Magnetic Coupling for Multi-Chip Module Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing multi-chip modules (MCMs) face challenges in maintaining alignment and remateable mechanical coupling of bridge chips due to mechanical clearances, leading to misalignment and poor communication characteristics, especially with capacitive inter-chip contacts requiring precise mechanical alignment.
Innovation Solution
The use of substrates with positive and negative features, where at least one negative feature includes a hard magnetic material and the other includes a soft magnetic material, facilitating remateable mechanical coupling through static magnetic forces, allowing for alignment and reworkability while reducing assembly costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If purely mechanical assembly technique with balls and pits is used, then mechanical coupling is achieved, but alignment is lost due to mechanical clearances and gravity
Solution Approach 1:
A magnetic field is introduced as an intermediary force between the balls and pits. The magnetic field provides a restoring force that actively maintains alignment between mating features, compensating for mechanical clearances and gravitational effects that would otherwise cause misalignment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces purely mechanical alignment dependencies with a magnetic field-based alignment system. Instead of relying solely on mechanical contact and tolerance stacking, the magnetic field provides continuous alignment forces that maintain precision despite mechanical clearances.
2Manufacturing precision
If mechanical clearances are reduced to maintain alignment, then alignment precision improves, but remateability becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The magnetic field serves as a mediator that enables remateability without requiring tight mechanical tolerances. When components are separated and reassembled, the magnetic field automatically guides and maintains alignment, eliminating the need for precision mechanical fits that would prevent disassembly and reassembly.
3Power
If capacitive inter-chip contacts are used, then communication bandwidth increases, but mechanical alignment requirements become more stringent
Solution Approach 1:
The patent substitutes magnetic field-based alignment for mechanical alignment dependencies. This enables capacitive inter-chip contacts to achieve their full communication potential without being constrained by stringent mechanical alignment requirements, as the magnetic field continuously maintains proper positioning.
4Ease of operation
If bridge chip is supported with mechanical clearances, then assembly ease improves, but alignment and PxC performance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The magnetic field acts as an intermediary that decouples assembly ease from alignment precision. Components can be assembled with generous mechanical clearances for ease of manufacturing and assembly, while the magnetic field automatically maintains precise alignment during operation, bridging the gap between assembly convenience and alignment precision.
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 solution provides stable and remateable mechanical coupling, ensuring accurate alignment and high-volume manufacturing compatibility, reducing chip testing and costs, and enabling reworkability of MCMs by leveraging static magnetic forces for component alignment and retention.
Implementation Method 1
positive features mechanically couple the first substrate and the second substrate by mating with associated first negative features, where the mechanical coupling is facilitated by the first magnetic material
Implementation Method 2
the first material may undergo a ferromagnetic to anti-ferromagnetic phase transition above a given temperature, thereby facilitating disassembly of the MCM
Data Source
AI summary
A multi-chip module (MCM) is described. This MCM includes at least two substrates that are remateably mechanically coupled by positive and negative features on facing surfaces of the substrates. These positive and negative features mate with each other. In particular, a positive feature may mate with a given pair of negative features, which includes negative features on each of the substrates. Furthermore, at least one of the negative features in the given pair may include a hard magnetic material, and the positive feature and the other negative feature in the given pair may include a soft magnetic material that provide a flux-return path to the hard magnetic material. In this way, the hard magnetic material may facilitate the remateable mechanical coupling of the substrates.