Temporary substrate carrier

Abstract

The invention relates to a temporary substrate carrier. A particular implementation of a substrate carrier may include a frame including an inner perimeter configured to be smaller than a perimeter of an organic substrate panel, the organic substrate panel including a plurality of semiconductor dies coupled to the organic substrate panel; and an outer periphery configured to be larger than a periphery of the organic substrate panel; wherein an edge of the frame between the inner periphery and the outer periphery may be configured to abut against an organic substrate panel to prevent warpage during a heating operation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Aspects of this document generally relate to carriers, such as devices for supporting objects, such as substrates for semiconductor devices. Background Art

[0002] The substrate is used to mechanically support the semiconductor die. Various semiconductor dies are contained in semiconductor packages that are designed to protect the semiconductor die from moisture or electrostatic discharge and to help route electrical signals from the semiconductor die to a circuit board or motherboard to which the semiconductor package is attached. Summary of the invention

[0003] A specific implementation of a substrate carrier may include: a frame including an inner periphery configured to be smaller than a periphery of an organic substrate panel, the organic substrate panel including a plurality of semiconductor dies coupled to the organic substrate panel; and an outer periphery configured to be larger than the periphery of the organic substrate panel; wherein an edge of the frame between the inner periphery and the outer periphery may be configured to abut against the organic substrate panel to prevent warping during a heating operation.

[0004] A specific implementation of a substrate carrier may include one, all, or any of the following:

[0005] The edge of the frame may be configured to rest against the largest planar side of the organic substrate panel to which the semiconductor die may be coupled.

[0006] The substrate carrier may include a rotatable protrusion extending from the frame, and the rotatable protrusion may be configured to contact the organic substrate panel.

[0007] The rotatable protrusion may be configured to contact a largest planar side of the organic substrate panel opposite the largest planar side coupled to the semiconductor die.

[0008] The edge of the frame may be configured to contact a largest planar side of the organic substrate panel opposite the largest planar side coupled to the semiconductor die.

[0009] The substrate carrier may include a rotatable protrusion extending from the frame, wherein the rotatable protrusion may be configured to contact a largest planar side that may be coupled to the semiconductor die.

[0010] The edge of the frame may include a shoulder configured to abut against the largest planar side of the organic substrate panel.

[0011] A specific implementation of a substrate carrier may include: a frame, the frame including an inner surface and an outer surface and a shoulder included in the inner surface, wherein the shoulder of the frame can be configured to contact an organic substrate panel to prevent warping during a heating operation, the organic substrate panel including a plurality of semiconductor tube cores coupled to the organic substrate panel.

[0012] Specific implementations of the substrate carrier may include one, all, or any of the following:

[0013] The shoulder of the frame may be configured to rest against the largest planar side of the organic substrate panel to which the semiconductor die may be coupled.

[0014] The substrate carrier may include a rotatable protrusion extending from the frame, and the rotatable protrusion may be configured to contact the organic substrate panel.

[0015] The rotatable protrusion may be configured to contact a largest planar side of the organic substrate panel opposite the largest planar side coupled to the semiconductor die.

[0016] The shoulder of the frame may be configured to contact a largest planar side of the organic substrate panel opposite the largest planar side coupled to the semiconductor die.

[0017] The substrate carrier may include a rotatable protrusion extending from the frame, wherein the rotatable protrusion may be configured to contact a largest planar side that may be coupled to the semiconductor die.

[0018] A specific implementation of a substrate carrier may include: a first frame including an inner surface and an outer surface and a first shoulder included in the inner surface; a second frame including an inner surface and an outer surface and a second shoulder included in the inner surface; and two or more couplers securing the first frame to the second frame. When the two or more couplers secure the first frame to the second frame, the first shoulder of the first frame and the second shoulder of the second frame may be configured to contact an organic substrate panel including a plurality of semiconductor dies coupled to the organic substrate panel to prevent warping during a heating operation.

[0019] Specific implementations of the substrate carrier may include one, all, or any of the following:

[0020] The first shoulder of the first frame may be configured to rest against a largest planar side of the organic substrate panel to which the semiconductor die may be coupled.

[0021] The second shoulder of the second frame may be configured to contact a largest planar side of the organic substrate panel opposite the largest planar side coupled to the semiconductor die.

[0022] The two or more couplers may be two or more pins.

[0023] The two or more couplers may be two or more clamps.

[0024] The two or more couplers may be two or more clamps.

[0025] Two or more couplers may be included in the first frame, the second frame, or both the first frame and the second frame.

[0026] The foregoing and other aspects, features and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description and accompanying drawings, and from the claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] Specific implementations will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals represent like elements, and:

[0028] Figure 1 is a perspective view of a specific implementation of a substrate carrier coupled to a substrate panel;

[0029] Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of a specific implementation of a substrate carrier coupled to a substrate panel;

[0030] Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of a specific implementation of a substrate carrier coupled to a substrate panel using a rotatable tab;

[0031] Figure 4 is a perspective view of another implementation of a substrate carrier coupled to a substrate panel;

[0032] Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of a specific implementation of a substrate carrier coupled to a substrate panel using a rotatable tab;

[0033] Figure 6 is a perspective view of another implementation of a substrate carrier coupled to a substrate panel; and

[0034] Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view of another implementation of a substrate carrier coupled to a substrate panel. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] The present disclosure, its various aspects, and specific implementations are not limited to the specific components, assembly processes, or method elements disclosed herein. Many additional components, assembly processes, and / or method elements known in the art that are consistent with the intended substrate carrier will obviously be able to be used with specific specific implementations of the present disclosure. Thus, for example, although the present invention discloses a specific specific implementation, such specific implementations and implementation components may include any shape, size, style, type, model, version, measurement, concentration, material, quantity, method element, step, etc. known in the art for such substrate carriers and implementation components and methods that are consistent with the intended operation and method.

[0036] refer to Figure 1, illustrating a specific implementation of an organic substrate panel 2 coupled to a specific implementation of a frame 4. As shown, the organic substrate panel 2 includes a plurality of semiconductor dies 6 coupled thereto using a die attach material that is cured using a heating process (such as, as a non-limiting example, a heating chuck, a conductive heater block, an oven, or any other heating system). In various specific implementations, the curing behavior of the die attach material is such that a higher temperature applied during the curing process results in increased adhesion / strength between the semiconductor dies 6 and the material of the organic substrate panel 2. Therefore, increasing the adhesion of such a die attach material involves exposing the organic substrate panel 2 and the plurality of semiconductor dies 6 to a curing process at a higher temperature.

[0037] However, for various types of organic substrate materials, increasing the temperature to which the material of the organic substrate panel 2 is exposed can result in increased warping of the organic substrate panel. If the warping increases sufficiently during the curing process, the organic substrate panel 2 can lift from the surface of the conductive heater block (in the case where a conductive heater block is used to heat the substrate), resulting in a non-uniform temperature distribution across the organic substrate panel. This non-uniform temperature distribution can result in variations in the final adhesion produced by the curing process for each of the plurality of semiconductor dies 6. When tested using a temperature cycling test, such variations caused by the warping of the organic substrate panel 2 can result in seemingly random failures of the final packaged semiconductor dies when separated from the organic substrate panel.

[0038] In various substrate carrier implementations disclosed herein, the substrate carrier is configured to work with a panel size portion of a substrate that includes a plurality of dies and a corresponding plurality of semiconductor packages. This is in contrast to other carrier designs that are designed to hold only the package size portion of the substrate during assembly of the various packages in various configurations. These panel size portions of the substrate are designed to be handled as a panel and then separated to form various semiconductor packages. Due to the size of the panel size portions, they cannot be handled using a carrier design that holds only the package size portion of the substrate during assembly operations.

[0039] Figure 1 The frame 4 is illustrated as resting on the edge of the organic substrate panel 2 and is made of a material having sufficient weight to keep the organic substrate panel 2 substantially flat during the die attach material curing operation or other heating / processing operations. As non-limiting examples, the material of the frame can be metal, plastic, polymer, metal alloy, aluminum, copper, steel, or any other material having sufficient density to keep the organic substrate panel flat when it is formed in the frame. Figure 1 Illustrated and referenced Figure 2 , the frame 4 includes an inner periphery 8 and an outer periphery 10. Figure 2As illustrated, the inner perimeter 8 of the frame is smaller (shorter in length) than the outer perimeter 10 of the frame, and the inner perimeter 8 is also smaller than the perimeter 12 of the organic substrate panel 2, while the outer perimeter 10 of the frame is larger than the perimeter 12 of the organic substrate panel 2. An edge 14 exists between the inner perimeter 8 and the outer perimeter 10 of the frame 4, which abuts against the organic substrate panel 2. Figure 1 and Figure 2 In the illustrated implementation, the edge 14 abuts the largest planar surface 16 (die side) of the organic substrate panel 2 to which the semiconductor die is attached. In this manner, the weight of the frame 4 is distributed around all four sides of the organic substrate panel 2 via the edge abutting the die side of the organic substrate panel 2, thereby keeping the panel flat as the temperature rises during the die attach material curing operation. In some implementations, the edge 14 and portion 18 of the frame 4 extending past the largest planar surface 16 of the die side of the organic substrate panel 2 may be referred to as a shoulder.

[0040] refer to Figure 3 , which illustrates a cross section of a portion of a frame similar in design to Figure 2, because the edge 20 abuts the maximum planar surface 22 of the organic substrate panel 24. However, in this implementation, there are rotatable protrusions 26 that rotate in and out of the plane of the paper (or in the plane of the paper, depending on the implementation) to contact the maximum planar side 28 of the organic substrate panel 24 opposite the maximum planar side 22 of the die side of the panel. These rotatable protrusions 26 can take a variety of shapes, such as, by way of non-limiting example, a rectangular cuboid, a cylinder, a triangular prism, or any other closed three-dimensional shape with a flat edge 30 that can abut the maximum planar surface 28. The effect of the rotatable protrusions 26 is to lift the organic substrate panel 24 slightly off the surface against which the panel abuts, but this effect is negligible for heat transfer purposes, where the thickness of the rotatable protrusions 26 is small compared to the thickness of the organic substrate panel 24 or the frame 32 itself. The rotatable protrusion 26 may be held against the frame 32 / rotatably coupled with the frame by (as a non-limiting example) a pin, a corner nail, a rivet, a screw, or any other rotatable mechanism. In some implementations, the pin may be integrated with the material of the frame 32 or integrated with the material of the rotatable protrusion 26. Depending on the tolerance defined between the edge 20 and the edge 30 of the rotatable protrusion, the organic substrate panel 24 can be kept flat by the rigidity of the frame 32 without having to rely entirely on the weight of the frame to keep the organic substrate panel 24 flat to prevent warping. In various implementations, the rotatable protrusion may be manually rotated into position when the frame is placed on the organic substrate panel; in other implementations, the rotatable protrusion may be automatically rotated by an external mechanism or by a mechanism attached to the frame itself. As a non-limiting example, the material of the rotatable protrusion may be metal, metal alloy, plastic, polymer, rubber, resin, copper, aluminum, carbon, carbonaceous material, steel, or any other metal or organic material.

[0041] refer to Figure 4 and Figure 5 , illustrates another specific implementation of a substrate carrier having a frame 34 coupled to an organic substrate panel 36 to which a plurality of semiconductor dies 38 have been attached using a die attach material. As shown, there is a rotatable tab 40 that has been rotated out to contact a maximum planar surface 42 of the die side of the organic substrate panel 36. A shoulder 44 extends from the frame 34 and includes an edge / surface 46 that contacts a maximum planar surface 48 of the organic substrate panel 36 opposite the die side. Similar to Figures 1 to 3In the illustrated implementation, the inner perimeter 50 of the frame 34 is smaller than the outer perimeter 52 and is also smaller than the perimeter 54 of the organic substrate panel 36. In this implementation, the use of the rotatable tab 40 is required in order to keep the organic substrate panel 36 flat and prevent warping, because otherwise the organic substrate panel is held against the frame 34 using only gravity. Because the shoulder 44 of the frame 34 rests below the organic substrate panel 36, this frame implementation results in the organic substrate panel 36 being supported above the oven or other structure where the frame 34 is located at a distance equal to the thickness of the shoulder. In some implementations where airflow may be desired below the organic substrate panel 36, this spacing may have some advantages. The rotatable tab 40 may be of any type and may be rotatably coupled using any type of coupling mechanism disclosed in this document in various implementations.

[0042] The material used for the frame 34 may be any material disclosed in this document, including carbon or carbon-containing materials as further described herein. The material of the rotatable protrusion 40 may be any material disclosed in this document.

[0043] refer to Figure 6 and Figure 7 , illustrates another specific implementation of a substrate carrier having a frame 56 coupled to an organic substrate panel 58. As with the other specific implementations, the organic substrate panel 58 includes various semiconductor dies 60 coupled to its largest planar side 62 (die side) using a die attach material. Figure 7 As illustrated in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 5 , the frame 56 includes two parts, a first frame 64 and a second frame 66, which use two or more couplers 68 (in Figure 7 The first frame 64 includes a first shoulder 70, and the second frame 66 includes a second shoulder 72. The first shoulder 70 includes an edge 74 that contacts the largest planar surface 62 on the die side of the organic substrate panel 58, and the second shoulder 66 includes an edge 76 that contacts the largest planar surface 78 on the side opposite to the die side of the organic substrate panel 58. The first shoulder 70 and the second shoulder 72 are parts of inner surfaces 80, 82 of the first frame 64 and the second frame 66, respectively.

[0044] The first frame 64 and the second frame 66 cooperate to hold the organic substrate panel 58 in a flat position defined by the respective first shoulder 70 and the second shoulder 72. The two or more couplers 68 maintain the rigid fixed relationship of the first frame 64 and the second frame 66. As non-limiting examples, the two or more couplers 68 can be pins, screws, clamps, clamps, or other structures capable of fixedly coupling two rigid structures together. Figure 7As illustrated, two or more couplers 68 may be included in the material of the first frame 64 and the second frame 66, but as separate structures / materials. However, in other specific implementations, the two or more couplers may be formed integrally by the material of the first frame, the material of the second frame, or by the material of the first frame and the material of the second frame. In other specific implementations, the two or more couplers may be fixedly coupled to the first frame and removably coupled with the second frame, or vice versa. In other specific implementations, some of the two or more couplers can be fixedly coupled to the first frame and the second frame in a corresponding relationship / mode and removably coupled with the second frame and the first frame, respectively. In the case where the two or more couplers are clamps or fixtures, the two or more couplers may not be coupled to any part of the first frame 64 and the second frame 66 that faces each other, but may be coupled to or across the outer surfaces 84, 86 of the first frame 64 and the second frame 66, respectively.

[0045] Because the organic substrate panel 58 is held between the first frame 64 and the second frame 66, the organic substrate panel 58 may not touch the surface on which the second frame 66 is located, depending on the thickness of the second frame and / or the thickness of the second shoulder 72. This may be desirable to allow airflow between the surface and the organic substrate panel 58. However, in various implementations, the spacing between the organic substrate panel 58 and the surface may be set by adjusting the thickness of the second frame and / or the thickness of the second shoulder 72. In various system and method implementations, the first frame 64, the second frame 66, and the two or more couplers may be assembled with the organic substrate panel 58 manually or automatically using equipment that places the various components on top of each other.

[0046] The materials of the first frame 64 and the second frame 66 can be the same in various implementations, or they can be different.The materials used for the first frame 64 and the second frame 66 can be any material disclosed in this document, including carbon or carbon-containing materials.

[0047] Figure 5 and Figure 7 Various embodiments in the drawings illustrate the use of a shoulder that separates the organic substrate panel from the surface on which the frame is located. However, in other implementations, the frame or second frame may not include a shoulder, but may be a tray size for covering the entire largest planar surface of the organic substrate panel. In such implementations, conductive heat transfer from the surface may be directly transferred to the organic substrate panel through the entire surface of the tray in contact with the surface on which the tray is located. In some implementations, part or all of the tray portion may be made of carbon or a carbon-containing material to help conduct heat to the organic substrate panel.

[0048] The material of the organic substrate panel can be any of a variety of substrate types, including but not limited to laminate substrates, FR4 substrates, FR-2 substrates, polyimide substrates, G-10 substrates, printed circuit boards, or any other substrate type containing organic components. As non-limiting examples, the various semiconductor dies that can be attached to the organic substrate panel can be power semiconductor dies, metal oxide field effect transistors (MOSFETs), bipolar junction transistors (BJTs), transistors, diodes, high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), light emitting diodes (LEDs), or other semiconductor device types. Other passive components may also be included on the organic substrate panel, including, as non-limiting examples, capacitors, resistors, inductors, switches, or any other passive electrical component types.

[0049] Where the above description relates to specific embodiments of substrate carriers and implementation components, sub-components, methods and sub-methods, it should be apparent that various modifications may be made without departing from the essence thereof, and that these embodiments, implementation components, sub-components, methods and sub-methods may be applied to other substrate carriers.

Claims

1. A substrate carrier, comprising: a frame comprising an inner perimeter configured to be smaller than a perimeter of an organic substrate panel including a plurality of semiconductor dies coupled to the organic substrate panel; and an outer perimeter configured to be larger than the perimeter of the organic substrate panel; Wherein an edge of the frame between the inner perimeter and the outer perimeter is configured to abut against the organic substrate panel to prevent warping during a heating operation. 2 . The substrate carrier of claim 1 , wherein the edge of the frame is configured to rest on a largest planar side of the organic substrate panel to which the semiconductor die is coupled. 3 . The substrate carrier of claim 2 , further comprising a rotatable protrusion extending from the frame, the rotatable protrusion being configured to contact the organic substrate panel. 4 . The substrate carrier of claim 3 , wherein the rotatable protrusion is configured to contact a most planar side of the organic substrate panel opposite to a most planar side coupled to the semiconductor die. 5 . The substrate carrier of claim 1 , wherein the edge of the frame is configured to contact a largest planar side of the organic substrate panel opposite a largest planar side coupled to the semiconductor die. 6 . The substrate carrier of claim 5 , further comprising a rotatable tab extending from the frame, wherein the rotatable tab is configured to contact-couple to the largest planar side of the semiconductor die.

7. The substrate carrier of claim 1, wherein the edge of the frame includes a shoulder configured to abut a largest planar side of the organic substrate panel.

8. A substrate carrier, comprising: a frame including an inner surface and an outer surface and a shoulder contained in the inner surface; Wherein the shoulder of the frame is configured to contact an organic substrate panel to prevent warping during a heating operation, the organic substrate panel comprising a plurality of semiconductor dies coupled to the organic substrate panel.

9. The substrate carrier of claim 8, wherein the shoulder of the frame is configured to rest on a largest planar side of the organic substrate panel to which the semiconductor die is coupled. 10 . The substrate carrier of claim 9 , further comprising a rotatable protrusion extending from the frame, the rotatable protrusion configured to contact the organic substrate panel. 11 . The substrate carrier of claim 10 , wherein the rotatable protrusion is configured to contact a most planar side of the organic substrate panel opposite to a most planar side coupled to the semiconductor die.

12. The substrate carrier of claim 8, wherein the shoulder of the frame is configured to contact a most planar side of the organic substrate panel opposite a most planar side coupled to the semiconductor die. 13 . The substrate carrier of claim 12 , further comprising a rotatable tab extending from the frame, wherein the rotatable tab is configured to contact-couple to the largest planar side of the semiconductor die.

14. A substrate carrier, comprising: a first frame including an inner surface and an outer surface and a first shoulder included in the inner surface; a second frame including an inner surface and an outer surface and a second shoulder included in the inner surface; and two or more couplers securing the first frame to the second frame; Wherein when the two or more couplers secure the first frame to the second frame, the first shoulder of the first frame and the second shoulder of the second frame are configured to contact an organic substrate panel to prevent warping during a heating operation, the organic substrate panel comprising a plurality of semiconductor dies coupled to the organic substrate panel. 15 . The substrate carrier of claim 14 , wherein the first shoulder of the first frame is configured to rest on a largest planar side of the organic substrate panel coupled to the semiconductor die. 16 . The substrate carrier of claim 14 , wherein the second shoulder of the second frame is configured to contact a most planar side of the organic substrate panel opposite a most planar side coupled to the semiconductor die.

17. The substrate carrier of claim 14, wherein the two or more couplers are two or more pins.

18. The substrate carrier of claim 14, wherein the two or more couplers are two or more clamps.

19. The substrate carrier of claim 14, wherein the two or more couplers are two or more clamps.

20. The substrate carrier of claim 14, wherein the two or more couplers are contained in the first frame, the second frame, or both the first frame and the second frame.

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