Richard W. Arnold

Chip scale package versus direct chip attach (CSP vs. DCA)

When a systems designer is making choices related to what type of packaging is going to be used with the various integrated circuits used on the boards he now has the choice between Chip Scale packaging (CSP) or Direct Chip Attach (DCA). The technologies related to Chip Scale packaging have taken off at an astronomical rate during the last two years. More and more die product is becoming available in the chip size-packaging format. The CSP products have numerous success stories to champion their usage by the systems designer. On the other side of the packaging spectrum, the bare die has been available for systems designers for quite some time in the flip chip and wire bondable formats. The usage of bare die has had a slow and steady increase in popularity as new technologies emerge related to the testing of ICs, materials, and interconnection of the IC to the board or MCM. The systems designer finds himself looking at the relative virtues and vices of CSP vs DCA. This paper is not about picking which packaging technology is the best, or which one will grow in volume the most over the next 10 years, but rather what sorts of developments we are presently seeing in the packaging industry that will keep the choice of CSP vs DCA at the center of the debate.