Embedded Chip Technology: Technologies, Applications and Future Developments

Abstract

Technology approaches for the embedding of active and passive components using printed circuit board materials and processing gained an increasingly high interest over the last years. The use of such technologies for industrial fabrication has attracted increasingly interest by manufacturers and commercial products have been released. The realization of embedded modules is quite a robust process for different applications. Several approaches for a laminate based embedding of components were developed and implement into the manufacturing. An overview and status of the different methods and their advantages for specific applications will be given. The process flow, yield and challenges of such technologies for miniaturized packages and modules will be presented briefly. By nature of the process, extremely flat packages can be realized. The routing of electrical contacts from the embedded components to the top and bottom side of the package allows the fabrication of highly versatile package layouts. The flatness and freedom in design makes these packages ideal candidates for package on package stacking. The main focus of the presentation will be the discussion of different applications. Single and multi-component packages will be presented. Extensive reliability testing of single die packages was done in order to compare different material sets for embedding, but also to compare the reliability of such embedded die packages with conventional packages. In addition, new process developments targeting the embedding of ultra-fine pitch dies, with pad pitches below 100 μm, will be shown. Manifold applications targeting e.g. medical and power electronic modules will be presented and their way of manufacturing will be described. Recent developments focus on the use of such embedding technologies for the integration of high-power modules e.g. for automotive applications (Hybrid and eCars). Beside the integration of semiconductors, to achieve miniaturization and high robustness of such modules, also the use of organic substrates as an alternative to currently used direct copper bonded (DCB) boards is of high interest. The need to handle high current and to realize an excellent thermal management are the main challenges for these modules. The concepts and first results of these latest developments will be presented in detail. Rozalia/Ron ok move from 2.5/3D to Passive 1-3-12.