Interposer Probe Pads for 3DIC Intermediate-Stage Yield Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current packaging processes for integrated circuits do not allow for intermediate-stage probing, leading to increased production costs and cycle times due to the inability to identify and isolate issues during the packaging process, making it difficult to guide future manufacturing.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating an interposer with probe pads and daisy chains that enable electrical connection status probing during intermediate stages, allowing for early identification of connection problems and improving manufacturing throughput.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If intermediate-stage probing is not performed during packaging, then the package structure remains simple, but production costs increase and cycle time lengthens due to inability to identify failures early
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by incorporating probe pads and test structures into the interposer during the packaging process itself, allowing testing to be performed at intermediate stages rather than waiting for final package completion. This enables early detection of bonding failures and connection issues, reducing rework costs and cycle time without requiring a fundamentally different package structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The interposer serves as an intermediary element that provides both functional connectivity between device dies and access points (probe pads) for testing. This mediator approach allows the packaging structure to serve dual purposes: enabling device interconnection and facilitating intermediate-stage quality assessment, thereby resolving the contradiction between structural simplicity and testing capability.
2Reliability
If intermediate-stage probing is implemented, then early failure detection is enabled, but the package structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the testing functionality with the interposer structure by integrating probe pads, bond pads, and test structures directly into the interposer. This combination eliminates the need for separate testing components or additional packaging layers, enabling reliable intermediate-stage probing while maintaining relatively simple package architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The interposer is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as a connectivity substrate for device dies and as a test platform through integrated probe pads and daisy chain structures. This universal design allows the same structural element to fulfill multiple roles: electrical interconnection, mechanical support, and quality assessment, thereby improving reliability without proportionally increasing complexity.
3Productivity
If probe pads are exposed for intermediate probing, then manufacturing guidance is improved, but probe pads become more vulnerable to damage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic approach where probe pads are exposed only when needed for intermediate-stage testing during the packaging process, then potentially covered or protected in subsequent stages. This dynamic exposure strategy allows manufacturing guidance through probing while minimizing the duration of vulnerability to damage, resolving the contradiction between productivity improvement and damage prevention.
Data Source
AI summary
An interposer includes a first surface on a first side of the interposer and a second surface on a second side of the interposer, wherein the first and the second sides are opposite sides. A first probe pad is disposed at the first surface. An electrical connector is disposed at the first surface, wherein the electrical connector is configured to be used for bonding. A through-via is disposed in the interposer. Front-side connections are disposed on the first side of the interposer, wherein the front-side connections electrically couple the through-via to the probe pad.