Advantages and limitations of ceramic packaging technologies in harsh applications

Abstract

Abstract Rising operating temperatures, environmental restrictions, harsh conditions around our electronics, shortage of space, expectations for long-term reliability and cost are some of the driving forces we all have to deal with during electronics design. While microelectronics and semiconductor industries are running in Moore's beat bringing out impressively small analog, digital or MEMS chips, their packaging is more often the actual challenge for developers and system designers. Advancing systems-on-package, smart sensors, modules for signal processing under extreme conditions need special packaging technologies and materials as well. There, at the front of the application sector, the availability of striking silicon dies alone does not automatically deliver solutions for some advanced applications. Some of the drawbacks with traditional PCB's and housings can be resolved using ceramic boards and suitable connection technologies. A good combination of miniaturization potential and advantageous characteristics from ceramic materials is given with ceramic multilayer boards, which are available in various types. The conference lecture will show an overview about advantages and handicaps of materials, components and technologies. Traditional thick film, LTCC and HTCC as well as thin films on ceramic carriers will be illuminated in terms of pro's and con's from compatibility, cost, performance and availability points of view. Finally ceramic packages have to be technologically completed by suitable interconnection techniques, where wire bonding, adhesive bonding and soldering are just a choice of, each of them in many versions that fit to the specific requirements and to best possible connections.