electronic packaging

electronic packaging [i‚lek′trän·ik ′pak·ij·iŋ]

(engineering)

The technology of packaging electronic equipment; in current usage it refers to inserting discrete components, integrated circuits, and MSI and LSI chips (usually attached to a lead frame by beam leads) into plates through holes on multilayer circuit boards (also called cards), where they are soldered in place.

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Electronic packaging

The technology relating to the establishment of electrical interconnections and appropriate housing for electrical circuitry. Electronic packages provide four major functions: interconnection of electrical signals, mechanical protection of circuits, distribution of electrical energy (that is, power) for circuit function, and dissipation of heat generated by circuit function.

Printed circuitry

As solid-state transistors started to replace vacuum-tube technology, it became possible for electronic components, such as resistors, capacitors, and diodes, to be mounted directly by their leads into printed circuit boards or cards, thus establishing a fundamental building block or level of packaging that is still in use. See Printed circuit

Packaging hierarchy

Complex electronic functions often require more individual components than can be interconnected on a single printed circuit card. Multilayer card capability was accompanied by development of three-dimensional packaging of daughter cards onto multilayer mother boards.

Integrated circuitry allows many of the discrete circuit elements such as resistors and diodes to be embedded into individual, relatively small components known as integrated circuit chips or dies. In spite of incredible circuit integration, however, more than one packaging level is typically required, in part because of the technology of integrated circuits itself.

Integrated circuit chips are quite fragile, with extremely small terminals. First-level packaging achieves the major functions of mechanically protecting, cooling, and providing capability for electrical connections to the delicate integrated circuit. At least one additional packaging level, such as a printed circuit card, is utilized, as some components (high-power resistors, mechanical switches, capacitors) are not readily integrated onto a chip. For very complex applications, such as mainframe computers, a hierarchy of multiple packaging levels is required. See Integrated circuits

First-level packaging

Chip-to-package interconnection is typically achieved by one of three techniques: wire bond, tape-automated bond, and solder-ball flip chip. The wire bond is the most widely used first-level interconnection; it employs ultrasonic energy to weld very fine wires mechanically from metallized terminal pads along the periphery of the integrated circuit chip to corresponding bonding pads on the surface of the substrate. In the tape-automated bond, photolithographically defined gold-plated copper leads are formed on a polymide carrier that is usually handled like 35mm photographic roll film, with perforated edges to reel the film or tape. Solder-ball flip-chip technique involves the formation of solder bump contacts on the terminals of the integrated chips and reflowing the solder with the chip flipped in such a way that the bump contacts touch and wet to matching pads on the substrate.

Substrates for first-level packages are quite varied. A major classification is whether the package supports a single integrated circuit chip (single-chip module) or more than one chip (multichip module). The former is by far the most common. Substrate insulator materials for multichip and single-chip modules are selected from one of two broad groups of materials, organics and ceramics.

Means for interconnecting to the second-level package often dictate the general form of the first-level package (see illustration). See Electronics