VERTICALLY ORIENTED COMPONENT STACK AND ASSEMBLY

Abstract

A vertical component stack, assemblies, and procedures are provided. For example, a vertically oriented component stack comprises a plurality of components, each with a first side face that is opposite a second side face along a vertical direction. The first and second side faces each extend longitudinally from a first end face to a second end face. Each component has a first external contact and a second external contact formed on the first side face. The first external contact is spaced longitudinally from the second external contact.The multitude of components are stacked in the transverse direction such that the first external contacts of the multitude of components are generally aligned transversely to each other, and the second external contacts of the multitude of components are generally aligned transversely to each other.

Description

Related registration The present application is based on and claims priority over the preliminary US patent application serial no. 63 / 579,300 filed on August 29, 2023, to which express reference is hereby made. Background of the invention Communication using radio frequency signals is becoming increasingly popular. For example, the demand for increased data transmission speeds for wireless networking has driven the demand for radio frequency components, including those configured to operate at high frequencies, including those of the 5G spectrum. A trend toward miniaturization has increased the desire for small passive components and generally reduced the power handling capacity of such components. Miniaturization has also increased the difficulty of surface mounting small passive components. A more compact component bank would therefore be desirable in engineering. Brief description of the invention According to one embodiment of the present invention, the vertically oriented component stack defines a longitudinal direction, a transverse direction, and a vertical direction, which are orthogonal to each other. The vertically oriented component stack comprises a plurality of components. Each component of the plurality of components comprises a first side surface that is opposite a second side surface in the vertical direction, and a first end surface that is opposite a second end surface in the longitudinal direction. The first side surface and the second side surface each extend longitudinally from the first end surface to the second end surface. Each component of the plurality of components has a first external contact formed on the first side surface and a second external contact formed on the first side surface.The first external contact is spaced longitudinally from the second external contact. The multitude of components are stacked transversely such that the first external contacts of the multitude of components are generally aligned transversely to each other, and the second external contacts of the multitude of components are generally aligned transversely to each other. According to another embodiment of the present invention, an assembly comprises a device with a mounting surface and a vertically oriented component stack. The vertically oriented component stack defines a longitudinal direction, a transverse direction, and a vertical direction, which are orthogonal to each other. The vertically oriented component stack comprises a plurality of components. Each component of the plurality of components comprises a first side surface that is vertically opposite a second side surface, and a first end surface that is longitudinally opposite a second end surface. The first side surface and the second side surface each extend longitudinally from the first end surface to the second end surface.Each component of the plurality of components has a first external contact and a second external contact, both formed on the first side face. The first external contact is spaced longitudinally from the second external contact. The plurality of components are stacked transversely such that the first and second external contacts of the plurality of components are generally oriented transversely to each other. The vertically oriented component stack is arranged along the first side face on the mounting surface, so that the first and second external contacts of each component of the plurality are in contact with the mounting plane. According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, a method for forming a vertically oriented component stack, wherein the vertically oriented component stack defines a longitudinal direction, a transverse direction, and a vertical direction that are orthogonal to each other, comprises forming a first external contact on a first side face of each component of the plurality of components. The first side face is vertically opposite to a second side face, and the first side face and the second side face each extend longitudinally from a first end face to a second end face that is longitudinally opposite to the first end face.The process also includes forming a second external contact on the first side face of each component of the plurality of components and stacking the plurality of components in a transverse direction, such that the first external contacts of the plurality of components are essentially aligned transversely to each other and the second external contacts of the plurality of components are essentially aligned transversely to each other. Further features and aspects of the present invention are explained in more detail below. Brief description of the characters In the remainder of the description and with reference to the accompanying drawings, a complete and reproducible disclosure of the present invention, including its best implementation, is set forth in particular for the person skilled in the art; in which: Fig. 1 shows a schematic side view of an embodiment of a vertical component stack assembly comprising a vertical component stack of the present invention; Fig. 2 shows a bottom view of the vertical component stack of Fig. 1; Fig. 3A shows a cross-sectional view of the vertical component stack of Fig. 1 along line 3A-3A of Fig. 2; Fig. 3B shows a cross-sectional view of the vertical component stack of Fig. 1 along line 3B-3B of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 shows a schematic side view of another embodiment of a vertical component stack assembly comprising a vertical component stack of the present invention; Fig.Fig. 5A is a schematic top view of an embodiment of a component that can be used in the present invention; Fig. 5B is a schematic side view of another embodiment of a component that can be used in the present invention; Fig. 6 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a method for forming a vertical component stack of the present invention; Fig. 7 is a schematic perspective view of an embodiment of a vertically oriented component stack assembly comprising a vertically oriented component stack of the present invention; Fig. 8 is a schematic side view of the vertically oriented component stack assembly of Fig. 7; Fig. 9A is a schematic side view of an embodiment of a component that can be used in the present invention; Fig.Fig. 9B is a schematic exploded view of another embodiment of a component that can be used in the present invention; Fig. 10 is a schematic perspective view of another embodiment of a vertically oriented component stack assembly comprising a vertically oriented component stack of the present invention; Fig. 11A is a schematic perspective view of a first end of a vertically oriented component stack that can be used in the present invention; Fig. 11B is a schematic perspective view of a second end of the vertically oriented component stack of Fig. 11A; Fig. 12 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a method for forming a vertically oriented component stack of the present invention; Fig.Fig. 13 is a schematic perspective view of an embodiment of a vertically oriented interposer stack assembly comprising a vertically oriented interposer stack of the present invention; Fig. 14 is a schematic side view of the vertically oriented interposer stack assembly of Fig. 13; and Fig. 15 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a method for forming a vertically oriented component stack of the present invention. Where reference numerals are used multiple times in this description and the drawings, they are intended to represent the same or analogous features or elements of the invention. Detailed description of the invention The person skilled in the art should be aware that the present discussion is only a description of exemplary embodiments and is not intended to limit the broader aspects of the present invention. In general terms, the present invention relates to vertical components, such as vertical component stacks, vertically oriented components, and vertically oriented interposer stacks. A vertical component stack can comprise a plurality of components stacked along a vertical direction such that at least a portion of each component in the stack is oriented in a longitudinal and a transverse direction. Each component of the plurality of components in the vertical component stack can comprise at least one electrode extending in a plane parallel to an XY plane defined by the longitudinal and transverse directions. The at least one electrode of each component can extend parallel to a mounting surface of a device on which the vertical component stack is mounted. A vertically oriented component stack can comprise a multitude of components stacked in a transverse direction such that at least a portion of each component is aligned in both a vertical and a longitudinal direction. Each component in the vertically oriented component stack can have external contacts along a single side, i.e., along the same side. Such lateral contacts enable the mounting of the vertically oriented component stack, for example, on a fixture such as a printed circuit board, with the components oriented vertically and perpendicular to the mounting surface. A vertically oriented interposer stack can resemble a vertically oriented component stack and include interposers that each have contacts on the same side as the other interposers in the stack. A conductive pattern can be applied or formed on the surface of one or more interposers, and a component, such as a filter, can be in electrical contact with the conductive pattern. The component can be positioned between two interposers in the stack. The stack can include a plurality of interposers, with components positioned between the interposers, thus forming a component bank. Each of the vertical components described here can be individually customized. For example, each component stack or component bank can be individually configured to contain a set of components required for a specific application, such as performing filter functions at a particular frequency or over a specific frequency range. Thus, each component stack or component bank can be adapted as needed to achieve the desired performance of the stack or bank. In some embodiments, the vertical component (whether it be the vertical component stack, vertically oriented component stack, or vertically oriented interposer stack) comprises at least one filter. The filter may be a thin-film filter, a multilayer filter, or any other suitable filter. In some embodiments, the vertical component may comprise more than one filter, wherein each filter in the vertical component may be of the same type (e.g., all thin-film filters or all multilayer filters), or at least one of the multiple filters may be of a different type. As mentioned previously, the vertical component can comprise at least one thin-film filter. The thin-film filter can comprise a monolithic substrate and at least one thin-film inductor formed above the monolithic substrate. For example, the filter can comprise a structured conductive layer forming one or more thin-film inductors. In some embodiments, the thin-film inductors can be relatively thick, with each thin-film inductor having a thickness in the range of 20 micrometers to about 80 micrometers, in some embodiments about 30 micrometers to about 70 micrometers, in some embodiments about 40 micrometers to about 60 micrometers, and in some embodiments about 45 micrometers to about 55 micrometers.It has been shown that such thicknesses reduce heat generation by the thin-film inductors when high currents are applied, but these thicknesses are not so great as to prevent strong adhesion between the substrate and / or dielectric layers adjacent to the thin-film inductors. In other embodiments, the one or more thin-film inductors can be thinner, i.e., have a thickness of less than 20 micrometers. The one or more thin-film filters can be precisely shaped using a variety of suitable subtractive, semi-additive, or fully additive processes. For example, physical vapor deposition and / or chemical vapor deposition can be used. In some embodiments, for instance, the thin-film components can be formed using sputtering, a type of physical vapor deposition. However, a variety of other suitable processes can also be used, including, for example, evaporation, atomic layer deposition (ALD), plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), electroless deposition, and electroplating. Lithography masks and etching can be used to produce the desired shape of the thin-film components. A variety of suitable etching techniques can be used, including dry etching using a plasma of a reactive or unreactive gas (e.g.,Argon, nitrogen, oxygen, chlorine, boron trichloride, carbon tetrafluorocarbon, sulfur hexafluoride) and / or wet solutions. As described above, in some embodiments the vertical component comprises at least one multilayer filter. The multilayer filter may include an inductor comprising a conductive layer formed over a first dielectric layer. The multilayer filter may further comprise a capacitor comprising a first electrode and a second electrode separated from the first electrode by a second dielectric layer. In some embodiments, the second dielectric layer may differ from the first dielectric layer; that is, the capacitor may be oriented in a vertical Z-direction (e.g.,The conductor electrodes are separated from the inductor (by one or more dielectric layers), for example by at least 10 micrometers, in some embodiments by at least about 20 micrometers, in some embodiments by at least about 30 micrometers, in some embodiments by at least about 40 micrometers, in some embodiments by at least about 50 micrometers, in some embodiments by at least about 60 micrometers, in some embodiments by at least about 80 micrometers, and in some embodiments by at least about 150 micrometers. Such separation between the inductor and conductor electrodes reduces interference and achieves excellent performance characteristics at high frequencies. The at least one filter of the vertical component can comprise one or more dielectric materials, e.g., as a filter substrate, as one or more dielectric layers, etc. In some embodiments, the one or more dielectric materials can have a low dielectric constant. The dielectric constant can be less than about 120, in some embodiments less than about 100, in some embodiments less than about 75, in some embodiments less than about 50, in some embodiments less than about 25, in some embodiments less than about 15, and in some embodiments less than about 5. For example, the dielectric constant can be in the range of about 1.5 to about 120 in some embodiments, about 1.5 to about 100 in some embodiments, about 1.5 to about 75 in some embodiments, and about 2 to about 8 in some embodiments.For example, a material with a dielectric constant greater than 30 can be used to achieve higher frequencies and / or smaller components. In such embodiments, the dielectric constant can range from about 30 to about 120 or more, in some embodiments from about 50 to about 100, and in some embodiments from about 70 to about 90. In some embodiments, one or more of the dielectric materials may include organic dielectric materials. Examples of organic dielectrics are polyphenyl ether (PPE)-based materials, such as Polyclad's LD621 and Park / Nelco Corporation's N6000 series; liquid crystal polymers (LCP), such as Rogers Corporation's LCP or WL Gore & Associates, Inc.; hydrocarbon composites, such as Rogers Corporation's 4000 series; and epoxy-based laminates, such as Park / Nelco Corp.'s N4000 series.Examples include epoxy-based N4000-13, bromine-free material laminated to LCP, organic layers with high-K material, unfilled organic layers with high-K value, Rogers 4350, Rogers 4003 material and other thermoplastic materials such as polyphenylene sulfide resins, polyethylene terephthalate resins, polybutylene terephthalate resins, polyethylene sulfide resins, polyetherketone resins, polytetrafluoroethylene resins and grafting resins, or similar organic materials with low dielectric constant and low loss factor. In some embodiments, the dielectric material can be an epoxy resin with a ceramic filler. For example, the dielectric material can comprise an organic compound, such as a polymer (e.g., an epoxy), and may contain particles of a ceramic dielectric material, such as barium titanate, calcium titanate, zinc oxide, aluminum oxide with low-firing glass, or other suitable ceramic or glass-bonded materials. In some embodiments, the dielectric material can also be an organic compound, such as an epoxy (with or without added ceramic, with or without glass fiber), which is popular as a printed circuit board material, or other plastics commonly used as dielectrics. In these cases, the conductor is usually a copper foil that is chemically etched to form the structures.In further embodiments, the dielectric material can comprise a material having a relatively high dielectric constant (K), such as NPO (COG), X7R, X5R, X7S, Z5U, Y5V, and strontium titanate. In such examples, the dielectric material can have a dielectric constant greater than 100, for example, within a range of about 100 to about 4000, and in some embodiments from about 1000 to about 3000. However, other materials can also be used, including N6000, N4000-13 epoxy-based, LCP-laminated brominated-free material, organic layers with high-k material, unfilled organic high-k layers, Rogers 4350, Rogers 4003 material (from Rogers Corporation) and other thermoplastic materials such as hydrocarbon, Teflon, FR4, epoxy, polyamide, polyimide and acrylate, polyphenylene sulfide resins, polyethylene terephthalate resins, polybutylene terephthalate resins, polyethylene sulfide resins, polyetherketone resins, polytetrafluoroethylene resins, BT resin composites (e.g. Speedboard C), thermosets (e.g. Hitachi MCL-LX-67F) and grafting resins or similar organic materials with low dielectric constant and low loss factor. Furthermore, in some embodiments, non-organic dielectric materials, including ceramic, semiconducting, or insulating materials, may be used, such as sapphire, ruby, alumina (Al₂O₃), aluminum nitride (AlN), beryllium oxide (BeO), aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃), boron nitride (BN), silicon (Si), silicon carbide (SiC), silicon dioxide (SiO₂), silicon nitride (Si₃N₄), gallium arsenide (GaAs), gallium nitride (GaN), zirconium dioxide (ZrO₂), mixtures thereof, oxides and / or nitrides of such materials, or any other suitable ceramic material. Other exemplary ceramic materials include barium titanate (BaTiO₃), calcium titanate (CaTiO₃), zinc oxide (ZnO), ceramics containing low-temperature annealed glass, or other glass-like composite materials. Dielectric materials such as diamond may also be used. Suitable dielectric materials are generally electrically insulating and thermally conductive. In some embodiments, for example, the filter may include a filter substrate with a relatively high thermal conductivity, which can improve the power handling capacity of the device. For example, the substrate may have a thermal conductivity greater than approximately 20 W / m•°C, in some embodiments greater than approximately 40 W / m•°C, in some embodiments greater than approximately 80 W / m•°C, and in some embodiments greater than approximately 100 W / m•°C. The one or more filters of the vertical component can each be configured as a variety of suitable filter types, including, for example, low-pass filters, high-pass filters, or band-pass filters. Each filter can have a characteristic frequency (e.g., low-pass frequency, high-pass frequency, an upper limit of a band-pass frequency, or a lower limit of a band-pass frequency (e.g., a stop frequency)) that is in the range of approximately 100 MHz to approximately 5 GHz or above, in some embodiments approximately 150 MHz to approximately 4 GHz, and in some embodiments approximately 200 MHz to approximately 3 GHz. Furthermore, each filter of the vertical component can have multiple conductive layers and non-conductive layer-forming structures (e.g., inductors, connectors, terminals, etc.) and connections between them, as described herein. In some embodiments, the filter can have two or more conductive layers, in some embodiments four or more conductive layers, and in some embodiments six or more conductive layers. In some embodiments, each filter of the vertical component may comprise a signal path with an input and an output. An inductor of each filter may form part of the signal path or may be connected between the signal path and ground. The signal path may comprise one or more conductive layers formed over one or more of the dielectric layers. As the term is used here, a conductive layer formed "over" a dielectric layer may refer to a conductive layer formed directly on the dielectric layer. However, one or more thin intermediate layers or coatings may also be present between the conductive layer and / or the dielectric layer. The conductive layers can comprise a variety of conductive materials. For example, the conductive layers can include copper, nickel, gold, silver, or other metals or alloys. Conductive layers can be formed using a variety of suitable methods. Subtractive, semi-additive, or fully additive processes can be employed, in which the conductive material is electroplated onto plates or patterns, followed by printing and etching steps to define the structured conductive layers. Photolithography, chemical coating (e.g., electroplating), sputtering, vacuum deposition, printing, or other methods can be used to fabricate the conductive layers. For example, a thin layer (e.g., a metal foil) of a conductive material can be bonded (e.g., laminated) to the surface of a dielectric layer. By selectively etching the thin layer of conductive material using a mask and photolithography, a desired pattern of the conductive material can be created on the surface of the dielectric material. Regardless of the filter type (e.g., thin-film, multi-layer, or other type), the vertical component can include a filter with at least one inductor. The inductor can comprise a conductive layer formed over a dielectric layer, e.g., a structured conductive layer formed over a dielectric layer. The inductor can form a loop or a partial loop; e.g., the inductor can extend a full 360° around a center point or only a portion of a 360° path, such as 340°, 315°, 300°, 180°, 135°, 90°, or less, around the center point. The loop can have a single-loop diameter in the range of approximately 2 mm to 9 mm, or in some embodiments, approximately 3 mm to 7 mm.In some embodiments, the conductive layer, configured as a loop or partial loop, is formed entirely on a single layer. For example, several inductors may be formed entirely in the same conductive layer and / or plane. In other embodiments, however, the inductors, whether configured as a loop, partial loop, or another shape (such as one or more straight lines), may each comprise at least two conductive layers spaced apart along the thickness of the filter and connected by one or more vias. The conductive layers may be spaced apart by one or more dielectric layers, including one or more suitable dielectric materials, such as those described above.In some embodiments, at least some of the dielectric layers may have thicknesses less than about 180 µm, in some embodiments less than about 100 µm, in some embodiments less than about 40 µm and in some embodiments less than about 20 µm. The inductor(s) may have a line width greater than approximately 0.1 mm, in some embodiments greater than approximately 0.2 mm, in some embodiments greater than approximately 0.3 mm, in some embodiments greater than approximately 0.5 mm, and in some embodiments greater than approximately 1 mm. In some embodiments, one or more inductors of the component may comprise at least one corner. The corner may have an angle greater than approximately 15 degrees, in some embodiments greater than approximately 30 degrees, in some embodiments greater than approximately 45 degrees, and in some embodiments greater than approximately 60 degrees (e.g., approximately 90 degrees). An inductor may have one to nine corners or more; in some embodiments, the inductor may have fewer than six corners, in some embodiments fewer than four corners, in some embodiments fewer than three corners, and in some embodiments fewer than two corners. In some embodiments, one or more inductors may be free of any corner. As described above, in some embodiments, one or more inductors may define a complete loop or less; for example, an inductor of the component may define less than half a loop.Although the vertical component above was described as an array of one or more stacked filters, it should be noted that the vertical component stack, vertically oriented component stack, or vertically oriented interposer stack can also include other components. For example, the stack could include one or more capacitors (such as one or more multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) or the like), varistors, resistors, inductors, fuses, diodes, transformers, sensors, ESD protection devices, memory components, radio frequency components, power amplifiers, power management components, antennas, and / or microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).Such components could be used individually to form one component each of the multitude of components stacked on top of each other in a vertical or vertically oriented component stack, or one or more components could be arranged on a substrate and electrically connected (or otherwise combined) to form one component each of the multitude of components stacked on top of each other in a vertical or vertically oriented component stack. In some embodiments, each component of the plurality of components in the vertical component stack, the vertically oriented component stack, or the vertically oriented interposer stack can generally be compact. For example, each component can have a length of less than approximately 150 mm, in some embodiments less than approximately 100 mm, in some embodiments less than approximately 80 mm, in some embodiments less than approximately 50 mm, in some embodiments less than approximately 30 mm, in some embodiments less than approximately 15 mm, in some embodiments less than approximately 8 mm, and in some embodiments less than approximately 1 mm.Furthermore, each component can have a width of less than approximately 100 mm, in some embodiments less than approximately 60 mm, in some embodiments less than approximately 40 mm, in some embodiments less than approximately 20 mm, in some embodiments less than approximately 15 mm, in some embodiments less than approximately 10 mm, in some embodiments less than approximately 5 mm and in some embodiments less than approximately 1 mm. Furthermore, each component of the multitude of components in the vertical component stack, the vertically oriented component stack, or the vertically oriented interposer stack can generally have a low profile or be thin. In some embodiments, for example, each component can have a total thickness ranging from about 100 micrometers to about 2 mm, in some embodiments from about 150 micrometers to about 1 mm, and in some embodiments from about 200 micrometers to about 300 micrometers. In some embodiments, a component may comprise at least one interposer. The interposer generally comprises an insulating material. In one embodiment, the insulating material may, for example, be an organic material such as bismaleimide triazine (BT) resin materials (e.g., BT, BT epoxy resins, etc.), epoxy resin materials (e.g., glass fiber reinforced epoxy resin (e.g., FR4)), polyimide materials, and / or low-k and ultra-low-k dielectrics (e.g., carbon-doped dielectric, fluorine-doped dielectric, porous dielectric, and an organic polymeric dielectric). The insulating material may also be an inorganic interposer, such as those composed of ceramic materials (e.g., glass), as well as semiconductor materials such as silicon, germanium, and other materials of groups III-V (e.g., gallium nitride) and materials of group IV. In some embodiments, the interposer can include one or more conductive paths through the insulating material (e.g., including conductive tracks and / or conductive vias). The conductive paths can serve as a mechanism to electrically connect the interposer to an adjacent structure or to conduct electrical signals through the interposer. Such paths can include one or more metallic connections and vias, as is known in the art. In one embodiment, for example, the interposer can be made of silicon, and vias can be formed therein, which are referred to as "through-silicon vias" ("TSVs"). As the term is used here, "formed over" can refer to a layer that is in direct contact with another layer. However, intermediate layers can also be formed in between. Furthermore, when used in relation to a base surface, "formed over" can be used relative to an outer surface of the component. Thus, a layer that is "formed over" a base surface can be closer to the outside of the component than the layer over which it is formed. Various embodiments of the present invention will now be described in more detail. I. Vertical component stack and assembly In general, a vertical component stack comprises a plurality of components stacked along a vertical direction such that at least a portion of each component in the stack is oriented in a longitudinal and a transverse direction. For example, the vertical component stack can define a longitudinal direction, a transverse direction, and a vertical direction that are orthogonal to each other, and a plurality of components of the vertical component stack can include a top face and a bottom face that is opposite to the top face along the vertical direction. The top face can extend in a first plane parallel to an XY plane defined by the longitudinal and transverse directions, and the bottom face can extend in a second plane parallel to the XY plane, such that the first and second planes are parallel to each other.The multitude of components can be stacked along the vertical direction such that a lower face of a second component of the multitude is located above a top face of a first component of the multitude. One or more connections, such as an input and an output, of each component of the multitude can be exposed on a lower face of the first component of the multitude. The vertical component stack can be arranged on a mounting surface of a device, such as a printed circuit board (PCB), with the input and output of each component electrically connected to the device to form a vertical component stack assembly. The inventors discovered that such a vertical component stack frees up space on the device. Instead of, for example, mounting individual components on a circuit board's mounting area, the components can be stacked in such a way that the footprint on the circuit board for the components is reduced to the footprint of a single component, rather than the sum of the footprints of all components. Furthermore, by routing the connection between each component and the circuit board onto a single component surface (e.g., the component surface of the vertical component stack that interacts with the device), the space occupied by the vertical component stack is further reduced compared to conventional component / device assemblies.Instead of, for example, making electrical connections with a printed circuit board that could extend beyond the footprint of a single component, in a vertical component stack, all electrical connections for the multitude of components are made within the footprint of a single component. Furthermore, stacked components can be connected via shorter paths than in conventional board-based setups, which can prevent losses at high frequencies and improve overall performance. In some embodiments, the one or more terminals may include at least one ground for each component of the plurality of components. Therefore, in some embodiments, multiple inputs, outputs, and grounds may be exposed on the lower surface of the first component, which may be arranged on a mounting surface of a device as described herein. The plurality of inputs, outputs, and grounds on the lower surface of the first component may be in electrical contact with the device to electrically connect the plurality of components to the device. A via can extend between a terminal exposed on the lower surface of the first component and another component, for example, to electrically connect the respective terminal to the respective component. In some embodiments, for example, an input via extends from an input terminal exposed on the lower surface of the first component of the plurality of components to a corresponding component of the plurality of components, and an output via extends from an output terminal exposed on the lower surface of the first component of the plurality of components to a corresponding component of the plurality of components.In embodiments where the ground connections are exposed on the lower surface of the first component of the vertical component stack, a grounding via can extend from the at least one grounding terminal on the lower surface of the first component to a component of the plurality of components. Thus, a via can electrically connect each component of the plurality of components to an input, an output, and / or a ground connection exposed on the lower surface of the first component. Each input via, each output via, and each grounding via can extend through the first component of the plurality of components to the lower surface of the first component of the plurality of components.Some of the input, output, and ground vias may also pass through other components of the multitude of components to connect a higher component in the vertical component stack to the respective input, output, or ground on the lower face of the first component in the vertical component stack. In some embodiments, one or more vias can therefore be formed in the plurality of components. In some embodiments, the vias can electrically connect different conductive layers of a component from a plurality of components, such as different conductive layers of a filter. For example, a via can be formed in the dielectric layer on which the conductive layer of an inductor is formed. Such a via can connect the inductor to another part of the filter, such as part of the signal path or a ground. In some embodiments, the length of such a via in a Z-direction can be equal to the thickness of the dielectric layer in which this via is formed.For example, such a via can have a length that is less than about 180 µm, in some embodiments less than about 100 µm and in some embodiments less than about 80 µm. In other embodiments, a via can be formed in the vertical component stack to connect a particular component to one or more terminals exposed on the bottom face of the first component, such as an input, an output, or a ground. For example, such a via can connect the signal path of a filter to an input, an output, or a ground exposed on the bottom face of the first component. In some embodiments, the length of such a via can be in the range of approximately 5% to 100% of the thickness of the vertical component stack, where the thickness is defined in the vertical direction, or stacking direction.This means that the via can extend through part or all of the vertical component stack, through one or more components stacked vertically to form the vertical component stack, to connect each component to a terminal exposed on the bottom face of the first component of the stack. The vias can have a variety of suitable widths. For example, the width of the via can be in the range of about 20 micrometers to about 200 micrometers in some embodiments, about 40 to about 180 micrometers in some embodiments, about 60 to about 140 micrometers in some embodiments, and about 80 to about 120 micrometers in some embodiments. Vias can be made of a variety of conductive materials, such as copper, nickel, gold, silver, or other metals or alloys. They can be created by drilling (e.g., mechanical drilling, laser drilling, etc.) through holes and coating them with a conductive material, for example, by electroless deposition or by applying copper seeds. The vias can be filled with a conductive material, creating a solid column of conductive material. Alternatively, the inner surfaces of the through holes can be coated in such a way that the vias are hollow. The vertical component stack can comprise any suitable number of components stacked along the vertical direction. For example, in some embodiments, the vertical component stack comprises at least three components stacked along the vertical direction. As described above, the first of the at least three components can be the lowest component in the vertical direction, with the lower surface of the second component positioned above the upper surface of the first component. A lower surface of a third component can be positioned above an upper surface of the second component such that the second component is positioned vertically between the first and third components. That is, the second component can be positioned between the first and third components.In embodiments with only three components, the third component is the uppermost component in the vertical stack of components; in embodiments with more than three components, the third component can be arranged between other components, similar to the second component. For example, the vertical stack of components can comprise four, five, six, seven, or more components stacked vertically such that the third component is positioned within the stack. In some embodiments, the vertical component stack includes at least one filter. For example, at least one component of the plurality of components in the stack can be a filter. The at least one filter can be any suitable filter type, such as a thin-film filter or a multilayer filter as described above, or any other suitable filter. The filter can include a signal path with an input and an output. The filter can be configured to filter input signals and produce a filtered output signal. In some embodiments, conductive layers can be formed on a plurality of dielectric layers, which are specifically shaped or structured to form capacitors and / or inductors that, when stacked on top of each other, form the filter. In some embodiments, an interposer is located between at least one adjacent pair of components of the plurality of components. For example, an interposer may be located between the first component of the plurality of components and the second component of the plurality of components. In some embodiments, the vertical component stack comprises a plurality of interposers, with one interposer being arranged between each adjacent pair of components of the plurality of components. An interposer between two adjacent components can electrically isolate the components of the adjacent pair from each other, which can improve the performance of the vertical component stack.It should be noted that the one or more vias connecting the components in the stack to the respective terminals on the bottom face of the first component can, if necessary, be routed through an interposer to reach the bottom face of the first component. Furthermore, each interposer, as described above, can be made of a suitable material, and in some embodiments, the interposer includes an aluminum substrate, such as aluminum nitride (AlN). The vertical component stack can be configured to be mounted on a mounting surface of a fixture to form an assembly, e.g., a vertical component stack assembly. The assembly can include a fixture with a mounting surface, such as a printed circuit board or the like, and a vertical component stack as described herein. The fixture's mounting surface can extend in a mounting plane parallel to the XY plane, and the vertical component stack can be arranged on the mounting surface such that the first and second levels of each component of the plurality of components are parallel to the mounting plane.As an example, if at least one component of the component stack is a filter comprising an inductor with a conductive layer and a capacitor with a first and a second electrode, the vertical component stack on the mounting surface can be arranged such that the conductive layer, the first electrode and the second electrode each extend longitudinally and transversely (e.g. in one or more planes parallel to the XY plane) parallel to the mounting surface. As described here, one or more terminals (e.g., an input, an output, and a ground for each component in the component stack) can be exposed on the lower surface of the first component of the multitude of components in the vertical component stack. Each terminal exposed on the lower surface of the first component can be in contact with a contact surface on the mounting surface of the device, e.g., to electrically connect the vertical component stack to the device. In some embodiments, the contact surface is a plurality of separate contact surfaces, and the plurality of separate contact surfaces includes a separate contact surface, each corresponding to a single terminal. For example, the plurality of separate contact surfaces may include a separate contact surface, each corresponding to an input, output, and ground, exposed on the lower surface of the first component of the plurality of components. The assembly may also include one or more switches, which are, for example, embedded in the device or otherwise attached or mounted to it and electrically connected to the numerous components of the vertical component stack. For example, a switch in the device may be electrically connected to a specific component within the multitude of components in the vertical component stack. One or more switches can selectively activate components of the vertical component stack. For example, the one or more switches may allow one or more components of the vertical component stack to be selectively activated and deactivated, e.g., based on an operating frequency range, a desired performance characteristic, a power or other load, thermal or heat management, and / or other operational requirements or objectives. The present disclosure also specifies methods for forming a vertical component stack as described herein. The present disclosure may also specify methods for forming an assembly comprising a device and a vertical component stack arranged thereon, as would be apparent to a person skilled in the art in this field based on the present disclosure. A method for forming a vertical component stack may involve stacking a plurality of components along a vertical direction, for example, such that a lower face of a second component of the plurality of components is located above a top face of a first component of the plurality of components. As described elsewhere herein, the top and bottom faces of each component may lie in a plane parallel to an XY plane defined by the longitudinal and transverse directions, which are perpendicular to each other and both perpendicular to the vertical direction. The method for forming the vertical component stack can further include defining a plurality of vias, each via extending between one component of the plurality of components and a lower face of the first component of the plurality of components. The method can also include exposing a plurality of terminals along the lower face of the first component, with each via extending between one component of the plurality of components and one terminal of the plurality of components, for example, to electrically connect each component to a terminal exposed on the lower face of the first component.Thus, as described above, each of the multitude of vias can extend through the first component to electrically connect a respective component to at least one terminal exposed along the lower surface of the first component. In some embodiments, the plurality of connections includes inputs, outputs, and grounds. For example, exposing the plurality of connections on the lower face of the first component may include exposing one input and one output of each component of the plurality of components on a lower face of the first component, and in at least some embodiments, exposing a plurality of grounds on the lower face of the first component of the plurality of components, wherein the plurality of grounds includes at least one ground for each component of the plurality of components. In such embodiments, defining the plurality of vias may include defining a plurality of input vias, wherein each input via extends from the input exposed on the lower face of the first component of the plurality of components.from each component of the plurality of components; defining a plurality of output vias, wherein each output via extends from the output exposed on the lower surface of the first component of the plurality of components to each component of the plurality of components; defining a plurality of ground vias, wherein each ground via extends from each ground of the plurality of grounds exposed on the lower surface of the first component of the plurality of components to each component of the plurality of components. In some embodiments, the method may also include placing an interposer between adjacent components such that at least two adjacent components are separated from each other by the interposer. As described above, in some embodiments, the method may include placing an interposer between each adjacent pair of components in the component group such that each component is separated from an adjacent component by an interposer. In embodiments with at least one interposer, the definition of the plurality of vias includes defining vias through each interposer vertically below the component, connecting the via to a terminal on the lower face of the first component.For example, an interposer can be arranged between the second and first components, such that the vertical component stack comprises the first component as the bottom component, the interposer stacked vertically on top of the first component, and the second component stacked vertically on top of the interposer. In such an embodiment, a via is defined in the second component, the interposer, and the first component, connecting the second component to a terminal on the bottom face of the first component. For example, the via from the terminal on the bottom face of the first component to the second component is defined and passes through the interposer arranged between the first and second components. Exemplary embodiments Referring to the figures, Fig. 1 shows a schematic side view of a vertical component stack 100 located on a mounting surface 20 of a device 10. Fig. 2 shows a bottom view of the vertical component stack 100. The vertical component stack 100 shown has three components 102 stacked along a vertical direction V. The three components 102 comprise a first component 102a, a second component 102b, and a third component 102c. It should be noted that in other embodiments, additional components 102 could be stacked on top of each other along the vertical direction V, together with the three components 102 shown in Fig. 1.The vertical component stack 100 can be arranged on the mounting surface 20 of the device 10, which may be a printed circuit board (PCB) or the like, such that one or more of the components 102 are electrically connected to the device 10 as described herein. Together, the vertical component stack 100 and the device 10 form a vertical component stack assembly 50. Furthermore, the vertical component stack 100 can also be referred to as a component bank comprising vertically stacked components. Following the example of Fig. 1, each of the components 102 of the vertical component stack 100 has an upper surface 104 and a lower surface 106, which is opposite to the upper surface 104 in the vertical direction V. The upper surface 104 of each component 102 can extend in a first plane parallel to an XY plane defined by a longitudinal direction L and a transverse direction T (Fig. 2). The lower surface 106 of each component 102 can extend in a second plane parallel to the XY plane, as shown, for example, in Fig. 2. Therefore, the first and second planes are parallel to each other. As shown in Fig. 1, the numerous components 102 are stacked vertically V such that the lower surface 106 of the second component 102b lies above the upper surface 104 of the first component 102a. As shown in Fig. 2, one or more terminals 108, such as an input 108a and an output 108b of one or more components 102 in the stack 100, can be exposed on the lower surface 106 of the first component 102a. In some embodiments, the one or more terminals 108 can include at least one ground 108c for each component 102. In some embodiments, therefore, a plurality of inputs 108a, outputs 108b, and grounds 108c can be arranged on the lower surface 106 of the first component 102a, which, as shown in Fig. 1, can be mounted on the mounting surface 20 of the device 10.The multiple inputs 108a, outputs 108b, and grounding terminals 108c, and / or other terminals 108 on the lower surface 106 of the first component 102a, can be in electrical contact with the device 10 to electrically connect the multiple components 102 to the device 10. It should be noted that, although only some of the terminals 108 shown in Fig. 2 are labeled as inputs 108a, outputs 108b, and grounding 108c, in some embodiments each of the terminals 108 exposed on the lower surface 106 of the first component 102a can be either an input 108a, an output 108b, or a grounding 108c. In other embodiments, however, none or only some of the terminals 108 exposed on the lower surface 106 of the first component 102a can function as inputs 108a, outputs 108b and grounds 108c. Figures 3A and 3B show cross-sectional views of the vertical component stack 100, taken along lines 3A-3A and 3B-3B of Figure 2. As shown in Figures 3A and 3B, a via 110 can extend between one of the two terminals 108 on the lower surface 106 of the first component 102a and one of the two components 102, for example, to electrically connect the respective terminal 108 to the respective component 102. In some embodiments, for example, an input via 110a extends from the input 108a, which is exposed on the lower surface 106 of the first component 102a, to the third component 102c, e.g., to the conductive layer of the third component 102c. Likewise, in some embodiments, an output via 110b (not shown) can extend from the output 108b, which is exposed on the lower surface 106 of the first component 102a, to the third component 102c, e.g.to the conductive layer of the third component 102c. In the illustrated embodiment, a grounding via 110c further extends from the at least one grounding point 108c, which is exposed on the lower surface 106 of the first component 102a, to the third component 102c, e.g., to the conductive layer of the third component 102c. Input vias 110a, output vias 110b, and grounding vias 110c can also extend from the respective input terminals 108a, output terminals 108b, and ground terminals 108c, which are exposed on the lower surface 106 of the first component 102a, to another respective component 102 of the vertical component stack 100, e.g., to a conductive layer of the second component 102b and to a conductive layer of the first component 102a.Thus, a via 110 can electrically connect each component 102 to a terminal 108, such as an input 108a, an output 108b and / or an earth 108c, which is exposed on the lower surface 106 of the first component 102a. As shown in Fig. 3A and Fig. 3B, each via 110 passes through the first component 102a to the lower face 106 of the first component 102a. Some of the vias 110 also pass through other components 102 of the stack 100, e.g., some vias 110 pass through the second component 102b and some through the second component 102b and the third component 102c, to connect a component 102 that is higher in the vertical component stack 100 than the first component 102a, to the corresponding terminal 108 on the lower face 106 of the first component 102a. In the vertical component stack 100, one or more vias 112 can also be defined, for example, to connect two or more components 102 of the stack 100 to each other and / or to electrically connect elements of a component 102. As shown in Fig. 5B, for example, a via 112 can connect an inductor 118 formed over a first dielectric layer 120a of a component 102 to a first electrode 122 formed over a second dielectric layer 120b of the same component. Other vias 112 can extend between components 102 without being connected to a terminal 108 like vias 110, for example, to electrically connect two or more components 102 within the vertical component stack 100. As can be seen from Figures 3A and 3B, the vias 110 and 112 can be configured either as through-holes filled with conductive material, forming a solid column of conductive material, as shown in Figure 3A, or as through-holes whose inner surfaces are coated with conductive material, so that the vias 110 and 112 are hollow, as shown in Figure 3B. Examples of conductive materials and methods for producing the through-holes are described elsewhere. Fig. 4 shows a schematic side view of another embodiment of the vertical component stack 100 and the assembly 50. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 4, an interposer 114 is located between each adjacent pair of components 102. In particular, one interposer 114 is located between the first component 102a and the second component 102b, and another interposer 114 is located between the second component 102b and the third component 202c. Although not shown in Fig. 4, it is evident that the one or more vias 110, which connect the components 102 in the stack 100 to the respective terminals 108 on the lower surface 106 of the first component 102a, can, if necessary, pass through an interposer 114 to reach the lower surface 106 of the first component 102a. Referring to Figures 5A and 5B, in some embodiments at least one component 102 in the vertical component stack 100 is a filter. This at least one filter can be any suitable filter type, such as a thin-film filter as shown in Figure 5A, a multilayer filter as shown in Figure 5B, or any other suitable filter. For example, referring to Figure 5A, at least one component 102 can be a thin-film filter comprising an inductor with a structured conductor track 116 extending between an input 108a and an output 108b, and which can be connected to the structured conductor track 116 via an input 110a and an output 110b, respectively, as described, for example, with reference to Figures 3A and 3B.As described elsewhere herein, the structured conductor track 116 can comprise at least one complete loop (such as three loops, as shown in Fig. 5A) or one or more partial loops, and straight line segments can also be used to define one or more inductors. Referring to Fig. 5B, at least one component 102 can be a multilayer filter comprising a conductive layer over a first dielectric layer 120a to define an inductor 118, a first electrode 122 over a second dielectric layer 120b, and a second electrode 124 over a third dielectric layer 120c to define a capacitor 126. It should be noted that the filter elements shown in Figs. 5A and 5B are only examples, and each filter component 102 contained in the vertical component stack 100 can be configured as required, e.g., according to filter type (e.g.,low-pass, high-pass or passband), characteristic frequency (e.g. 6 GHz, 8 GHz, 12 GHz or a higher or lower characteristic frequency) etc. Referring to Fig. 1 and Fig. 4, the mounting surface 20 of the device 10 of the vertical component arrangement 50 can extend in a mounting plane parallel to the XY plane, and the vertical component stack 100 can be arranged on the mounting surface such that the first plane (defined by the upper surfaces 104 of the components) and the second plane (defined by the lower surfaces 106 of the components) of each component 102 are parallel to the mounting plane.As an example, if at least one component 102 of the vertical component stack 100 is a filter comprising an inductor 118 with a conductive layer and a capacitor 126 with a first electrode 122 and a second electrode 124, the vertical component stack 100 can be arranged on the mounting surface 20 such that the conductive layer of the inductor 118, the first electrode 122 and the second electrode 124 each extend in the longitudinal direction L and in the transverse direction T (Fig. 2), e.g. in one or more planes parallel to the XY plane and thus parallel to the mounting surface 20. As described here, one or more terminals 108 can be exposed on the lower surface 106 of the first component 102a in the vertical component stack 100. Each terminal 108 exposed on the lower surface 106 of the first component 102a can be in contact with a contact surface 22 on the mounting surface 20 of the device 10, for example, to electrically connect the vertical component stack 100 to the device 10. It should be noted that the contact surface 22 can be made of any suitable material, such as a conductive material, to electrically connect the components 102 and the device 10. In some embodiments, the contact surface 22 consists of a plurality of separate contact surfaces 22, such as the first contact surface 22a and the second contact surface 22b, shown in Figs. 1 and 4. For example, the plurality of separate contact surfaces 22 can each comprise a separate contact surface 22 corresponding to a terminal 108; e.g., each terminal 108 can contact a separate contact surface 22. In other embodiments, several terminals 108 can be in contact with the same contact surface 22; e.g., each input 108a can be connected to the same contact surface 22. The assembly 50 can also include one or more switches 24 or other device components 26, which may be wholly or partially embedded in the device 10 or otherwise attached or mounted to it and electrically connected to one or more components 102 of the vertical component stack 100. For example, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, a switch 24 of the device 10 may be electrically connected to a corresponding component 102 of the vertical component stack 100 via a contact surface 22. A device component 26, such as an external capacitor or resistor, an amplifier input, an antenna output, a microprocessor, etc., may be electrically connected to one or more components 102 of the vertical component stack 100 via a contact surface 22. Figure 6 shows an exemplary method 600 for producing a vertical component stack 100, which (602) comprises stacking several components 102 in the vertical direction V, e.g., such that a lower surface 106 of a second component 102b lies above an upper surface 104 of a first component 102a, which may be the lowest component 102 in the vertical component stack 100. The method 600 further comprises (604) defining a plurality of vias 110, each via 110 extending between a component 102 and a lower surface 106 of the first component 102a. The method 600 optionally comprises (606) defining one or more vias 112, e.g., to connect elements of a single component 102 or to connect two or more components 102 together as described herein. Method 600 further comprises (608) exposing a plurality of terminals 108 along the lower surface 106 of the first component 102a, which in some embodiments may include exposing one or more inputs 108a, outputs 108b, and ground terminals 108c. Each via 110 may extend between a component 102 and a terminal 108, for example, to electrically connect a component 102 to a terminal 108 exposed on the lower surface 106 of the first component 102a. Thus, as described above, each of the plurality of vias 110 may extend through the first component 102a to electrically connect a respective component 102 to at least one terminal 108 exposed along the lower surface 106 of the first component 102a.Furthermore, it should be noted that in embodiments with at least one input 108a, at least one output 108b and / or at least one grounding 108c (604) the definition of the plurality of vias 110 includes the definition of an input via 110a for electrical connection of the at least one input 108a with a corresponding component 102, the definition of an output via 110b for electrical connection of the at least one output 108b with a corresponding component 102 and / or the definition of a grounding via 110c for electrical connection of the at least one grounding 108c with a corresponding component 102. With reference to Fig. 6, the method 600 optionally (610) comprises arranging an interposer 114 between adjacent components 102, such that at least two adjacent components 102 are separated from each other by an interposer 114. As described above, in some embodiments (606) the arranging of an interposer 114 between components 102 may comprise arranging an interposer 114 between each adjacent pair of components 102 of the plurality of components 102 of the vertical component stack, such that each component 102 is separated from an adjacent component 102 by an interposer 114. II. Vertically oriented component stack and assembly In general, a vertically oriented component stack comprises a plurality of components stacked along a transverse direction such that at least a portion of each component in the stack is oriented in a longitudinal and a vertical direction. For example, the vertically oriented component stack can define a longitudinal direction, a transverse direction, and a vertical direction that are orthogonal to each other and comprise a plurality of components. Each component of the plurality of components can have a first face opposite a second face in the vertical direction, and a first end face opposite a second end face in the longitudinal direction. The first and second faces each extend longitudinally from the first end face to the second end face.Furthermore, each component of the plurality of components can have a first external contact formed on the first side face and a second external contact formed on the first side face. The first external contact can be spaced longitudinally from the second external contact. The plurality of components can be stacked transversely such that the first external contacts of the plurality of components are generally oriented transversely to each other, and the second external contacts of the plurality of components are generally oriented transversely to each other. The vertically oriented component stack can be arranged on a mounting surface of a device, such as a printed circuit board (PCB), or the like, wherein the first external contact and the second external contact of each component are electrically connected to the device to form a vertically oriented component stack assembly. The inventors discovered that such a vertically oriented component stack, where the components have contacts on the same edge or surface, allows the components to stand vertically when connected to a device such as a printed circuit board. These lateral contacts allow multiple components to be grouped into a vertically oriented component stack or bank, requiring minimal space on the device. For example, a bank of vertically oriented components requires less board area or has a smaller footprint than similar devices with end contacts and internal conductive layers extending parallel to the board. For instance, the thickness of each component in the stack, which is typically less than the length and width of a component, and the length of each component in the stack can significantly reduce the footprint of the vertically oriented component stack.The stack or bank is defined as a component smaller than the footprint, which is determined by the length and width of each component (typically greater than its thickness). Furthermore, the vertically oriented stack or bank can be connected to a circuit board, etc., via shorter paths than in conventional setups, which can prevent losses at high frequencies and improve overall performance. In some embodiments, at least one component of the plurality of components comprises an external grounding contact formed on the first side face of the at least one component. For example, the external grounding contact may be located along the longitudinal direction between the first external contact and the second external contact. The external contacts formed on the first face of each component (e.g., the first and second external contacts, and in some embodiments, the grounding contacts) can be formed by one or more methods generally known in the art. For example, the external contacts could be formed by soldering, wrapping, coating, and / or drilling, or by otherwise defining breaks in a solid rod of contacting material. Other examples include methods such as sputtering, painting, printing, electroless deposition or fine copper termination (FCT), electroplating, plasma deposition, blowing / spraying, etc. In general, external contacts can be made of one of a variety of different materials, as is known in the art. For example, external contacts can be made of a metal, such as a conductive metal. Materials for external contacts can include precious metals (e.g., silver, gold, palladium, platinum, etc.), base metals (e.g., copper, tin, nickel, chromium, titanium, tungsten, etc.), and various combinations thereof. In another particular embodiment, the external contacts can comprise copper or an alloy thereof. In one embodiment, the external contacts can be formed such that they are relatively thick. For example, the external contacts can be formed by applying a thick film strip of a metal to exposed parts of the electrode layers (e.g., by immersing the capacitor in a liquid external contacting material). Such a metal can be in a glass matrix and can include silver or copper. As an example, such a strip can be printed onto the capacitor and then fired. Subsequently, additional metallization layers (e.g., nickel, tin, solder, etc.) can be created over the contact strip so that the capacitor can be soldered to a substrate. This application of thick film layers can be carried out by any method known in the prior art (e.g.,with a contacting machine and a pressure wheel for transferring a metal-containing paste onto the exposed electrode layers). The thick metallized external contacts can have an average thickness of approximately 150 µm or less, such as approximately 125 µm or less, such as approximately 100 µm or less, such as approximately 80 µm or less. The thick metallized external contacts can have an average thickness of approximately 25 µm or more, such as approximately 35 µm or more, such as approximately 50 µm or more, such as approximately 75 µm or more. For example, the thick metallized external contacts can have an average thickness of approximately 25 µm to approximately 150 µm, such as approximately 35 µm to approximately 125 µm, such as approximately 50 µm to approximately 100 µm. In another embodiment, the external contacts can be configured such that each external contact is a thin-film metallization. Such a thin-film metallization can be formed by depositing a conductive material, such as a conductive metal, onto an exposed portion of an electrode layer. For example, a leading edge of an electrode layer can be exposed to allow the formation of a metallized contact. The thin metallized external contacts can have an average thickness of approximately 50 µm or less, such as approximately 40 µm or less, such as approximately 30 µm or less, such as approximately 25 µm or less. The thin metallized external contacts can have an average thickness of approximately 5 µm or more, such as approximately 10 µm or more, such as approximately 15 µm or more. For example, the external contacts can have an average thickness of approximately 5 µm to approximately 50 µm, such as approximately 10 µm to approximately 40 µm, such as approximately 15 µm to approximately 30 µm, such as approximately 15 µm to approximately 25 µm. In some embodiments, the external contact can comprise a metallized contact, such as a galvanized contact, a electroless deposited contact, or a combination thereof. For example, a galvanized contact can be formed by electrolytic deposition. An electroless deposited contact can be formed by electroless deposition. When multiple layers form the external contact, the external contact can include electroplated and electroless deposited contacts. For example, electroless deposition can be used first to deposit an initial material layer. Then, the metallization technique can be switched to an electroplating system, which can enable faster material build-up. When metallized external contacts are formed using either of the two metallization methods, an edge of one or more electrode layers of the component can be exposed from the component body and subjected to a metallization solution, for example, by immersing the capacitor in the metallization solution. The metallization solution can contain a conductive material, such as a conductive metal, to form the metallized contact. This conductive material can be any of the materials mentioned above or any commonly used in engineering. For example, the metallization solution can be a nickel sulfamate bath solution or another nickel solution, so that the metallization layer and the external contact comprise nickel.Alternatively, the metallization solution can also be a copper acid bath or another suitable copper solution, so that the metallization layer and the external contacting include copper. Furthermore, it should be noted that the metallization solution may also include other additives commonly known in engineering. For example, the additives may include other organic additives and media that can support the metallization process. Additives may also be used to maintain the metallization solution at a desired pH value. In one embodiment, resistance-reducing additives may be included in the solutions to promote complete metallization coverage and bonding of the metallization materials to the capacitor and the exposed leading edges of the terminal tabs. The component can be exposed to, submerged in, or immersed in the metallization solution for a predetermined duration. This exposure time is not necessarily limited, but it may be sufficient to allow enough metallization material to be deposited to form the metallized contact. In this respect, the time should be sufficient to allow the formation of a continuous connection between the desired exposed adjacent leading edges of terminal tabs of a given polarity of the respective electrode layers within a set of alternating dielectric and electrode layers. In general, the difference between electroplating and electroless plating is that electroplating uses an electrical bias, such as by employing an external current source. The plating solution can typically be exposed to a high current density, for example, ten to fifteen amps / ft² (rated at 9.4 volts). A connection can be formed with a negative connection to the capacitor, which is necessary for the formation of the metallized contacts, and a positive connection to a solid material (e.g., copper in a copper metallizing solution) in the same metallizing solution. That is, the capacitor is biased to a polarity opposite to that of the metallizing solution. Using this process, the conductive material of the metallizing solution is attracted to the metal of the exposed leading edge of the electrode layer contact tabs. Before the component is immersed in or exposed to a metallization solution, various pretreatment steps can be employed. These steps can be performed for a variety of purposes, including catalyzing, accelerating, and / or improving the adhesion of the metallization materials to the edges of one or more electrodes or internal conductive layers of the component. Furthermore, an initial cleaning step can be employed prior to metallization or any other pretreatment steps. This step can be used to remove any accumulated oxide that may form on the exposed layers of the component. This cleaning step can be particularly helpful in aiding the removal of any accumulation of nickel oxide if the internal electrodes or other conductive elements are made of nickel. The cleaning of the components can be accomplished by full immersion in a pre-cleaning bath, such as one containing an acid cleaner. In one embodiment, the immersion can be carried out for a predetermined time, on the order of about 10 minutes. Alternatively, cleaning can be achieved by chemical polishing or harperizing steps. Furthermore, a step can be performed to activate the exposed metallic edges of the electrode layers or other internal conductive layers to facilitate the deposition of the conductive materials. Activation can be achieved by immersion in palladium salts, photostructured palladium-organic precursors (via mask or laser), screen-printed or inkjet-deposited palladium compounds, or electrophoretic palladium deposition. It should be noted that the palladium-based activation is disclosed here only as one example of activation solutions that often work well with activation of exposed tab parts made of nickel or an alloy thereof. However, it should be understood that other activation solutions can also be used. Furthermore, instead of or in addition to the activation step mentioned above, the activation dopant can also be introduced into the conductive material when the electrode or conductive layers of the component are formed. For example, if the electrode or conductive layer comprises nickel and the activation dopant comprises palladium, the palladium dopant can be introduced into the nickel ink or composition forming the electrode or conductive layers. This can eliminate the need for the palladium activation step. It should also be noted that some of the above activation methods, such as metal-organic precursors, are also suitable for the co-deposition of glass formers for enhanced adhesion to, for example, the generally ceramic body of some embodiments of the components in the vertically oriented component stack.When activation steps are performed as described above, traces of the activator material may often remain on the exposed conductive parts before and after metallization of the contacts. Furthermore, post-treatment steps can be employed after metallization. Such steps can be performed for a variety of purposes, including strengthening and / or improving the adhesion of the materials. For example, a heating (or tempering) step can be used after the metallization step has been carried out. This heating can be performed by baking, laser irradiation, UV exposure, microwave exposure, arc welding, etc. As mentioned, the external contact can comprise at least one metallization layer. In one embodiment, the external contact may comprise only a single metallization layer. However, it should be noted that the external contact can also comprise multiple metallization layers. For example, the external contact can comprise a first metallization layer and a second metallization layer. Furthermore, the external contact can also comprise a third metallization layer. The materials for these metallization layers can be any of those mentioned above or generally known in the art. For example, a metallization layer, such as a first metallization layer, can comprise copper or an alloy thereof. Another metallization layer, such as a second metallization layer, can comprise nickel or an alloy thereof. A further metallization layer, such as a third metallization layer, can comprise tin, lead, gold, or a combination thereof, such as an alloy. Alternatively, an initial metallization layer can also comprise nickel, followed by metallization layers of tin or gold. In another embodiment, an initial metallization layer of copper and then a nickel layer can be formed. In one embodiment, the initial or first metallization layer can consist of a conductive metal (e.g., copper). This area can be covered with a second layer containing a polymeric resistive material for sealing. The area can then be polished to selectively remove the polymeric resistive material and subsequently re-metallized with a third layer containing a conductive metallic material (e.g., copper). The second layer mentioned above, located above the initial metallization layer, can correspond to a solder barrier layer, for example, a nickel solder barrier layer. In some embodiments, the aforementioned layer can be formed by electroplating an additional layer of metal (e.g., nickel) over an electroless deposited or electroplated initial layer (e.g., deposited copper). Other exemplary materials for the aforementioned solder barrier layer are nickel-phosphorus, gold, and silver. A third layer on the aforementioned solder barrier layer can, in some embodiments, correspond to a conductive layer, such as deposited Ni, Ni / Cr, Ag, Pd, Sn, Pb / Sn, or another suitable deposited solder metal. Furthermore, a metallization layer can be formed, followed by an electroplating step to obtain a resistance alloy or a coating of a metal alloy with higher resistance, for example, a currentless Ni-P alloy, over such metallization. However, it should be understood that it is possible to use any metal coating, as the person skilled in the art will understand from the full disclosure. It should be noted that each of the above-mentioned steps can be carried out as a volumetric process, such as barrel metallization, fluidized bed metallization, and / or flow metallization contacting processes, all of which are well-established in the industry. Such volumetric processes allow for the simultaneous processing of multiple components, resulting in an efficient and rapid termination method. This is a significant advantage over conventional termination methods, such as printing thick-film terminations, which require individual processing of each component. In some embodiments, a combination of external contact configurations can be used for the external contacts of one or more components of a vertically oriented component stack. For example, in some embodiments, the first and second external contacts can be a combination of FCT (fine copper contacting) and thick-film contacts. For example, an FCT can be applied to each end of the first face of a component, and a thick-film contact can be applied over each FCT contact. Other combinations of contacting methods and / or configurations can also be used. As described here, the formation of external contacts is generally guided by the position of the exposed edges of the electrode layers or other conductive layers of a component. Such phenomena can be described as "self-determining" because the formation of the external metallized contacts is determined by the configuration of the exposed conductive material at the selected locations on the component. In some embodiments, a component may include "blind tabs" to provide exposed conductive metal along portions of the component body that lack electrodes or conductive layers extending to an edge of the component body.In some embodiments, one or more "blind tabs," "blind electrodes," armature tabs, and / or armature electrodes can be added features for a nucleation function, such as that which occurs during an FCT (electroless copper contacting) process. Such blind or armature tabs or electrodes can be positioned internally or externally relative to the component to form a nucleation site for deposited metallization material and, in an FCT process, to create external metallized contacts. It should be noted that additional methods for forming external contacts may also fall within the scope of this technology. Exemplary alternatives include, but are not limited to, the formation of external contacts (such as the first, second, and / or external grounding contact) by metallization, magnetism, masking, electrophoresis / electrostatics, sputtering, vacuum deposition, printing, or other methods for forming conductive thick-film and thin-film layers. In addition to the first and second side faces, each component of the plurality of components can also comprise a third side face, which is opposite a fourth side face. The third and fourth side faces can extend longitudinally from the first end face to the second face and vertically from the first side face to the second side face. In some embodiments, the first external contact of at least one component of the component group encloses a first end of the component such that a first part of the first external contact is formed on the first side face, a second part of the first external contact on the first end face, a third part of the first external contact on the third side face, and a fourth part of the first external contact on the fourth side face.In some embodiments, the second external contacting of at least one component of the component group encloses a second end of the component such that a first part of the second external contacting is formed on the first side surface, a second part of the second external contacting on the second end surface, a third part of the second external contacting on the third side surface, and a fourth part of the second external contacting on the fourth side surface. In some embodiments, the first and / or second external contact can partially enclose the respective end of each component. For example, in some embodiments, the second part of the first external contact and the second part of the second external contact of each component of the plurality of components surrounding the first end face or the second end face are spaced transversely from the third side face or the fourth side face, respectively. In embodiments comprising at least one component with an external grounding contact arranged between the first and second external contacts, the external grounding contact can extend from the first side face to one of the third side faces or the fourth side face, or to both the third and the fourth side face. The vertically oriented component stack can comprise any suitable number of components stacked along the transverse direction. In some embodiments, for example, the vertically oriented component stack comprises at least three components stacked in the transverse direction, such as three, four, five, six, seven, or more components stacked in the transverse direction. In embodiments with only three components, a first component and a third component can be the outermost components in the vertically oriented component stack, with a second component arranged transversely between the first and third components. In embodiments with more than three components, two or more components can be arranged between the two outermost components. In some embodiments, the vertically oriented component stack includes at least one filter. For example, at least one component of the plurality of components in the stack can be a filter. The at least one filter can be any suitable filter type, such as a thin-film filter or a multilayer filter configured as described above, or any other suitable filter. For example, the filter can comprise a signal path with an input and an output. The filter can be configured to filter input signals and produce a filtered output signal. In some embodiments, conductive layers can be formed on a plurality of dielectric layers, which are specifically shaped or structured to form capacitors and / or inductors that, when stacked on top of each other, form the filter.The input and output terminals can be located on the same side, for example, along the first face of the filter component. For instance, the first external contact can be an input terminal of the filter, and the second external contact can be an output terminal. Furthermore, as described here, the filter can include an external grounding contact, which is a grounding terminal of the filter. In some embodiments, one or more vias may be formed in a single component of the vertically oriented component stack. For example, if a component of the stack is a filter, a via may be formed in it to connect two or more elements of the filter. In some embodiments, one or more vias may be formed to connect components within the vertically oriented component stack. For example, a via formed in one component may be in contact with a via formed in an adjacent component to connect the adjacent components. Suitable techniques and materials for forming vias in one or more components of the vertically oriented component stack are described in more detail elsewhere, e.g.with regard to the vertical component stack described above. In some embodiments, an interposer is located between at least one adjacent pair of components of the plurality of components in the vertically oriented component stack. For example, an interposer may be located between the first component of the plurality of components and the second component of the plurality of components. In some embodiments, the vertically oriented component stack comprises a plurality of interposers, with one interposer of the plurality of interposers located between each adjacent pair of components. An interposer between an adjacent pair of components can electrically isolate the components of the adjacent pair from each other, which can improve the performance of the vertically oriented component stack.For example, an interposer between adjacent components provides electrical isolation between neighboring contacts of the stacked components. As described above, each interposer can be made of a suitable material, and in some embodiments, the interposer includes a substrate containing aluminum, such as aluminum nitride (AlN). In embodiments that do not provide an interposer between any two adjacent components, a cover made of aluminum nitride or another electrically insulating material can be placed over the components to create a gap between adjacent external contacts. The vertically oriented component stack can be configured to be mounted on a mounting surface of a fixture to form an assembly, e.g., a vertically oriented component stack assembly. The assembly can include a fixture with a mounting surface, such as a printed circuit board (PCB) or the like, and a vertically oriented component stack as described herein. The mounting surface can extend in a mounting plane parallel to an XY plane defined by the longitudinal and transverse directions. The first face of each component of the plurality of components in the vertically oriented component stack can extend in a first plane parallel to the XY plane, and the vertically oriented component stack can be arranged on the mounting surface such that the first face of each component of the plurality of components is parallel to the mounting plane.Furthermore, the vertically oriented component stack can be arranged on the mounting surface such that the first side surface of each component of the plurality of components runs parallel to the mounting plane and the first external contact and the second external contact of each component of the plurality of components are in contact with the mounting surface. As described here, at least one external contact is located on the first face of each component of the vertically oriented component stack. For example, a first external contact, a second external contact, and a grounding contact can each be located on the first face of each component of the vertically oriented component stack. In some embodiments, each external contact of the vertically oriented component stack, when mounted on the mounting surface of the device, can be in contact with a contact surface on the mounting surface of the device, for example, to electrically connect the vertically oriented component stack to the device. In some embodiments, one or more components of the plurality of components in the vertically oriented component stack comprise at least one internal conductive layer. The internal conductive layer can extend vertically and longitudinally such that it is perpendicular to the mounting surface when the stack is mounted on the device's mounting surface. The internal conductive layer can be, for example, an inductor, a capacitor electrode, a structured conductor, etc. In some embodiments, the contact surface of the device comprises a plurality of separate contact surfaces, and the plurality of separate contact surfaces includes a separate contact surface, each corresponding to an external contact. For example, the plurality of separate contact surfaces may include a separate contact surface, each corresponding to a first external contact, a second external contact, and a ground contact of the plurality of components of the stack. The assembly may also include one or more switches, which are, for example, fully or partially embedded in the device or otherwise attached or mounted to it and electrically connected to the multitude of components of the vertically oriented component stack. For example, a switch of the device may be electrically connected to a specific component of the multitude of components of the vertically oriented component stack. One or more switches may enable the selective activation of components of the vertically oriented component stack. For example, the one or more switches may allow one or more components of the vertically oriented component stack to be selectively activated and deactivated, e.g.based on an operating frequency range, a desired performance characteristic, a power or other load, thermal or heat management and / or other operational requirements or objectives. The present disclosure also specifies methods for forming a vertically oriented stack of components as described herein. The present disclosure may also specify methods for forming an assembly comprising a device and a vertically oriented stack of components arranged thereon, as would be apparent to a person skilled in the art in this field based on the present disclosure. A method for forming a vertically oriented component stack may include forming a first external contact on a first side face of one or more components of a plurality of components, wherein the first side face is vertically opposite to a second side face, and the first and second side faces each extend longitudinally from a first end face to a second end face longitudinally opposite the first end face. The method may further include forming a second external contact on the first side face of one or more components of the plurality of components. In some embodiments, the method may include forming an external grounding contact on the first side face of one or more components of the plurality of components.The external grounding contact can be located along the transverse direction between the first and second external contacts. It should be noted that forming one or more external contacts (whether a first external contact, a second external contact, or a grounding contact) may involve one or more of the external contact fabrication techniques described above, such as forming a solder joint, wrapping the component with a conductive material so that the conductive material is distributed over two or more surfaces of the component, coating (e.g., electroless deposition, FCT plating, etc.), creating discontinuities in a solid bar of contacting material, sputtering, and / or any of the other techniques described herein. The method can also include stacking the plurality of components transversely, such that the first external contacts of the plurality of components are substantially aligned transversely, and the second external contacts of the plurality of components are generally aligned transversely. If components in the stack also include external grounding contacts, the external grounding contacts can generally be aligned transversely. Exemplary embodiments Referring now to Figures 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 to 12, we describe in more detail exemplary embodiments of the vertically oriented component stack, the vertically oriented component stack assembly, and methods for forming a vertically oriented component stack. It should be noted that the use of similar reference numerals, such as those used for the vertical component stack assembly 50 and the vertical component stack 100, may indicate identical or similar features. As shown in Fig. 7, which presents a schematic perspective view of a vertically oriented component stack assembly 60, the assembly 60 comprises a vertically oriented component stack 200 arranged on a mounting surface 20 of a device 10. It should be noted that the device 10 may be a printed circuit board (PCB) or the like, and may be configured as described above with reference to Fig. 1 and Fig. 4. Fig. 8 provides a side view of the vertically oriented component stack assembly 60. In the illustrated embodiment, the vertically oriented component stack 200 consists of four components 202 stacked along a transverse direction T, which is orthogonal to a longitudinal direction L and a vertical direction V. It should be noted that in other embodiments, different numbers of components 202 can be stacked along the transverse direction T to form the vertically oriented component stack 200, which can also be referred to as a vertically oriented component bank. For example, three, five, six, or more components 202 can be stacked to form the stack or bank 200. Each component 202 comprises a plurality of external contacts 208, including a first external contact 208a, a second external contact 208b, and a grounding contact 208c, all formed on a first side face 206 of the respective component 202. That is, each external contact 208 of the components 202 of the vertically oriented component stack 200 is located on the same side of the respective component 202. In the illustrated embodiment, each external contact 208 is formed on the first side face 206, which is vertically opposite a second side face 204. Each component 202 also defines a first end surface 201, which is opposite a second end surface 203 along the longitudinal direction L. The first side surface 206 and the second side surface 204 each extend in the longitudinal direction L from the first end surface 201 to the second end surface 203. Each component 202 further defines a third side surface 205, which is opposite a fourth side surface 207. The third side surface 205 and the fourth side surface 207 extend longitudinally from the first end surface 201 to the second surface 203 and vertically V from the first side surface 206 to the second side surface 204. The first side surface 206 and the second side surface 204 may also extend transversely T from the third side surface 205 to the fourth side surface 207. The vertically oriented component stack 200 can be arranged on the mounting surface 20 of the device 10 such that one or more of the components 202 are electrically connected to the device 10, as described herein. As shown in Figures 7 and 8, the first side surface 206 is in contact with the mounting surface 20 such that the first external contact 208a, the second external contact 208b, and the external grounding contact 208c touch a contact surface 22 (Figure 8) of the device 10 to electrically connect the components 202 of the vertically oriented component stack 200 to the device 10. It should be noted that the contact surface 22 can be made of any suitable material, such as a conductive material, to electrically connect the components 202 and the device 10. In some embodiments, the contact surface 22 is a plurality of separate contact surfaces 22, such as the first contact surface 22a and the second contact surface 22b shown in Fig. 8. For example, the plurality of separate contact surfaces 22 can each comprise a separate contact surface 22 corresponding to a first external contact 208a, a second external contact 208b, and a ground contact 208c of the plurality of components 202; e.g., each external contact 208 can contact a separate contact surface 22. In other embodiments, several external contacts 208a, 208b, 208c can be in contact with the same contact surface 22; e.g., each first external contact 208a of the vertically oriented component stack 200 can be connected to the same contact surface 22. The assembly 60 can also include one or more switches 24 or other device components 26, which may be wholly or partially embedded in the device 10 or otherwise attached or mounted to it and electrically connected to one or more components 202 of the vertically oriented component stack 200. For example, as shown in Fig. 8, a switch 24 of the device 10 can be electrically connected via a contact surface 22 to a corresponding component 202 of the vertically oriented component stack 200. Likewise, one or more device components 26, such as an external capacitor or resistor, an amplifier input, an antenna output, a microprocessor, etc., can be electrically connected via one or more contact surfaces 22 to one or more components 202 of the vertically oriented component stack 200. Referring to Figures 9A and 9B, in some embodiments at least one component 202 in the vertically oriented component stack 200 is a filter. This at least one filter can be any suitable filter type, such as a thin-film filter as shown in Figure 9A, a multilayer filter as shown in Figure 9B, or any other suitable filter. For example, referring to Figure 9A, at least one component 202 can be a thin-film filter with an inductor having a structured conductor track 216 extending between a first external contact 208a, which can be an input terminal of the filter, and a second external contact 208b, which can be an output terminal of the filter. As described elsewhere herein, the structured conductor track 216 can have at least one complete loop (such as three loops, as shown in Figure 9A).(9A shown) or comprise one or more partial loops, whereby straight line segments can also be used to define one or more inductors. The structured conductor track 216 is also electrically connected to an external grounding contact 208c. Fig. 9B provides an exploded view of a plurality of layers of a multilayer filter stacked on top of each other along the transverse direction T to form the filter. For example, at least one component 202 of the vertically oriented component stack 200 can be a multilayer filter as shown in Fig. 9B, which has a conductive layer over a first dielectric layer 220a to define an inductor 218, a first electrode 222 over a second dielectric layer 220b, and a second electrode 224 over a third dielectric layer 220c to define a capacitor 226.The inductor 218 is electrically connected to a first external contact 208a, which can be an input terminal of the filter, and to the capacitor 226 via a through-hole 212. The capacitor 226 is electrically connected to a second external contact 208b, which can be an output terminal of the filter, for example, to form a signal path from the input (first external contact 208a) to the output (second external contact 208b). Although not shown in Fig. 9B, it should be noted that the inductor 218 and / or the capacitor 226 can also be connected to external ground contacts 208c. It should be noted that the filter elements shown in Fig. 9A and Fig. 9B are only examples, and each filter component 202 contained in the vertically oriented component stack 200 can be configured as required, e.g. according to filter type (e.g. low-pass, high-pass or passband), characteristic frequency (e.g. 6 GHz, 8 GHz, 12 GHz or a higher or lower characteristic frequency), etc. Fig. 10 shows a schematic side view of another embodiment of the vertically oriented component stack 200 and the assembly 60. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 10, an interposer 214 is located between each adjacent pair of components 202. In particular, one interposer 214 is located between a first component 202a and a second component 202b, another interposer 214 is located between the second component 202b and a third component 202c, and another interposer 214 is located between the third component 202c and a fourth component 202d. Although not shown in Fig. 10, it should be noted that one or more vias 212, which connect the components 202 in the stack 200, can be guided through an interposer 214, if necessary, to connect the components 202 together. As shown in Fig. 7 and Fig. 10, in some embodiments the first external contacting 208a of at least one component 202 of the stack 200 encloses a first end 209 of the component 202 such that a first part 208a-1 of the first external contacting 208a is formed on the first side face 206, a second part 208a-2 of the first external contacting 208a is formed on the first end face 201, a third part 208a-3 of the first external contacting 208a is formed on the third side face 205 and a fourth part 208a-4 of the first external contacting 208a is formed on the fourth side face 207.Likewise, in some embodiments, the second external contacting 208b of at least one component 202 of the stack 200 encloses a second end 211 of the component 202 such that a first part 208b-1 of the second external contacting 208b is formed on the first side surface 206, a second part 208b-2 of the second external contacting 208b is formed on the second end surface 203, a third part 208b-3 of the second external contacting 208b is formed on the third side surface 205 and a fourth part 208b-4 of the second external contacting 208b is formed on the fourth side surface 207. Referring to Figures 11A and 11B, in some embodiments at least one of the first or second external contacts 208a, 208b can partially enclose the respective end 209, 211 of a respective component 202. For example, as shown in Figure 11A, the second part 208a-2 of the first external contact 208a of each component 202 of the plurality of components, which wraps around the first end face 201, is spaced transversely T from the third side face 205 and the fourth side face 207. For example, as shown in Figure 11B, the second part 208a-2 of the first external contact 208b of each component 202 of the plurality of components, which wraps around the first end face 203, is spaced transversely T from the third side face 205 and the fourth side face 207. Figure 12 shows an exemplary method 1200 for forming a vertically oriented component stack 200, which (1202) comprises forming a first external contact 208a on a first side face 206 of a plurality of components 202. One or more of the components 202 can be filters, as described here. The method 1200 also comprises (1204) forming a second external contact 208b on the first side face 206 of the plurality of components 202. Optionally, the method 1200 also comprises (1206) forming an external grounding contact 208c on the first side face 206 of one or more of the plurality of components 202. Therefore, all external contacts 208 (e.g.,first external contacts 208a, second external contacts 208b and, if formed on one or more components, external earthing contacts 208c), formed on the plurality of components 202, along the same edge or surface of the components 202. As shown in Figure 12 of (1208), method 1200 also includes stacking the plurality of components 202 along a transverse direction T. The stack of components 202 forms the vertically oriented component stack 200, which can be arranged or mounted on a device 10, as described herein, to form a vertically oriented component stack assembly 60. As described herein, the components 202 of the vertically oriented component stack 200 are oriented perpendicular to a mounting surface 20 of the device 10, rather than parallel to a mounting surface as is usually done, so that the components 202 are vertically oriented and have contacts along one side of the stack 200. Such a vertically oriented component stack 200 can occupy less space on the device 10 than typical components and thus offers a space-saving advantage over known designs.Further advantages, such as improved performance, can also be achieved by stacking the components 202 into a component stack or a bank 200, as described here. III. Vertically oriented interposer stack and assembly In general, a vertically oriented interposer stack comprises a plurality of interposers stacked transversely, with a component, such as a filter, located between adjacent interposers. At least a portion of each interposer in the stack can be oriented longitudinally and vertically, and two or more of the components positioned between the interposers can be oriented longitudinally and vertically to each other. For example, the vertically oriented interposer stack can define a longitudinal direction, a transverse direction, and a vertical direction that are orthogonal to each other and comprise a plurality of interposers and a plurality of components. Each interposer in the plurality of interposers can include a first side face that is vertically opposite to a second side face, as well as a first end face that is longitudinally opposite to a second end face.The first and second side faces each extend longitudinally from the first end face to the second end face. Furthermore, each interposer in the plurality of interposers can have a first external contact and a second external contact, both located on the first side face. The first external contact can be spaced longitudinally from the second external contact. At least one component in the plurality of components can be located between adjacent interposers.The multitude of interposers with components in between, which may be electrically connected to the interposers, can be stacked in the transverse direction such that the first external contacts of the multitude of interposers are substantially aligned with each other in the transverse direction and the second external contacts of the multitude of interposers are substantially aligned with each other in the transverse direction. The vertically oriented interposer stack can be arranged on a mounting surface of a device, such as a printed circuit board (PCB), or the like, wherein the first external contact and the second external contact of the mounting surface are adjacent and electrically connected to the device to form a vertically oriented interposer stack assembly. The inventors discovered that such a vertically oriented interposer stack, in which the interposers have contacts along the same edge or face, allows the interposers to stand vertically when connected to a device such as a printed circuit board. These lateral contacts allow multiple interposers to be grouped into a vertically oriented interposer stack or bank, requiring minimal space on the device. For example, a bank of vertically oriented interposers requires less board area or has a smaller footprint than similar devices with end contacts and internal conductive layers that extend parallel to the board. Furthermore, a conductive pattern can be applied to one surface of each interposer, electrically connected to the first and second external contacts. Components positioned between adjacent interposers can be electrically connected to the conductive pattern, allowing them to be easily stacked or banked (e.g., a filter stack or bank where the majority of components are filters) when placed between adjacent interposers. Such a configuration can simplify stack or bank fabrication and reduce costs, while simultaneously reducing the stack or bank's footprint on the circuit board and / or providing performance benefits, as described here. Furthermore, such a configuration allows the use of generically designed components, such as...A generic thin-film or multi-layer filter can be used in a component bank without requiring the component bank to be specifically designed for each individual component, allowing, for example, the use of existing discrete components in a new configuration. Furthermore, the vertically oriented interposer stack with structured interposers facilitates the easy use of multiple different components within the stack, such as a mix of different filter technologies (e.g., both thin-film and multi-layer filters can be used in the stack) and / or a mix of different component types (e.g., a stack containing a multi-layer capacitor and a thin-film filter, etc.). As described above, each interposer can be made of a suitable material. In some embodiments, each interposer comprises a substrate containing aluminum, such as aluminum nitride (AlN). Other suitable materials are described elsewhere. As already mentioned, at least one interposer from the plurality of interposers can have a conductive pattern applied or formed on a surface of the at least one interposer. For example, the conductive pattern can be applied or formed on a third side surface of the interposer, wherein the third side surface extends longitudinally from the first end surface to the second end surface of the at least one interposer and vertically from the first side surface to the second side surface of the at least one interposer. The conductive pattern can have any suitable shape or configuration and can be made of any suitable conductive material, such as the conductive materials described herein. In some embodiments, a conductive pattern can be deposited or formed on a surface of each interposer of the plurality of interposers. The conductive pattern can have the same configuration on each interposer, or at least one conductive pattern can be different from other conductive patterns formed or deposited on the plurality of interposers of the vertically oriented interposer stack. For example, the conductive pattern can correspond to the component that is in electrical contact with the conductive pattern, so that different conductive patterns can be used for different components (e.g.,The conductive pattern for a filter that is electrically connected to it may be different from the conductive pattern for a multilayer ceramic capacitor that is electrically connected to the conductive pattern). As described here, at least one component of the plurality of components in the stack can be a filter. In some embodiments, the filter can be located between the at least one interposer with the conductive pattern and an adjacent interposer, such that the filter is in electrical contact with the conductive pattern. The conductive pattern can include an input line and an output line, and the filter can be in electrical contact with both the input line and the output line. In some embodiments, the first external contact of the at least one interposer is an input terminal, and the second external contact of the at least one interposer is an output terminal. The input line can be connected to the input terminal, and the output line can be connected to the output terminal.In such embodiments, the filter can be electrically connected to the conductive pattern of the at least one interposer to filter a signal between the input terminal and the output terminal. In some embodiments, at least one component of the plurality of components arranged between interposers may be spaced apart from one or more sides and / or ends of an adjacent interposer. For example, at least one component may not extend over the entire height in the vertical direction and / or over the entire length in the longitudinal direction of the adjacent interposer. In some embodiments, the at least one component may be arranged approximately centrally on a face of an adjacent interposer without extending to an edge of the interposer's face. That is, the at least one component may be shorter in the vertical and longitudinal directions than the face of the adjacent interposer, and the at least one component may be approximately centered with respect to the interposer face, such that the at least one component is spaced apart from the edges defining the interposer face. In some embodiments, at least one interposer of the plurality of interposers comprises an external contact formed on the first side face of the at least one interposer. For example, the external grounding contact can be located along the longitudinal direction between the first external contact and the second external contact. The external contacts formed on the first face of each interposer (e.g., the first and second external contacts, and in some embodiments, the grounding contacts) can be formed using one or more methods generally known in the art. These methods include, for example, forming a solder joint, wrapping, coating and / or drilling, or otherwise defining breaks in a solid rod of contacting material, as well as sputtering, painting, printing, electroless deposition or fine copper contacting (FCT), electroplating, plasma deposition, blowing / airbrushing, and so on. At least some of these methods have already been described in more detail above, such as with regard to the vertically oriented component stack.Furthermore, it will be understood that any suitable material, as described here, can be used to form the external connections of the multitude of interposers. In addition to the first and second side faces, each component of the plurality of components can also comprise a third side face, which is opposite a fourth side face. The third and fourth side faces can extend longitudinally from the first end face to the second face and vertically from the first side face to the second side face. In some embodiments, the first external contact of at least one interposer of the plurality of interposers encloses a first end of the interposer such that a first part of the first external contact is formed on the first side face, a second part of the first external contact on the first end face, a third part of the first external contact on the third side face, and a fourth part of the first external contact on the fourth side face.In some embodiments, the second external contacting of at least one interposer of the plurality of interposers encloses a second end of the interposer such that a first part of the second external contacting is formed on the first side face, a second part of the second external contacting on the second end face, a third part of the second external contacting on the third side face, and a fourth part of the second external contacting on the fourth side face. In some embodiments, the first and / or second external contact can partially enclose the respective end of each interposer. For example, in some embodiments, the second part of the first external contact and the second part of the second external contact of each interposer of the plurality of interposers surrounding the first end face and the second end face, respectively, are spaced transversely from the third side face and the fourth side face, respectively. In embodiments comprising at least one interposer with an external grounding contact arranged between the first and second external contacts, the external grounding contact can extend from the first side face to one of the third side faces or the fourth side face, or to both the third and the fourth side face. The vertically oriented interposer stack can comprise any suitable number of interposers stacked along the transverse direction. In some embodiments, for example, the vertically oriented interposer stack comprises at least three interposers stacked in the transverse direction, such as three, four, five, six, seven, or more interposers stacked in the transverse direction. In some embodiments, the vertically oriented interposer stack comprises one more interposer than the number of components, so that individual components are arranged between adjacent interposers. In other embodiments, more than one component can be arranged between adjacent interposers, and in still other embodiments, at least one component may not be arranged between adjacent interposers but may have an interposer on only one side of the component. In some embodiments, as described above, the vertically oriented interposer stack comprises at least one filter. For example, at least one component of the plurality of components in the stack can be a filter. The at least one filter can be any suitable filter type, such as a thin-film filter or a multilayer filter, wherein the thin-film filter or multilayer filter can be configured as described above, or the at least one filter can be any other suitable filter type. In some embodiments, the filter can comprise a signal path with one input and one output. The filter can be configured to filter input signals and produce a filtered output signal at the output.In some embodiments, conductive layers can be formed on a multitude of dielectric layers. These conductive layers are specifically shaped or structured to form capacitors and / or inductors, which, when stacked on top of each other, constitute the filter. Instead of the input and output terminals or external contacts being formed on the filter itself, the terminals are formed on an interposer, and the filter is mounted on the interposer to bring the filter's input and output into electrical contact with the input and output terminals, respectively. As described here, the filter can also be grounded by connecting it to an external grounding contact formed on the interposer. In some embodiments, one or more vias may be formed in a single component of the vertically oriented interposer stack. For example, if a component of the stack is a filter, a via may be formed within it to connect two or more elements of the filter. In some embodiments, one or more vias may be formed to connect components within the vertically oriented interposer stack. For example, a via formed in one component may be in contact with a via formed in an adjacent component to connect the adjacent components. In some embodiments, vias may extend through one or more interposers to electrically connect elements of the vertically oriented interposer stack.Suitable techniques and materials for forming vias in one or more components of the vertically oriented interposer stack are described in more detail elsewhere, e.g. with regard to the vertical component stack described above. The vertically oriented interposer stack can be configured to be mounted on a mounting surface of a fixture to form an assembly, e.g., a vertically oriented interposer stack assembly. The assembly can include a fixture with a mounting surface, such as a printed circuit board (PCB) or the like, and a vertically oriented interposer stack as described herein. The mounting surface can extend in a mounting plane parallel to an XY plane defined by the longitudinal and transverse directions. The first face of each interposer in the plurality of interposers of the vertically oriented interposer stack can extend in a first plane parallel to the XY plane, and the vertically oriented interposer stack can be arranged on the mounting surface such that the first face of each component in the plurality of components is parallel to the mounting plane.Furthermore, the vertically oriented interposer stack can be arranged on the mounting surface such that the first side surface of each interposer of the plurality of interposers extends parallel to the mounting surface and the first external contact and the second external contact of each interposer of the plurality of interposers are in contact with the mounting surface. As described here, at least one external contact is located on the first side face of each interposer in the vertically oriented interposer stack. For example, a first external contact, a second external contact, and a grounding contact can each be provided on the first side face of each interposer in the vertically oriented interposer stack. In some embodiments, each external contact of the vertically oriented interposer stack, when mounted on the mounting surface of the device, can be in contact with a contact surface on the mounting surface of the device, for example, to electrically connect the vertically oriented interposer stack to the device. In some embodiments, one or more components of the plurality of components of the vertically oriented interposer stack comprise at least one internal conductive layer. The internal conductive layer can extend vertically and longitudinally such that it is perpendicular to the mounting surface when the stack is mounted on the device's mounting surface. The internal conductive layer can be, for example, an inductor, a capacitor electrode, a structured conductor, etc. In some embodiments, the contact surface of the device comprises a plurality of separate contact surfaces, and the plurality of separate contact surfaces includes a separate contact surface, each corresponding to an external contact. For example, the plurality of separate contact surfaces may include a separate contact surface, each corresponding to a first external contact, a second external contact, and a ground contact of the plurality of interposers in the stack. The assembly may also include one or more switches, which are, for example, fully or partially embedded in the device or otherwise attached or mounted to it and electrically connected to the plurality of components of the vertically oriented interposer stack. For example, a switch of the device may be electrically connected to a component of the plurality of components of the vertically oriented interposer stack, e.g., via at least one external contact of an interposer and the conductive pattern of the interposer, on which the respective component may be arranged such that it electrically connects the respective component and the conductive pattern. The one or more switches may enable selective activation of components of the vertically oriented interposer stack.For example, one or more switches can make it possible to selectively activate and deactivate one or more components of the vertically oriented interposer stack, e.g. based on an operating frequency range, a desired performance characteristic, a power or other load, thermal or heat management and / or other operational requirements or objectives. The present disclosure also specifies methods for forming a vertically oriented interposer stack as described herein. The present disclosure may also specify methods for forming an assembly comprising a device and a vertically oriented interposer stack arranged thereon, as would be apparent to a person skilled in the art in this field based on the present disclosure. A method for producing a vertically oriented interposer stack may involve applying a conductive pattern to a surface of one or more interposers from a plurality of interposers. For example, the surface may be a third face of the one or more interposers, the third face extending longitudinally and vertically. The conductive pattern may be made of any suitable conductive material, such as those described herein, and may be applied to one or more interposers by any suitable method, such as the methods described herein for applying conductive material to a surface. The method may also include forming a first external contact on a first side face of one or more interposers of the plurality of interposers, wherein the first side face is vertically opposite to a second side face, and the first side face and the second side face each extend longitudinally from a first end face to a second end face that is longitudinally opposite to the first end face. The method may further include forming a second external contact on the first side face of one or more interposers of the plurality of interposers. In some embodiments, the method may include forming an external grounding contact on the first side face of one or more interposers of the plurality of interposers.The external grounding contact can be located along the transverse direction between the first and second external contacts. It should be noted that forming one or more external contacts (whether a first external contact, a second external contact, or a grounding contact) may involve one or more of the external contact fabrication techniques described above, such as forming a solder joint, wrapping the component with a conductive material so that the conductive material is distributed over two or more surfaces of the component, coating (e.g., electroless deposition, FCT plating, etc.), creating discontinuities in a solid bar of contacting material, sputtering, and / or any of the other techniques described herein. The method can also include stacking the plurality of interposers transversely, with one or more components located between adjacent interposers such that the first external contacts of the plurality of interposers are substantially aligned transversely, and the second external contacts of the plurality of interposers are substantially aligned transversely. If components in the stack also include external grounding contacts, the external grounding contacts can generally be aligned transversely. Exemplary embodiments Referring now to Figures 13, 14 to 15, we will describe in more detail exemplary embodiments of the vertically oriented interposer stack, the vertically oriented interposer stack assembly, and methods for forming a vertically oriented interposer stack. It should be noted that the use of similar reference numerals, such as those used for the vertical component stack assembly 50, the vertically oriented component stack assembly 100, and the vertically oriented component stack 200, may indicate identical or similar features. As shown in Fig. 13, which presents a schematic perspective view of a vertically oriented interposer stack assembly 70, the assembly 70 comprises a vertically oriented interposer stack 300 located on a mounting surface 20 of a device 10. It should be noted that the device 10 may be a printed circuit board (PCB) or the like, and may be configured as described above with reference to Fig. 1 and Fig. 4. Fig. 14 provides a side view of the vertically oriented interposer stack assembly 70. In the illustrated embodiment, the vertically oriented interposer stack 300 consists of five interposers 302 and four components 330 stacked along a transverse direction T, which is orthogonal to a longitudinal direction L and a vertical direction V. It should be noted that in other embodiments, different numbers of interposers 330 can be stacked on top of each other along the transverse direction T to form the vertically oriented interposer stack 300, which can also be referred to as a vertically oriented interposer bank. For example, three, five, six, or more interposers 302 with components 330 positioned between them can be stacked on top of each other to form the stack or bank 300. Each interposer 302 comprises a plurality of external contacts 308, including a first external contact 308a, a second external contact 308b, and an external grounding contact 308c, all formed on a first side surface 306 of the respective interposer 302. That is, each external contact 308 of the interposers 302 of the vertically oriented interposer 300 is formed on the same side of the respective interposer 302. In the illustrated embodiment, each external contact 308 is formed on the first side surface 306, which is opposite a second side surface 304 in the vertical direction V. Each interposer 302 also defines a first end surface 301, which is opposite a second end surface 303 along the longitudinal direction L. The first side surface 306 and the second side surface 304 each extend in the longitudinal direction L from the first end surface 301 to the second end surface 303. Each interposer 302 further defines a third side surface 305, which is opposite a fourth side surface 307. The third side surface 305 and the fourth side surface 307 extend longitudinally from the first end surface 301 to the second surface 303 and vertically V from the first side surface 306 to the second side surface 304. The first side surface 306 and the second side surface 304 may also extend transversely T from the third side surface 305 to the fourth side surface 307. The vertically oriented interposer stack 300 can be arranged on the mounting surface 20 of the device 10 such that one or more of the interposers 302 are electrically connected to the device 10, as described herein. As shown in Figures 13 and 14, the first side surface 306 is in contact with the mounting surface 20 such that the first external contact 308a, the second external contact 308b, and the external grounding contact 308c touch a contact surface 22 (Figure 14) of the device 10 to electrically connect the interposers 302 of the vertically oriented interposer stack 300 to the device 10. It should be noted that the contact surface 22 can be made of any suitable material, such as a conductive material, to electrically connect the interposers 302 and the device 10. In some embodiments, the contact surface 22 is a plurality of separate contact surfaces 22, such as the first contact surface 22a and the second contact surface 22b shown in Fig. 14. For example, the plurality of separate contact surfaces 22 can each comprise a separate contact surface 22 corresponding to a first external contact 308a, a second external contact 308b, and a ground contact 308c of the plurality of interposers 302; for example, each external contact 308 can contact a separate contact surface 22. In other embodiments, several external contacts 308a, 308b, 308c can be in contact with the same contact surface 22; for example, each first external contact 308a of the vertically oriented interposer stack 300 can be connected to the same contact surface 22. The assembly 70 can also include one or more switches 24 or other device components 26, which may be wholly or partially embedded in the device 10 or otherwise attached or mounted to it and electrically connected to one or more interposers 302 of the vertically oriented interposer stack 300. For example, as shown in Fig. 14, a switch 24 of the device 10 can be electrically connected via a contact surface 22 to a corresponding interposer 302 of the vertically oriented interposer stack 300. Likewise, one or more device components 26, such as an external capacitor or resistor, an amplifier input, an antenna output, a microprocessor, etc., can be electrically connected via one or more contact surfaces 22 to one or more interposers 302 of the vertically oriented interposer stack 300. Referring to Fig. 14, at least one interposer 302 from the plurality of interposers 302 can have a conductive pattern 332 that is deposited or formed on a surface of the interposer 302. For example, the conductive pattern 332 can be deposited or formed on the third side surface 305 of the interposer 302. The conductive pattern 332 can have any suitable shape or configuration. In the illustrated embodiment, the conductive pattern 332 comprises an input line 334, an output line 336, and two grounding elements 338. The conductive pattern can be made of any suitable material and can be deposited on the surface 305 of the interposer 302 using any suitable method or process. In some embodiments, at least one component 330 in the vertically oriented interposer stack 300 is a filter. The at least one filter can be any suitable filter type, such as a thin-film filter or a multilayer filter, and examples are shown in Figs. 5A and 9A, and Figs. 5B and 9B, respectively. In some embodiments, the filter component 330 can be configured as shown in Figs. 5A, 5B, 9A, or 9B. The filter component 330 can be positioned with respect to the third face 305 of the interposer 302 such that an inlet of the filter is in electrical contact with the inlet line 334 of the conductive pattern 332, and an outlet of the filter is in electrical contact with the output line 336 of the conductive pattern 332.For example, the filter component 330 can be positioned such that a first end 340 of the filter component 330 touches the input line 334 and a second end 342 of the filter component 330 touches the output line 336, thereby bringing the input and output of the filter component 330 into electrical contact with the input line 334 and the output line 336, respectively. As shown in Fig. 14, the filter component 330 can also be electrically connected to one or both of the grounding parts 338. It should be noted that each filter component 330 contained in the vertically oriented interposer stack 300, as well as the conductive pattern 332, can be configured by one or more interposers 302 as required, e.g., by filter type (e.g., low-pass, high-pass, or passband), characteristic frequency (e.g., 6 GHz, 8 GHz, 12 GHz, or a higher or lower characteristic frequency), etc. Furthermore, other types of components 330 can also be contained in the stack 300; that is, in at least some embodiments, a component 330 other than a filter can be arranged between adjacent interposers 302. In some embodiments, the external contacts 308 of the interposer 302 in the stack 300 can be configured similarly to the external contacts of the components 202 shown in Fig. 7 and Fig. 10 (as shown in Fig. 13) or similarly to the external contacts of the components 202 shown in Fig. 11A and Fig. 11B. For example, in some embodiments, the first external contacting 308a of at least one interposer 302 of the stack 300 encloses a first end 309 of the interposer 302 such that a first part 308a-1 of the first external contacting 308a is formed on the first side face 306, a second part 308a-2 of the first external contacting 308a is formed on the first end face 301, a third part 308a-3 of the first external contacting 308a is formed on the third side face 305 and a fourth part 308a-4 of the first external contacting 308a is formed on the fourth side face 307.Likewise, in some embodiments, the second external contacting 308b of at least one interposer 302 of the stack 300 encloses a second end 311 of the component 302 such that a first part 308b-1 of the second external contacting 308b is formed on the first side surface 306, a second part 308b-2 of the second external contacting 308b is formed on the second end surface 303, a third part 308a-3 of the second external contacting 308b is formed on the third side surface 305 and a fourth part 308b-4 of the second external contacting 308b is formed on the fourth side surface 307. In some embodiments, at least one of the first or second external contacts 308a, 308b can partially enclose the respective end 309, 311 of a respective interposer 302. For example, similar to the embodiment of Fig. 11A, the second part 308a-2 of the first external contact 308a of each interposer 302 of the plurality of interposers, which wraps around the first end face 301, can be spaced transversely T from the third side face 305 and the fourth side face 307. Furthermore, similar to the embodiment of Fig. 11B, the second part 308a-2 of the second external contact 308b of each interposer 302 of the plurality of interposers, which wraps around the second end face 303, can be spaced transversely T from the third side face 305 and the fourth side face 307. Figure 15 shows an exemplary method 1500 for producing a vertically oriented interposer stack 300, which (1502) comprises depositing a conductive pattern 332 on a third side face of each interposer of a plurality of interposers. The conductive pattern 332 can consist of any suitable conductive material and can be formed by any suitable method, such as the methods described here for depositing a conductive material on a surface. Method 1500 further comprises (1504) forming a first external contact 308a on a first side face 306 of the plurality of interposers 302. Method 1500 also comprises (1506) forming a second external contact 308b on the first side face 306 of the plurality of interposers 302. Optionally, Method 1500 also comprises (1508) forming an external grounding contact 308c on the first side face 306 of one or more of the plurality of interposers 302. Therefore, each external contact 308 (e.g., first external contacts 308a, second external contacts 308b, and, if formed on one or more components, external grounding contacts 308c) formed on the plurality of interposers 302 is formed along the same edge or face of the interposers 302. As shown in (1510) in Fig. 15, method 1500 also includes stacking the plurality of interposers 302 along a transverse direction T, wherein a component 330 of a plurality of components 330 is located between adjacent interposers 302. The stack of interposers 302 and components 330 forms the vertically oriented interposer stack 300, which can be arranged or mounted on a device 10 as described herein to form a vertically oriented interposer stack assembly 70.As described here, the interposers 302 and the components 330 of the vertically oriented interposer stack 300 are oriented perpendicular to a mounting surface 20 of the device 10, instead of parallel to a mounting surface as components are usually mounted on printed circuit boards or the like. Thus, the interposers 302 and the components 330 are vertically oriented, and the interposers 302 have contacts along one side of the stack 300. Such a vertically oriented interposer stack 300 can occupy less space on the device 10 than typical components and therefore offers a space-saving advantage over known designs.Further advantages, such as improved performance, can also be achieved by stacking the interposers 302, with the components 330 arranged between them and in electrical contact with a conductive pattern formed on an adjacent interposer 302, to form an interposer stack or bank 300, as described here. These and other modifications and variations of the present invention can be practically implemented by a person skilled in the art without deviating from the essence and scope of the present invention. Furthermore, it should be understood that aspects of the various embodiments can be wholly or partially interchangeable. Moreover, a person skilled in the art will recognize that the above description is only exemplary and is not intended to limit the invention, which is described in more detail in the appended claims. QUOTES INCLUDED IN THE DESCRIPTION This list of documents cited by the applicant was automatically generated and is included solely for the reader's convenience. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA accepts no liability for any errors or omissions. Cited patent literature US 63 / 579,300

[0001]

Claims

A vertically oriented component stack, wherein the vertically oriented component stack defines a longitudinal direction, a transverse direction, and a vertical direction that are orthogonal to each other, and wherein the vertically oriented component stack comprises: a plurality of components, each component of the plurality of components comprising a first side face opposite a second side face in the vertical direction, and a first end face opposite a second end face in the longitudinal direction, the first side face and the second side face each extending in the longitudinal direction from the first end face to the second end face, each component of the plurality of components having a first external contact formed on the first side face and a second external contact formed on the first side face.the first external contact is spaced along the longitudinal direction from the second external contact, wherein the plurality of components are stacked in the transverse direction such that the first external contacts of the plurality of components are generally aligned transversely to each other and the second external contacts of the plurality of components are generally aligned transversely to each other. Vertically oriented component stack according to claim 1, wherein at least one component of the plurality of components further comprises an external grounding contact formed on the first side surface of the at least one component. Vertically oriented component stack according to claim 2, wherein the external grounding contact is formed along the longitudinal direction between the first external contact and the second external contact. Vertically oriented component stack according to claim 1, wherein the vertically oriented component stack is configured for mounting on the mounting surface along the first side face, such that the first external contact and the second external contact of each component of the plurality of components are in contact with the mounting plane. Vertically oriented component stack according to claim 4, wherein each component of the plurality of components comprises at least one inner conductive layer, wherein the inner conductive layer extends in the vertical direction and in the longitudinal direction such that the inner conductive layer is perpendicular to the mounting surface. Vertically oriented component stack according to claim 1, wherein: each component of the plurality of components further comprises a third side surface opposite a fourth side surface, wherein the third side surface and the fourth side surface extend longitudinally from the first end surface to the second surface and vertically from the first side surface to the second side surface, the first external contact of each component of the plurality of components encloses a first end of the component such that a first part of the first external contact is formed on the first side surface, a second part of the first external contact is formed on the first end surface, a third part of the first external contact is formed on the third side surface and a fourth part of the first external contact is formed on the fourth side surface.and the second external contact of each component of the plurality of components encloses a second end of the component such that a first part of the second external contact is formed on the first side face, a second part of the second external contact on the second end face, a third part of the second external contact on the third side face, and a fourth part of the second external contact on the fourth side face. Vertically oriented component stack according to claim 6, wherein the second part of the first external contacting and the second part of the second external contacting of each component of the plurality of components enclosing the first end face and the second end face are spaced transversely from the third side face and the fourth side face. Vertically oriented component stack according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of components is a filter. Vertically oriented component stack according to claim 8, wherein the first external contact is an input terminal of the filter and the second external contact is an output terminal of the filter, and wherein the filter further comprises an external grounding contact located on the first side face of the filter between the input terminal and the output terminal. Vertically oriented component stack according to claim 8, wherein the filter is a thin-film filter. Vertically oriented component stack according to claim 8, wherein the filter is a multi-layered filter. Vertically oriented component stack according to claim 11, wherein the multilayer filter comprises an inductor and a capacitor, wherein the inductor comprises a conductive layer formed over a first dielectric layer, wherein the capacitor comprises a first electrode and a second electrode separated from the first electrode by a second dielectric layer, and wherein the vertically oriented component stack is configured for mounting on a mounting surface such that the conductive layer, the first electrode, and the second electrode each extend in the longitudinal and transverse directions perpendicular to the mounting surface. Vertically oriented component stack according to claim 1, wherein an interposer is located between at least one adjacent pair of components of the plurality of components. Vertically oriented component stack according to claim 13, wherein the interposer comprises an aluminium substrate. Vertically oriented component stack according to claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of interposers, wherein one interposer of the plurality of interposers is arranged between each adjacent pair of components of the plurality of components. Assembly comprising: a device with a mounting surface; and a vertically oriented component stack, wherein the vertically oriented component stack defines a longitudinal direction, a transverse direction, and a vertical direction that are orthogonal to each other, wherein the vertically oriented component stack comprises: a plurality of components, wherein each component of the plurality of components comprises a first side surface that is opposite a second side surface in the vertical direction, and a first end surface that is opposite a second end surface in the longitudinal direction, the first side surface and the second side surface each extending in the longitudinal direction from the first end surface to the second end surface, wherein each component of the plurality of components has a first external contact formed on the first side surface and a second external contact formed on the first side surface.The first external contact is spaced along the longitudinal direction from the second external contact, wherein the plurality of components are stacked in the transverse direction such that the first external contacts of the plurality of components are generally aligned transversely to each other and the second external contacts of the plurality of components are generally aligned transversely to each other, wherein the vertically oriented component stack is arranged along the first side face on the mounting surface such that the first external contact and the second external contact of each component of the plurality of components are in contact with the mounting plane. Assembly according to claim 16, wherein each component of the plurality of components comprises at least one inner conductive layer, wherein the inner conductive layer extends in the vertical direction and in the longitudinal direction such that the inner conductive layer is perpendicular to the mounting surface of the device. Assembly according to claim 16, wherein at least one of the plurality of components is a filter. Assembly according to claim 18, wherein the first external contact is an input terminal of the filter and the second external contact is an output terminal of the filter, and wherein the filter further comprises an external grounding contact formed on the first side face of the filter between the input terminal and the output terminal. Assembly according to claim 16, wherein the device comprises at least one switch in electrical contact with at least one component of the plurality of components of the vertically oriented component stack. Assembly according to claim 16, wherein an interposer is located between at least one adjacent pair of components of the plurality of components. Assembly according to claim 16, wherein the first external contacting and the second external contacting of each component of the plurality of components are in contact with a contact surface on the mounting plane of the device. Assembly according to claim 22, wherein the contact surface is a plurality of separate contact surfaces and wherein the plurality of separate contact surfaces comprises a separate contact surface, each corresponding to a first external contacting and second external contacting of each component of the plurality of components. A method for forming a vertically oriented component stack, wherein the vertically oriented component stack defines a longitudinal direction, a transverse direction, and a vertical direction that are orthogonal to each other, the method comprising: forming a first external contact on a first side face of each component of a plurality of components, wherein the first side face is vertically opposite to a second side face, and the first side face and the second side face each extend longitudinally from a first end face to a second end face that is longitudinally opposite to the first end face; forming a second external contact on the first side face of each component of the plurality of components;and the stacking of the multitude of components in a transverse direction, such that the first external contacts of the multitude of components are essentially aligned transversely to each other and the second external contacts of the multitude of components are essentially aligned transversely to each other.;

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