Fundamentals of Microsystem Packaging

Presented by:

Paul Kasemir

Ideen Taeb

Chapter 3 Role of Packaging in Microsystems

What is an Electronic Product?

Examples

1. Computer

2. Telecommunication

3. Automotive

4. Medical and Consumer

Anatomy of a Microsystem

Systems Packaging PWB/PCB

Physical Analog Digital RF Photonic ICs MEMS

Microsystem Classification

There are 6 categories Automotive Computer and

Business Communications Consumer Industrial and Medical Military and Aerospace

4.8%

38.6%

26.1%

11.3%

10.6%

8.7%

Components of a Cell Phone

Computers and the Internet

Computers are the backbone of the Internet

E-business Server farms handle e-business information Streamline internal business and engineering Employee communications External relationships

Evolution of Computers

1st Computer: The Eniac 18K vacuum tubes Von Neumann’s Architecture 1945

Presents basic digital stored-program computer Unix in the late 1960s DOS in 1981 Windows 3.1 in 1994 Windows 95/98/NT

Networked Computers

Client-Server networks Simple low cost clients Potential high speed computer networks Remotely “booted”

Example Uses Customer support Finance Manufacturing

Role of Packaging in Computers

Migrate from vacuum tubes to transistors and finally to integrated circuits (ICs)

Bandwidth is the most important parameter in computing Frequency times parallel operations equals

computing power More computing power means more heat

produced, and needs packaging to cool

How Do Computers Work?

Microprocessor (uP) computes data I/O subsystem feeds instructions and data

to the microprocessor

Computer System Performance

Performance is measured in MIPS (Millions of Instructions Per Second)

Component of performance: Microprocessor speed Instructions per cycle (MIPS/MHz) Microprocessor utilization

Perf = (Speed) (MIPS/MHz) (Utilization)

Bandwidth and Performance

Bandwidth measured in bits per second b/s A 64 bit wide bus at 100MHz clock (using both

up and down edges) has 12.8 Gb/s Memory that uses both edges is termed double-data-rate DDR

Bus Bandwidth affects cache fill rate Latency is also critical

Too many requests to memory will introduce many wait cycles

Packaging and Performance

Packaging enables good bus performance Wide busses Put L2 cache on chip Packaging is crucial for cooling the uP

Copper heat sinks and heat pipes

Packaging and Bus Design

High via and wire densities High dielectric constants

High propagation speeds Low capacitance

Thin layers and many power planes Lower noise Good power distribution

Example

Intel’s IA-64 Itanium Multiple caches Efficient Heat Sink

Role of Packaging in Telecommunications

Communications have become much more complex recently

Used to have different media for different types of communication Voice on the phone line Images on the TV Data on computers

Multimedia

Combination of multiple types of content into the same message format

Content has different requirements Voice needs low delay Data needs perfect accuracy

Packet switching technology guarantees quality of service

Fiber optical cable provide high bandwidth for multimedia communications

Mobile Phones

Market is increasing very fast

Wireless Communications Bandwidth for wireless is much smaller Mobile phone sizes are shrinking

1985: 1000g 1990: 350g

Cell Phones

Required components for the phone Radio frequency/intermediate frequency

(RF/IF) Analog-to-digital (A/D) and digital-to-analog

(D/A) converters Digital signal processing hardware Power and battery management

Transmit/Receive Chain

Baseband Section

CMOS technology used in DSPs Can reduce the number of ICs Can reduce the weight and size with

system-on-package (SOP)

RF Section

Uses many materials such as silicon, silicon germanium or gallium arsenide

CMOS and bipolar technology 100s of passive components for filters and

oscillators These make size reduction in the RF

components difficult

Battery and Weight

Long battery life is important Monitor the health of battery Charge when plugged in Power digital and analog circuits of battery Weight is reduced by shrinking the PCB

size and lowering the IC count Surface Mount Devices (SMD) lower

power, weight and size

Role of Packaging in Automotive Systems Automotive industry is as big as electronic

industry. It accounts for less than 5% of total

equipment sales. Growing in size every year

Electronic Content

In year 1998, each vehicle had $843 worth of electronics.

Wires and connectors and buses plays a major role in Automotive electronics

Wiring and connectors account for 49% of the average North American electronic today

In ten years, it will only drop to 44%

Electronics in Automobile

Primary Characteristic of Automotive is Harsh Environment Temperature plays a big role in Automotive Industry For example, under the hood temperature can be as low as -40 deg

C. And right after starting the car, it can get as high as 204 deg C This harsh temp environment is combined with humidity, vibration

and etc.

Engine Compartment Thermal Profile

Electronic Packaging Technologies Three Different Technology

Substrate Technologies Assembly Technologies System-Level Packaging Technologies

IC and System Substrate Technologies Three different substrates are used in

automotive electronics: Organic, Ceramic and insulated metal

Organic Packaging Technologies(FR-4) Most widely used substrate Includes many layers Substrates with higher glass are emerging for

higher temperature and communication-related automotive applications

New generation with caps and resistors embedded in the layers thus avoiding discrete components

Ceramic Packaging Technologies

Alumina is most commonly used ceramic Laser trimmability of the thick film resistors to

obtain precision values is an attractive feature of this technology.

Other examples are: HTCC, LTCC In those, embedded passives are also available Aluminum nitride used for thermal management

Ceramic Packaging in Automotives

Metal Packaging Technologies

Insulated with a dielectric layer on which the circuitry is built.

More advantages in thermal management, and geometric

Assembly

System-Level Packaging Technologies Two different methods:

Housing Techniques Passivation/Conformal Coating

Housing Technique

Includes die-cast aluminum, die-cast plastic and sheet metal.

Wire-bonding and direct-solder-attach are used to provide interconnection from the circuit to substrate

Passivation/Conformal Coating

Can be done at substrate or at final assembly

Materials used: acrylics, epoxies, urethanes, silicones and parylenes

Implantable Electromedical Devices Widely used today: hearing aids, heart

pacemakers … Developing in neurological: IPGs can used

to stimulate the spinal cord or the brain directly to alleviate chronic pain.

Need to be reliable!!!! Decreasing in size: ICDs from 120cc to

30cc

Implantable Cardiac Defibrillator

Microsystem Play a Dominant Role in Medical Electronics Simple cardiac device can function:

Sensing the heart’s electrical activity Sensing the motions and activity level of the patient Sensing the blood flow to and from the heart and etc

These functions require low-voltage microprocessors,AD and AD converters and more functioning blocks

Packaging will put all these in small chip or device.

Role of Packaging in Consumer Electronics

US Consumer Electronic Products and Volumes

Characteristics of Consumer Products Production is in the millions of units per year Product life cycles are often short and production ramp

ups are fast Designs tend to be stable during the product run Product categories tend to saturate their available

market very quickly, so the industry is always looking for the next application

Brutal and sustained cost reduction, favoring the oldest technology that will do the jobs unless the small factor is critical

Role of Packaging in Micro-Electromechanical systems(MEMS) products

What are MEMS? Benefits of MEMS MEMS play a major role in Medical

Electronics MEMS applications

What are MEMS?

Key to further development of the industrial, medical, and control industry.

Combines electrical functions and the micromachined elements to form a system-on-chip(SOC) or system-on-package(SOP)

Compromised of microprocessor circuitry and mechanical functions

Can be mass produced

Benefits of MEMS

Can be used in nearly every industry Have a beneficial cost, size and reliability

MEMS play a major role in Medical Electronics 20 million microscopic pressure sensors

are used each year in blood pressure measurement

Many different applications such as micropumps

MEMS Applications

Used in measurement of gravity to determine orientation tilt and inclination

Measurement of velocity and position Measurement of vibration and shock Automobile industry: braking systems,

accelerometer MEMS market currently in excess of $5 billion

Summary and Future Trends

Summary and Future Trends

Digital performance of the order of 10 GHz digital computer clock speed

RF performance of the order of 100 GHz RF/wireless speed

Optical performance of the order of 10 terabit per second

Summary and Future Trends

IC I/Os to be packaged in Various Systems