With the rapid development of the high-tech industry, the packaging of integrated circuits is facing unprecedented challenges. Packaging is not only the final stage of semiconductor device manufacturing, but also a critical step in protecting chips from physical damage and corrosion. The choice of packaging will directly affect the stability of the circuit board connection and the efficiency of signal transmission. Today, as technology continues to advance, why has ceramic packaging become the first choice for more and more high-end applications?
The packaging of integrated circuits must take into account the electrical conduction characteristics. These current carrier variables from the chip to the printed circuit board (PCB) have electrical characteristics that are completely different from the internal signals of the chip.
When designing circuits, the choice of packaging material becomes critical. Ceramic packaging can effectively reduce signal transmission losses due to its low resistance, low capacitance and low inductive reactance. As technology continues to advance, signal speeds are increasing, and packaging delays have become an important cause of performance bottlenecks in high-performance computers.
In addition to electrical properties, integrated circuit packaging also needs to have excellent mechanical strength and thermal management capabilities.
Compared with plastic packaging, ceramic packaging has better resistance to physical damage, moisture storage and heat dissipation capabilities. For radio frequency applications, ceramic packaging can effectively shield electromagnetic interference and ensure that circuit performance is not compromised. In addition, the toughness and heat resistance of ceramic materials make them the first choice for high-end equipment, although their costs are relatively higher.
When choosing packaging materials, cost is also an important factor that must be considered.
Plastic packaging is generally cheaper and its heat dissipation capabilities are sufficient in many simple applications. However, as chips within wafers continue to shrink and become faster, the need for thermal management increases, leading to increased demand for ceramic packaging because of its superior heat dissipation capabilities to effectively handle higher power challenges. In the market, there is a need to strike a balance between performance and cost when choosing packaging.
Most of the earliest integrated circuits appeared in the form of ceramic flat packaging. This type of packaging is widely used in military technology because of its reliability. As device needs change, the commercial market is rapidly turning to dual in-line packaging (DIP). With the advancement of packaging technology, various new packaging, such as pin grid array (PGA) and ball grid array (BGA), have gradually replaced early packaging technologies. In the 1990s, the emergence of flipped chip ball net array (FCBGA) further increased the number of pins in the package, opening up new possibilities for high-end applications.
Today, integrated circuit packaging technology is no longer a single choice. Through forms such as multi-chip modules (MCM), manufacturers are able to combine multiple wafers on a small substrate, greatly improving the efficiency and functionality of packaging.
Various packaging technologies not only support diverse application scenarios, but also demonstrate the performance advantages of ceramic packaging. For high-performance applications, ceramic packaging will be a better choice in the future, which also makes it one of the important considerations in integrated circuit design.
With the advancement of science and technology, the demand for integrated circuit packaging will be presented in more diversified ways. How to choose the appropriate packaging form will directly affect the performance and reliability of the equipment. Ceramic packaging not only has excellent thermal management performance, but also effectively improves signal transmission efficiency, which will become an important factor in future high-end applications.
In the face of changing market demands and technical challenges, we need to think about what key role ceramic packaging will play in future integrated circuit technology?