A large-scale ceramic package of the CMOS image sensor chip for remote sensing application

Abstract

A CMOS image sensor chip with the ceramic package technique for remote sensing application is presented in this paper. The chip is fabricated using the United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) 0.18 um CMOS technology and occupies 25 mm x 120 mm of chip area, which is much larger than the conventional ones. Furthermore, a trade-off in sealing of the cover glass faces the gas leak and moisture sorption. The package of the CMOS image sensor chip in space may cause crack, leakage, and deformation. Consequently, a large-scale and specific package is required to meet remote sensing application. The proposed ceramic package comprises a ceramic substrate, a cover glass, a chip seal, a glass seal, and golden lines. The dimension with lead is approximately 155 mm x 60 mm x 7.87 mm, including 76 Pin Grid Array (PGA) at each side. To demonstrate the reliabilities, the sensor with large-scale ceramic package is also analyzed, manufactured, and tested by the thermal shock, vibration, and vacuum tests. Moreover, the Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM) is employed to measure the common plane of the package. By testing 12 points on the top plane of the package, the measured relatively peak-to-peak variation can be lower than 10 um. A large-scale ceramic package of the CMOS image sensor chip is implemented in this work to achieve the specifications of the remote sensing application in space.