Semiconductor Packaging

Definition

(of package, from wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductor_package)

A semiconductor package is a metal, plastic, glass, or ceramic casing containing one or more discrete semiconductor devices or integrated circuits. Individual components are fabricated on semiconductor wafers (commonly silicon) before being diced into die, tested, and packaged. The package provides a means for connecting it to the external environment, such as printed circuit board, via leads such as lands, balls, or pins; and protection against threats such as mechanical impact, chemical contamination, and light exposure. Additionally, it helps dissipate heat produced by the device, with or without the aid of a heat spreader. There are thousands of package types in use. Some are defined by international, national, or industry standards, while others are particular to an individual manufacturer.

Introduction

Packaging - Semiconductor Engineering

Packaging is an essential part of semiconductor manufacturing and design. It affects power, performance, and cost on a macro level, and the basic functionality of all chips on a micro level.

The package is the container that holds the semiconductor die. The packaging may be done by a separate vendor, the OSAT, although foundries are expanding their packaging efforts. The package protects the die, connects the chip to a board or other chips, and may dissipate heat.

Many types of packages in use today, and more are either in research at universities or ready for production — everything from complex stacked die with through-silicon via to fan-outs and complex systems on chip. Packages come in different materials, can be standard or custom, and they can have active or passive cooling.

Packages used to be considered a fairly non-critical part of the semiconductor design. They are now essential on every level, and there is a race on between foundries and OSATs to grab a larger share of this market as complexity and profitability increases.

Fig. 1: Key trends in packaging Source: KLA

Fig. 2: Timeline of different packaging technologies. Source: Cadence

Fig. 3: A small sample of different packaging options. Source: Cadence

for more details about marketed types of packaging and techniques, see a vendor's intro from:

What Is IC Packaging & Why Is It Important? | MCL