Thermal Characteristics of Chip Stack and Package Stack Memory Devices in the Component and Module Level

Abstract

The demand of the high storage memory is providing a momentum for stacking technology in DRAM industry. As the stack technology is developed, more heat sources are embedded in the same package footprint and increase the device temperature. Therefore, the thermal management is one of most important issues in DRAM stack package. Since the chip stack and package stack technology are competing each other as a solution of DRAM stack, it is necessary to characterize thermal behavior of each package for better thermal management. Hence, in this paper, the authors studied the thermal performance characteristics of chip stack and package stack package in component and module level. The study is focused on the dual stack, which is most demanded stack height in DRAM market. The test package and module was assembled with the thermal test die and the DRAM junction temperature was measured to compare the thermal performance. The package stack package showed better thermal performance in component level because of its larger package size. On the other hand, the chip stack package showed better thermal performance in module level when the heat sink is used.