Double-Sided Air-Cavity Package With Top-Side RF Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing semiconductor packaging designs face challenges in achieving small footprints with high electrical performance and efficient heat dissipation for high-power/high-frequency RF components, as direct contact with mold compounds degrades performance and traditional bottom-side cooling is insufficient for heat management.
Innovation Solution
A double-sided air-cavity package design with top-side cooling, featuring a metalized laminate structure, perimeter conductive elements, and a lid that delimits a closed air cavity, allowing heat dissipation through a heat spreader and thermal interposer, while maintaining electrical connectivity and reducing dielectric losses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If air-cavity packaging is used to reduce dielectric losses and improve electrical performance, then electrical performance is improved, but heat dissipation capability deteriorates due to air's low thermal conductivity
Solution Approach 1:
The package is segmented into two distinct regions: an air-cavity region for high-frequency components requiring low dielectric losses, and a thermally conductive region with metal core and heat sink for components requiring efficient heat dissipation. This spatial segmentation allows each region to optimize for its specific function without compromise.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the package substrate are assigned different thermal and dielectric properties. The metal core region provides high thermal conductivity for heat management, while the air-cavity region provides low dielectric constant for RF performance. Each local area has properties optimized for its specific component requirements.
2Temperature
If bottom-side cooling is used to dissipate heat from high-power RF components, then heat dissipation is improved, but the cooling capability is insufficient for highly concentrated heat flux
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of relying solely on bottom-side cooling through the substrate, the invention introduces top-side cooling mechanisms including heat spreaders positioned above the RF components and heat sinks extending from the top surface. This inverted cooling approach directly addresses the heat source from above, providing more efficient heat removal for high-power components.
Solution Approach 2:
Heat spreaders made of highly conductive metal materials are introduced as intermediary elements between the RF components and the cooling system. These heat spreaders collect concentrated heat from small component areas and distribute it over larger areas, facilitating more efficient heat transfer to heat sinks and the substrate.
3Area of stationary object
If double-sided package configuration is used to achieve electronics densification with small footprint, then space utilization is improved, but thermal management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The metal core substrate serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides mechanical support for both top and bottom mounted components, acts as a thermal conduction path for heat dissipation, and functions as an electrical ground plane. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional dedicated thermal management components, simplifying the overall system despite the double-sided configuration.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design enhances electrical performance and heat dissipation, improving the reliability and lifetime of RF components by reducing thermal resistance and dielectric losses, while allowing for compact packaging.
Implementation Method 1
heat generated by the first electronic component is capable of being dissipated through the heat spreader in the metalized laminate structure
Implementation Method 2
dry air provides a considerably lower dielectric constant than typical mold compounds, thus reducing losses and providing improved electrical performance at high frequencies
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to a double-sided air-cavity package that includes a metalized laminate structure with a heat spreader, a perimeter structure protruding from a periphery of a bottom surface of the metalized laminate structure without covering the heat spreader, a lid positioned parallel to the metalized laminate structure and bonded to the perimeter structure, a first electronic component, and a second electronic component. Herein, a combination of the metalized laminate structure, the perimeter structure, and the lid delimits a closed air cavity. The first electronic component is attached to the bottom surface of the metalized laminate structure proximate to the heat spreader, positioned within the air cavity, and electrically connected to at least one interior conductive element within the perimeter structure. The second electronic component is attached to a top surface of the metalized laminate structure, positioned outside the air cavity, and does not reside over the heat spreader.