Logo   | Search
About
Project Feasibility Study
Hardware Design &
Fabrication
Program Development & Debugging
Product Characterization & Correlation


 
   
 
 
Enter
 
 
Infineon boosts pin count for wafer-level packaging
 

MUNICH, Germany — Infineon has developed a package technology that significantly broadens the application spectrum of wafer level ball grid array (WLB) packaging. The company has already licensed the technology to Taiwan-based packaging technology provider Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE).

Infineon's technology, dubbed embedded WLB (eWLB) was developed at the company's communications product division in Regensburg (Germany). It enables chip designers bring wafer-level BGAs to chips with a high number of I/O pins.

WLB does away with the need for an interposer layer which in flip chip packages is required to connect the I/O signal leads on the chip to the respective I/O balls to be soldered to the printed circuit board. However, the WLB technology limits the number of I/O pins since all contact balls must fit under the chip shadow, explained Ralf Plieninger, Senior Director Packaging Solutions for Infineon. With eWLB, the package design is independent from chip size. While the chips can be processed on wafer level and thus processing can be done automatically, the chip size does not restrict any longer the pin number. At the same time, the eWLB technology allows to shrink the chip size by about 30 percent in comparison with conventional lead-frame laminate packages.

In order to achieve this goal, Infineon has added a process step: After the chips have been tested on wafer level and sawed, they are again bonded to a wafer-shaped panel consisting of a molding material, but with a much greater distance between the chips. This allows the manufacturer to create a contact area around the chip where the ball contacts can be placed. After creating the contact ball grid and testing, the "wafer" is sawed again for testing and further processing.

Developed at Infineon's communication products division, the company plans to apply the technology for mobile phone devices in the first place, such as transceivers, power management chips as well as baseband and connectivity devices. But the technology is not restricted to communication chips, Plieninger explained. First products will be available from 2H2008.

In order to rush the acceptance of the technology, Infineon has licensed it to ASE as the world's largest provider of semiconductor packaging and test solutions, said Andreas Bahr who oversees Infineon's licensing business for these devices.

 
Copyright © ChipTest, All Rights Reserved | Disclaimer
Designed & Developed by Cherry
Home