Integrated Voltage Regulator with Embedded Passive Device(s)

Abstract

A semiconductor packaging system has a packaging substrate into which inductors and / or capacitors are partially or completely embedded. An active portion of a voltage regulator is mounted on the packaging substrate and supplies regulated voltage to a die also mounted on the packaging substrate. Alternatively, the active portion of the voltage regulator is integrated into the die the voltage regulator supplies voltage to. The voltage regulator cooperates with the inductors and / or capacitors to supply voltage to the die. The inductors may be through vias in the packaging substrate. For additional inductance, through vias in a printed circuit board on which the packaging substrate is mounted may couple to the through vias in the packaging substrate.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD[0001]The present disclosure generally relates to integrated circuits (ICs). More specifically, the present disclosure relates to manufacturing integrated circuits.BACKGROUND[0002]Integrated circuits (ICs) are fabricated on wafers. Commonly, these wafers are semiconductor materials, such as silicon, and singulated to form individual dies. Through efforts of research and development, the size of the transistors making up the ICs has decreased to 45 nm and will soon decrease to 32 nm. As transistor size decreases, the supply voltage to the transistors decreases. The supply voltage is conventionally smaller than wall voltages available in most countries or battery voltages used in portable devices. For example, an IC may operate at 1.25 Volts whereas the wall voltage is 120V or 240V. In a portable device, such as cellular phone, the battery voltage may range from 6V at full charge to 3V at near empty charge.[0003]A semiconductor die may be coupled to a voltage regulator ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present disclosure describes a voltage regulator that has a passive portion embedded in a packaging substrate and an active portion fabricated in a die. The voltage regulator is coupled to at least one passive component at least partially embedded in the packaging substrate and to the die. The method of supplying voltage to the die involves providing a supply voltage to the active portion of the voltage regulator, which is then passed to at least one inductor and then to at least one capacitor embedded in the packaging substrate. The result is a more efficient and effective way of supplying power to the die, which can be utilized in a semiconductor packaging system.

Problems solved by technology

Only tenths of a volt lower may create erratic results in the die; only tenths of a volt higher may damage the die.

Placing the voltage regulator on the PCB separate from the die results in a voltage drop between the voltage regulator and the die that the voltage regulator supplies.

Further, conventional voltage regulators have slow response times due to the distance between the voltage regulator and the die.

Passive devices consume die area, which increases manufacturing cost.

In addition to consuming large areas on a die, conventional on-die inductors have a low quality factor.

A quality factor for passive components embedded in a die is low because the passive components are manufactured thin to fit in the die.

As the amount of conducting material shrinks, conductive or magnetic losses increase and degrade the quality factor.

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