Semiconductor Package Trench Metal Line for Underfill Isolation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The performance and reliability of semiconductor packages are compromised when underfill comes into contact with connecting terminals, leading to contamination and potential deterioration of the package's electrical connections.
Innovation Solution
A semiconductor package design featuring a package substrate with a metal line within a trench between the capacitor and connecting terminals, where the metal line includes a metal film and a metal oxide film, and is spaced apart from the capacitor, preventing underfill from overlapping and contaminating the connecting terminals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If underfill is applied between the capacitor and package substrate, then void formation is reduced and mechanical support is improved, but the connecting terminals may be contaminated leading to deteriorated performance and reliability
Solution Approach 1:
A metal line structure is introduced as an intermediary barrier between the underfill and the connecting terminals. The metal line is positioned to extend across the path that underfill would naturally take, preventing direct contact between the underfill and the connecting terminals while still allowing the underfill to provide its mechanical support function in the capacitor region.
Solution Approach 2:
The package substrate surface is segmented into different functional zones by the metal line structure. The metal line creates a boundary that separates the underfill application region (near the capacitor) from the connecting terminal region, allowing underfill to be present in one zone without contaminating the other zone.
2Reliability
If the metal line is positioned close to the capacitor to control underfill flow, then underfill containment is improved, but the risk of underfill contact with connecting terminals increases
Solution Approach 1:
The metal line structure extends in a direction transverse to the primary underfill flow path. By orienting the metal line perpendicular to the capacitor edges and extending across the substrate, it creates a two-dimensional barrier that effectively blocks underfill migration toward connecting terminals while maintaining appropriate spacing from the capacitor.
3Reliability
If multiple metal lines are used to better control underfill, then underfill containment is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The metal line structure serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a barrier to prevent underfill from reaching connecting terminals, provides electrical connection pathways, and creates defined spacing zones. This multi-functionality allows effective underfill control without requiring additional separate structures that would increase complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A semiconductor package includes a package substrate having a first side and an opposite second side, a semiconductor chip on the first side of the package substrate, a capacitor on the second side of the package substrate, a plurality of connecting terminals on the second side of the package substrate, and a metal line within a trench in the package substrate. The trench extends in a first direction, and the metal line is between the capacitor and the plurality of connecting terminals. The metal line is spaced apart from the capacitor in a second direction that is transverse to the first direction, and a distance between the metal line and the capacitor is 100 μm or more and 1000 μm or less.