Microelectronic device package with an integral window

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CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to a co-pending application "Method of Fabricating a Microelectronic Device Package with an Integral Window", by Kenneth A. Peterson and Robert D. Watson.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of microelectronics, and more specifically to packaging of microelectronic devices in a package having an integral window.

Many different types of microelectronic devices require a window to provide optical access and protection from the environment. Examples of optically-interactive semiconductor devices include charge-coupled devices (CCD), photo-sensitive cells (photocells), solid-state imaging devices, and UV-light sensitive Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM) chips. All of these devices use microelectronic devices that are sensitive to light over a range of wavelengths, including ultraviolet, infrared, and visible. Other types of semiconductor photonic devices emit light, such as laser diodes and Vertical Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSELS), which also need to pass light through a protective window.

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and Integrated MEMS (IMEMS) devices (e.g. MEMS devices combined with Integrated Circuit (IC) devices) can also require a window for optical access. Examples of MEMS devices include airbag accelerometers, microengines, microlocks, optical switches, tiltable mirrors, miniature gyroscopes, sensors, and actuators. All of these MEMS devices use active mechanical and/or optical elements. Some examples of active MEMS structures include gears, hinges, levers, slides, tilting mirrors, and optical sensors. These active structures must be free to move or rotate. Optical access through a window is required for MEMS devices that have mirrors and optical elements. Optical access to non-optically active MEMS devices can also be required for inspection, observation, and performance characterization of the moving elements.

Additionally, radiation detectors which detect alpha, beta, and gamma radiation, use "windows" of varying thickness and materials to either transmit, block, or filter these energetic particles. These devices also have a need for windows that transmit or filter radiation to and from the device, while at the same time providing physical and environmental protection.

The word "transparent" is broadly defined herein to include transmission of radiation (e.g. photons and energetic particles) covering a wide range of wavelengths and energies, not just UV, IR, and visible light. Likewise, the word "window" is broadly defined herein to include materials other than optically transparent glass, ceramic, or plastic, such as thin sheets of metal, which can transmit energetic particles (e.g. alpha, beta, gamma, and light or heavy ions).

There is a continuing need in the semiconductor fabrication industry to reduce costs and improve reliability by reducing the number of fabrication steps, while increasing the density of components. One approach is to shrink the size of packaging. Another is to combine as many steps into one by integrating operations. A good example is the use of cofired multilayer ceramic packages. Unfortunately, adding windows to these packages typically increases the complexity and costs.

Hermetically sealed packages are used to satisfy more demanding environmental requirements, such as for military and space applications. The schematic shown in FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional ceramic package for a MEMS device, a CCD chip, or other optically active microelectronic device. The device or chip is die-attached face-up to a ceramic package and then wirebonded to interconnect inside of the package. Metallized circuit traces carry the electrical signal through the ceramic package to electrical leads mounted outside. A glass window is attached as the last step with a frit glass or solder seal. Examples of conventional ceramic packages include Ceramic Dual In-Line Package (CERDIP), EPROM and Ceramic Flatpack designs.

Although stronger, ceramic packages are typically heavier, bulkier, and more expensive to fabricate than plastic molded packages. Problems with using wirebonding include the fragility of very thin wires; wire sweep detachment and breakage during transfer molding; additional space required to accommodate the arched wire shape and toolpath motion of the wirebond toolhead; and the constraint that the window (or cover lid) be attached after the wirebonding step. Also, attachment of the window as the last step can limit the temperature of bonding the window to the package.

FIG. 2 illustrates schematically a conventional molded plastic (e.g. encapsulated) microelectronic package. The chip is attached to a lead frame, and a polymer dam prevents the plastic encapsulant from flowing onto the light-sensitive area of the chip during plastic transfer molding. The window is generally attached with a polymer adhesive. Problems with this approach include the use of fragile wirebonded interconnections; and plastic encapsulation, which does not provide hermetic sealing against moisture intrusion.

Flip-chip mounting of semiconductor chips is a commonly used alternative to wirebonding. In flip-chip mounting the chip is mounted face-down and then reflow soldered using small solder balls or "bumps" to a substrate having a matching pattern of circuit traces (such as a printed wiring board). All of the solder joints are made simultaneously. Excess spreading of the molten solder ball is prevented by the use of specially-designed bonding pads. Flip-chip mounting has been successfully used in fabricating Multi-Chip Modules (MCM's), Chip-on-Board, Silicon-on-Silicon, and Ball Grid Array packaging designs.

Flip-chip mounting has many benefits over traditional wirebonding, including increased packaging density, lower lead inductance, shorter circuit traces, thinner package height, no thin wires to break, and simultaneous mechanical die-attach and electrical circuit interconnection. Another advantage is that the chips are naturally self-aligning due to surface tension when using molten solder balls. It is also possible to replace the metallic solder bumps with bumps, or dollops, of an electrically-conductive polymer or epoxy (e.g. silver-filled epoxy). Flip-chip mounting avoids potential problems associated with ultrasonic bonding techniques that can impart stressful vibrations to a fragile (e.g. released) MEMS structure.

Despite the well-known advantages of flip-chip mounting, this technique has not been widely practiced for packaging of MEMS devices, Integrated MEMS (IMEMS), or CCD chips because attaching the chip face-down to a solid, opaque substrate prevents optical access to the optically-active, light-sensitive surface.

The cost of fabricating ceramic packages can be reduced by using cofired ceramic multilayer packages. Multilayer packages are presently used in many product categories, including leadless chip carriers, pin-grid arrays (PGA's), side-brazed dual-in-line packages (DIP's), flatpacks, and leaded chip carriers. Depending on the application, 5-40 layers of dielectric layers can be used, each having printed signal traces, ground planes, and power planes. Each signal layer can be connected to adjacent layers above and below by conductive vias passing through the dielectric layers.

Electrically conducting metallized traces, thick-film resistors, and solder-filled vias or Z-interconnects are conventionally made by thick-film metallization techniques, including screen-printing. Multiple layers are printed, vias-created, stacked, collated, and registered. The layers are then joined together (e.g. laminated) by a process of burnout, followed by firing at elevated temperatures. Burnout at 350-600 C. first removes the organic binders and plasticizers from the substrate layers and conductor/resistor pastes. After burnout, these parts are fired at much higher temperatures, which sinters and densifies the glass-ceramic substrate to form a dense and rigid insulating structure. Glass-forming constituents in the layers can flow and fill-in voids, corners, etc.

Two different cofired ceramic systems are conventionally used, depending on the choice of materials: high-temperature cofired ceramic (HTCC), and low-temperature cofired ceramic (LTCC). HTCC systems typically use alumina substrates; are printed with molybdenum-manganese or tungsten conducting traces; and are fired at high temperatures, from 1300 C. to 1800 C. LTCC systems use a wide variety of glass-ceramic substrates; are printed with Au, Ag, or Cu metallizations; and are fired at lower temperatures, from 600 C. to 1300 C. After firing, the semiconductor die is attached to the fired HTCC (or LTCC) body; followed by wirebonding. Finally, the package is lidded and sealed by attaching a metallic, ceramic, or glass cover lid with a braze, a frit glass, or a solder seal, depending on the hierarchy of thermal processing and on performance specifications.

Use of cofired multilayer ceramic structures for semiconductor packages advantageously permits a wide choice of geometrical designs and processing conditions, as compared to previous use of bulk ceramic pieces (which typically had to be cut and ground from solid blocks or bars). Ceramic packages with high-temperature seals are generally stronger and have improved hermeticity, compared to plastic encapsulated packages. It is well known to those skilled in the art that damaging moisture can penetrate polymer-based seals over time. Also, metallized conductive traces are more durable than freestanding wire bond segments, especially when the traces are embedded and protected within a layer of insulating material.

In summary, conventional methods and designs for packaging of light-sensitive microelectronic devices attach the window (or cover lid containing a window) after completing the steps of die attachment and wirebonding of the chip or MEMS device to the package. Many processing steps are used, which can expose the fragile MEMS structures to particulate contamination and mechanical damage during packaging.

What is needed is a packaging process that minimizes the number of times that a MEMS device is handled and exposed to temperature cycles and different environments, which can possibly lead to contamination of the device. This can be accomplished by performing as many of the package fabrication steps as possible before mounting the MEMS device. What is needed, then, is a packaging process that attaches the window to the package before mounting the chip to the package. It is also desired that the window be attached to the package body at a high temperature to provide a strong, hermetic bond between the window and the body. What also is needed is a method where the MEMS device faces away from the cover lid, so that contamination is reduced when the cover lid is attached last.

Electrical interconnections from the chip to the package are needed that are stronger and less fragile than conventional wirebonds. What also is needed is a package having a high degree of strength and hermeticity. In some cases, it is also desired to stack back-to-back multiple chips, of different types (e.g. CMOS, MEMS, etc.) inside of a single, windowed-package.

Use of the phrase "MEMS devices" is broadly defined herein to include "IMEMS" devices, unless specifically stated otherwise. The word "plastic" is broadly defined herein to include any type of flowable, dielectric composition, including polymer compounds and spin-on glass-polymer compositions. The phrases "released MEMS structures", "released MEMS elements", and "active MEMS elements" and "active MEMS structures" are used interchangeably to refer to a device having freely-movable structural elements, such as gears, pivots, hinges, sliders, tilting mirrors; and also to exposed active elements such as chemical sensors, flexible membranes, and beams with thin-film strain gauges, which are used in accelerometers and pressure sensors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of the specification, illustrate various examples of the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic cross-section view of a conventional ceramic microelectronic package, where the window or cover lid is attached last, after the microelectronic device has been joined (face-up) to the base and wirebonded.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic cross-section view of a conventional plastic molded microelectronic package, where the microelectronic device, lead frame, and window are encapsulated in a plastic body by a transfer molding process.

FIG. 3A shows a schematic cross-section view of a first example of a microelectronic package according to the present invention, with the package having an integral window attached to a ceramic body including an first (lower) plate, a second (upper) plate, and an attached cover lid.

FIG. 3B shows a schematic cross-section view of the second example of a microelectronic package according to the present invention, with the package having an integral window cofired with a cofired multilayered assembly of twelve individual layers, and an attached cover lid.

FIG. 4A shows a schematic cross-section view of a third example of a microelectronic package according to the present invention that is similar to the second example of FIG. 3B, but with a cofired window substantially filling up the aperture through the first plate.

FIG. 4B shows a schematic cross-section view of a fourth example of a microelectronic package according to the present invention that is similar to the second example of FIG. 3B, but with a cofired window mounted to a recessed lip located inside of the first plate, recessed from the second surface of the first plate.

FIG. 4C shows a schematic cross-section view of a fifth example of a microelectronic package according to the present invention that is similar to the second example of FIG. 3B, but with a window mounted flush to the bottom surface of the first plate.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic cross-section view of a sixth example of a microelectronic package according to the present invention, with the package having an integral window cofired to a cofired multilayered assembly including an first (bottom) plate, a second (middle) plate, a third (top) plate, and an attached cover lid, for packaging a pair of stacked chips, including a MEMS chip flip-chip mounted to the first plate, and a second chip attached to the backside of the MEMS chip, wirebonded to the second plate.

FIG. 6A shows a schematic cross-section view of a seventh example of a microelectronic package according to the present invention that is similar to the first example of FIG. 3A, but with the cover plate removed, and also having a second package, substantially identical to the first example of FIG. 3A (also without a cover plate), where the second package has been inverted and joined to the first package, thereby forming a substantially symmetric package.

FIG. 6B shows a schematic cross-section view of an eighth example of a microelectronic package according to the present invention that is similar to the first example of FIG. 3A, but with the cover plate removed, and also having a second package, substantially identical to the first example of FIG. 3A (also without a cover plate), where the second package has been stacked above the first package and joined to the first package, thereby forming a stacked, double-package.

FIG. 6C shows a schematic cross-section view of a ninth example of a microelectronic package according to the present invention that is similar to the sixth example of FIG. 5, but with the cover plate removed, and also having a second package, substantially identical to the first example of FIG. 5 (also without a cover plate), where the second package has been inverted and joined to the first package, thereby forming a substantially symmetric package.

FIG. 6D shows a schematic cross-section view of a tenth example of a microelectronic package according to the present invention that is similar to the first example of FIG. 5, but with the cover plate removed, and also having a second package, substantially identical to the first example of FIG. 5 (also without a cover plate), where the second package has been stacked above the first package and joined to the first package, thereby forming a stacked, double-package.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic top view along line 1--1 of FIG. 3A of a sixteenth example of a microelectronic package for housing at least one microelectronic device according to the present invention, illustrating examples of the electrically conducting metallized traces located on the upper surface of the first plate, including interconnect bumps, interior bond pads, exterior bond pads, and a conductive via.

FIG. 8 shows a schematic top view of a seventeenth example of a microelectronic package for housing at least one microelectronic device according to the present invention, wherein the package can be a multi-chip module (MCM), including multiple integral windows and multiple microelectronic devices in a two-dimensional array.

FIG. 9 shows a schematic side view of a eighteenth example of a microelectronic package for housing at least one microelectronic device according to the present invention, wherein the window further comprises a lens for optically transforming light passing through the window.

FIG. 10A shows a schematic side view of an example of a microelectronic package for housing a microelectronic device, according to the present invention.

FIG. 10B shows a schematic side view of an example of a microelectronic package for housing a microelectronic device, according to the present invention.

FIG. 10C shows a schematic side view of an example of a microelectronic package for housing a microelectronic device, according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 shows a schematic side view of an example of a microelectronic package for housing a microelectronic device, according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a package for housing at least one microelectronic device, comprising a hollow assembly of stacked, electrically insulating plates and an integral window.

It should be noted that the examples of the present invention shown in the figures are sometimes illustrated with the window facing down, which is the preferred orientation during flip-chip bonding. However, those skilled in the art will understand that the completed package can be oriented for use with the window facing upwards. It should also be noted that all of the figures show only a single microelectronic device, illustrated as a microelectronic device or pair of chips. It is intended that the method and apparatus of the present invention should be understood by those skilled in the art as applying equally to a plurality of chips or devices packaged in a one-dimensional or a two-dimensional array, as in a multi-chip module (MCM), including multiple windowed-compartments, and including having a window on either side of the package.

FIG. 3A shows a schematic cross-section view of a first example of a microelectronic package 8 for housing at least one microelectronic device according to the present invention, comprising a hollow assembly 10 of stacked, electrically insulating plates. The assembly 10 of FIG. 3A has an interior interconnect location 12 disposed on an interior surface of hollow assembly 10, and an exterior interconnect location 14 disposed on an exterior surface of assembly 10. Assembly 10 further comprises a first plate 16. Plate 16 has a first surface 20, an opposing second surface 18, and a first aperture 22 through plate 16. Plate 16 also has an electrically conductive metallized trace 24 disposed on surface 18, for conducting an electrical signal between interior interconnect location 12 and exterior interconnect location 14. Plate 16 further comprises a first window 26 bonded to plate 16, for providing optical access to a microelectronic device 100 that could be disposed within assembly 10.

In FIG. 3A, assembly 10 further comprises a second plate 30, which has a third surface 34, an opposing fourth surface 32, and a second aperture 36 through plate 30 for providing physical access to insert device 100 into package 8. Surface 18 of plate 16 is bonded to the surface 34 of plate 30 to form assembly 10. At least one lateral dimension of aperture 36 is slightly larger than the corresponding lateral dimension of aperture 22. Aperture 22 is substantially aligned with aperture 36. The lateral dimensions of aperture 36 are slightly larger than the lateral dimensions of chip or device 100, so that chip or device 100 can fit inside of aperture 36.

In FIG. 3A, window 26 is attached flush to plate 16. The attachment can comprise a first seal 38. Other mounting arrangements will be disclosed later. The shape of aperture 22 and aperture 36 can be polygonal (e.g. square or rectangular) or circular. Aperture 22 can have a different shape than aperture 36. The horizontal surfaces of device 100, plate 16, plate 18, and window 26 all can be substantially coplaner. Microelectronic device 100 can comprise a microelectronic device 100.

In FIG. 3A, microelectronic device 100 can be flip-chip mounted (e.g. flipped facedown, with optically active area 109 of chip or device 100 facing towards window 26) to surface 18 of plate 16. The method of flip-chip mounting is well-known to those skilled in the art. Surface 18 can comprise a bond pad 44 electrically connected to metallized trace 24 at interior interconnect location 12. Microelectronic device 100 can include interconnect bumps pre-attached to chip or device 100. Alternatively, surface 18 can comprise an interconnect bump 46, connected either to metallized trace 24 or to bond pad 44 at interior interconnect location 12. Interconnect bump 46 can comprise an electrically conductive material (e.g. gold, gold alloy, aluminum, solder, and silver-filled epoxy) for electrically connecting chip or device 100 to metallized trace 24 or bond pad 44. Alternatively, bump 46 can comprise a non-conducting, adhe