IC Package Magnetic Structures With Cavity-Based Thickness Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional techniques for forming magnetic structures in integrated circuit (IC) package supports suffer from inadequate dimension control, leading to increased footprint and reliability issues, particularly in high volume manufacturing, and expose magnetic materials to damaging processes.
Innovation Solution
The development of IC package supports with magnetic structures that include a conductive line surrounded by a magnetic material, featuring material stubs and a tapered shape, allowing for precise control of thickness and placement, and avoiding exposure to damaging chemistries through a novel manufacturing process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional paste printing techniques are used to form magnetic structures, then the manufacturing process is simple, but the dimension control is inadequate leading to increased footprint and reliability issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by forming cavities in the substrate before depositing the magnetic material. These pre-formed cavities serve as molds that define the final dimensions and shape of the magnetic structures, ensuring precise dimensional control before the actual magnetic material deposition occurs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary layer (such as a sacrificial layer or mold layer) that mediates between the manufacturing process and the final magnetic structure. This intermediary enables precise dimension control during fabrication and can be removed or retained as needed, solving the dimension control problem without requiring complex direct patterning of the magnetic material itself.
2Manufacturing precision
If planarization is performed to control the thickness of magnetic structures, then the thickness precision is improved, but the manufacturing cost increases and compatibility with high volume manufacturing decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs the thickness control action preliminarily by forming cavities with predetermined depths before magnetic material deposition. The cavity depth directly determines the magnetic structure thickness, eliminating the need for post-deposition planarization processes and enabling direct formation of precisely controlled thicknesses in high volume manufacturing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical planarization processes with a chemical or photolithographic cavity formation approach. Instead of using mechanical grinding or polishing to control thickness, the method uses precisely controlled cavity etching or molding, which is more compatible with automated high volume manufacturing processes.
3Reliability
If conventional techniques are used to form magnetic structures, then the manufacturing process is straightforward, but the magnetic materials are exposed to damaging chemistries
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary cavity formation and isolation before introducing magnetic materials. The cavities are pre-formed and isolated with protective layers before magnetic material deposition, ensuring that damaging chemistries are never exposed to the magnetic materials. This sequence protects magnetic material integrity while maintaining manufacturing simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediary protective layers (such as dielectric layers or sacrificial layers) that act as barriers between the magnetic materials and damaging chemistries. These intermediaries allow subsequent processing steps to proceed without exposing the magnetic materials to harmful environments, preserving material integrity while enabling straightforward manufacturing.
4Manufacturing precision
If the achievable minimum thickness of magnetic structures is high, then the manufacturing process is simpler, but high aspect ratio vias are required which are difficult to fabricate and present reliability issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary cavity formation with precisely controlled depths before magnetic material deposition. By pre-defining the cavity depth, the method achieves precise thickness control of the magnetic structures without requiring thick deposits, thereby avoiding the need for high aspect ratio vias and their associated fabrication difficulties and reliability issues.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the approach from controlling thickness through lateral via dimensions to controlling thickness through vertical cavity depth. This dimensional shift allows precise thickness control independent of via aspect ratio, enabling thin magnetic structures to be formed without requiring difficult-to-fabricate high aspect ratio vias.
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
This approach enables the creation of high-quality magnetic structures with desired thicknesses and asymmetry, improving electrical performance and reliability, while being compatible with high volume manufacturing and suitable for ultra-mobile devices.
Implementation Method 1
Magnetic structures may improve the electrical performance of some IC assemblies. For example, using inductors enhanced with magnetic structures (e.g., magnetic-material-enhanced inductors) in a package substrate or other IC package support may improve power delivery performance.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein are magnetic structures in integrated circuit (IC) package supports, as well as related methods and devices. For example, in some embodiments, an IC package support may include a conductive line, a magnetic structure around the conductive line, and material stubs at side faces of the magnetic structure.