In this manner, a separate feeding of soldering material for producing a connection between the terminal ends of the wire conductor or between the chip terminals and the contact pads can be omitted for instance.
Handling the contact pads or arranging the contact pads in the substrate recesses of the antenna substrate can considerably be simplified if the packings, which serve for forming the contact pads, are arranged on a carrier substrate, which is arranged on a bottom side of the antenna substrate, in such a manner that contact sides that are formed by surfaces of the packings are arranged at the surface of the antenna side of the antenna substrate.
In the laminate inlay in accordance with the invention for a laminate structure that is formed from multiple laminate layers, the transponder layer, on its antenna side, is equipped with an upper cover layer, which, in an overlapping region with the chip, is arranged on a rear side of the semiconductor body of the chip.
In this way, a laminate inlay is proposed, which can in particular be used as a semi-finished product when producing chip cards and which already allows for the protected arrangement both of the antenna and of the chip, in a laminate structure having only two laminate layers.
If the upper cover layer is arranged both on the rear side of the semiconductor body of the chip and on the contact pads, due to the upper cover layer, a sheathing that stabilizes the chip in a special manner is the result.
A stabilizing effect for the entire laminate inlay can be achieved if the upper cover layer is arranged both on the rear side of the semiconductor body of the chip and on the carrier substrate of the contact pads.
Alternatively, in particular if use of a carrier substrate for the contact pads is omitted, the upper cover layer can be arranged both on the rear side of the semiconductor body of the chip and on the terminal ends of the wire conductor of the antenna, in order to achieve a comparably stabilizing effect.
The chip card in accordance with the invention has the features of claim 13. Said chip card is already embodied by the laminate inlay itself in a minimum configuration.
In a special embodiment, the chip card can additionally have an upper external layer which is directly arranged on the upper cover layer of the laminate inlay, and which can be embodied as a functional layer or also as a laminate layer having a special, in particular an individualizing marking of the chip card.
Alternatively to the chip card that is equipped with an upper external layer, the chip card can be equipped with a lower external layer on the rear side of the antenna substrate, wherein said lower external layer can also be arranged, in an additional way to the upper external layer, on the laminate inlay of the chip card.
Even if, in accordance with an embodiment of the chip card, apart from the upper external layer, a lower external layer is provided, a chip card that is designed in such an individual way is still characterized by a laminate structure having the smallest possible number of laminate layers.
In a first variant of the method in accordance with the invention for producing a transponder layer, the following steps are executed:
Arranging the contact pads on the terminal ends of the wire conductor is simplified if a carrier substrate that is equipped with the contact pads is positioned on the antenna side of the antenna substrate in such a manner that the antenna contact portions of the contact pads come to abut against the terminal ends of the wire conductor with their antenna contact side that faces towards the antenna substrate.
The contact pads can basically be contacted with the terminal ends of the wire conductor in all known manners, wherein, for configuring the contacting, a heat and/or pressure treatment of the contact pads at the rear has particularly proven itself, since this type of contacting, subject to a corresponding selection of the material for the contact pads, allows for carrying out the contacting without feeding in additional contact material and only by melting the contact pads at least on the surface.
Pressurizing the contact pads at the rear by means of an ultrasonic plunger is particularly advantageous, such that the ultrasonic tool, apart from introducing the required contacting energy, also allows for precise contact positioning of the contact pads on the terminal ends of the wire conductor.
In particular in the case of the contact pads being arranged on their own carrier substrate, it is advantageous if, for contacting the contact pads with the terminal ends of the wire conductor, the carrier substrate is fixed on the antenna substrate, such that the contact pads can be exactly positioned by means of the carrier substrate, even if there is no direct influence on the contact pads themselves, in order to carry out a contacting, at a precise position, of the contact pads with a contactless energy introduction method, for example by means of a laser treatment.
If, for contacting the chip terminals of the chip with the chip contact regions of the contact pads, the chip is positioned on the contact pads with its chip terminals that are placed against the chip contact sides of the contact pads, arranging the chip on the antenna side of the antenna substrate having the smallest possible gap formation between the contact side of the semiconductor body of the chip, the contact side being equipped with the chip terminals, and the antenna side of the antenna substrate is possible, such that a correspondingly small height of the transponder layer can be achieved.
Carrying out contacting of the chip terminals with the contact pads by means of a pressure and heat energy treatment of the semiconductor body of the chip at the rear allows for contacting at a precise position with small energy expenditure.
Since the number of the required method steps for producing a transponder layer is reduced thereby, it proves to be particularly advantageous if contacting the contact pads with the terminal ends of the wire conductor is effected simultaneously with contacting the chip terminals with the contact pads.
In an alternative variant of the method in accordance with the invention, the following steps are executed:
This variant of the method allows for the production of a transponder layer based on an antenna substrate that is only equipped with recesses.
In a further variant of the method in accordance with the invention, the following steps are executed:
In this particularly advantageous variant, the terminal ends of the wire conductors of the antenna, said terminal ends having been applied to the antenna side of the antenna substrate before arranging the contact pads in the substrate recesses, can be used as positioning stops for arranging the contact pads.
If contacting the terminal ends of the wire conductor of the antenna with the contact pads is effected simultaneously with contacting the chip terminals with the contact pads, the number of method steps that is required for producing the transponder layer can be reduced.
In the following, with the aid of the drawing, advantageous embodiments of the transponder layer and of the methods that are utilized for producing a transponder layer are explained.
In the figures:
As it can be taken from the sectional illustration in accordance with
In the region of the chip contact portions 45, the contact pads 36, 37, on their chip contact side 47 that is opposed to the antenna contact side 43, are contacted in each instance with one chip terminal 39, 40 that is arranged on a contact side 48 of a semiconductor body 49 of the chip 41.
In the contacting that is illustrated in
Fixing the connection between the chip terminals 39, 40 and the contact pads 36, 37 can, for example, be effected by later melting the chip terminals 39, 40 and/or the contact pads 36, 37, at least partially. By means of the above-mentioned partial melting, the electrically conductive connection between the antenna contact portions 42 of the contact pads 36, 37 and the terminal ends 34, 35 of the wire conductor 32 that forms the antenna 33 can also be established.
As it can be seen from the sequence of the method steps for producing the transponder layer 30 that is illustrated in
If the contact pads 36, 37 are treated by the forming tool 60 while the forming tool 60 is simultaneously heated, a material connection between the contact pads 36, 37 and the terminal ends 34, 35 can be produced, subject to a suitable selection of the material for the contact pads 36, 37 or to a suitable coating of the antenna contact side 43 of the contact pads 36, 37.
As
As it can be seen in
As
As it becomes apparent from the figure sequence of
As
In the following, the antenna 33 can be formed by arranging or laying the wire conductor 32 on the antenna side 73 of the antenna substrate 74, in such a manner that the terminal ends 34, 35 of the wire conductor 32 extend over the contact pads 75, 76 that are accommodated in the substrate recesses 78 of the antenna substrate 74, as it is illustrated in
Due to a treatment 79 of the terminal ends 34, 35 with pressure and heat energy, a material connection can be produced between the terminal ends 34, 35 and the contact pads 75, 76, the result being that the terminal ends 34, 35 are at least partially embedded into the contact pads 75, 76, wherein said embedding of the terminal ends 34, 35 into the contact pads 75, 76 can also be effected simultaneously with arranging the wire conductor 32 for forming the antenna 33 using laying technique.
In the exemplary embodiment that is illustrated in
As
Hereunto, as it is illustrated in
Subsequently, the antenna substrate 74 and the carrier substrate 85 are pressed against each other under the effect of pressure and of a temperature, such that an antenna laminate 90 is created corresponding to the illustration in
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2012 212 332.6 | Jul 2012 | DE | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2013/002075 | 7/12/2013 | WO | 00 |
