Image capturing device

An image capturing device includes an image sensor package and a lens module aligned with the image sensor package. The image sensor package includes a substrate, at least one passive component, an insulative layer, and an image sensor. The substrate has a surface facing an object side of the image capturing device, the surface defines a cavity therein. The at least one passive component is disposed within the cavity and electrically connected to the substrate. The insulative layer is received in the cavity and encases the at least one passive component. The image sensor is disposed on the insulative layer and electrically connected to the substrate. The holder has an end connecting with the barrel and an opposite end secured on the substrate.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to a co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/850,619, entitled “SEMICONDUCTOR PACKAGE”, by Ying-Cheng Wu et al. Such application has the same assignee as the present application and has been concurrently filed herewith. The disclosure of the above-identified application is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to transducers and, particularly, relates to a miniaturized image capturing device with a miniaturized image sensor package.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

Referring toFIG. 2, an image sensor package1of an image capturing device typically includes a chip2, a number of passive components3, and a substrate4. The chip2and the passive components3are disposed on the substrate4, and are electrically coupled to the substrate4. Normally, the chip2is placed on a central portion of a surface5of the substrate4, and the passive components3are placed on the surface5around the chip2. Obviously, the image sensor package1thus packaged tends to be bulky, since the substrate4should be formed with the surface5large enough to receive both the chip2and the passive components3. The image capturing device having the image sensor package1tends to be bulky too, and does not accord with miniaturization of the image capturing device.

What is needed, therefore, is a miniaturized image capturing device with a miniaturized image sensor package.

SUMMARY

In accordance with one present embodiment, an image capturing device includes an image sensor package and a lens module aligned with the image sensor package. The image sensor package includes a substrate, at least one passive component, an insulative layer, and an image sensor. The substrate has a surface facing an object side of the image capturing device. A cavity is defined in the surface. The at least one passive component is disposed within the cavity and electrically connected to the substrate. The insulative layer is received in the cavity and encases the at least one passive component. The image sensor is disposed on the insulative layer and electrically connected to the substrate. The lens module includes a barrel and a holder. The barrel receives at least one lens therein. The holder has an end connecting with the barrel and an opposite end secured on the substrate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present image capturing device will be described below in detail with reference to the drawing.

Referring toFIG. 1, an image capturing device100, according to an embodiment, includes an image sensor package10and a lens module20. The image sensor package10is aligned with the lens module20.

The image sensor package10includes a substrate11, at least one passive component12, an insulative layer13, an image sensor14, and a cover15. The substrate11defines a cavity111therein. The at least one passive component12is placed within the cavity111, and is electrically connected to the substrate11. The insulative layer13is received in the cavity111and encases the at least one passive component12. The image sensor14is disposed on the insulative layer13, and is electrically connected to the substrate11. The cover15is disposed above the substrate11for sealing the image sensor14between the cover15and the substrate11.

The substrate11could be, typically, a circuit-bearing substrate including a packaging surface112(i.e., upper surface) facing the lens module20; the cavity111is sunken from the packaging surface112. Additionally, the substrate11further includes a number of first welding pads113formed on the packaging surface112. The first welding pads113are configured for electrically coupling the image sensor14and the substrate11. Specifically, the substrate11further includes a number of second welding pads115formed on a bottom surface114(i.e., surface opposite the packaging surface112) of the substrate11. The second welding pads115are configured for coupling the image sensor package10to an outside circuit (not shown). The second welding pads115can be patterned in form of: e.g., BGA (ball gird array), LCC (leadless chip carrier) or leadframe.

The substrate11can be made from material such as plastic, ceramic, or glass. In this illustrated embodiment, the substrate11is, advantageously, made from plastic comprised of epoxy resin doped with organic silicon. Also, other alternative types of plastic, like, plastic comprised of epoxy resin doped with glass fiber or plastic comprised of epoxy doped with aramid fibers may be considered.

The cavity111is, beneficially, defined on a central portion of the packaging surface112. Preferably, a width and a length of the cavity111are respectively larger than that of the image sensor14; the depth of the cavity111is greater than a height of the passive component12. Thus, the image sensor14can be partially/totally received in the cavity111to reduce a height of the image sensor package10. In this illustrated embodiment, the image sensor14is partially received in the cavity111.

The at least one passive component12may be at least one surface mount device (SMD), and can be mounted in the cavity111using surface mount technology (SMT). The at least one passive component12can be a resistor or a capacitor. In this embodiment, the at least one passive component12includes a number of capacitors (e.g., decoupling capacitor) for reducing electrical noise generated between a power source and ground.

The insulative layer13could be made from curable adhesive such as UV curable adhesive. The image sensor14is directly attached to the insulative layer13. Specifically, the insulative layer13is, advantageously, formed by the steps of: (1) filling the cavity with the curable adhesive in a liquid state until the curable adhesive covers the at least one passive component12; (2) curing the curable adhesive to a solid-liquid state; (3) placing the image sensor14on the curable adhesive; (4) final curing of the curable adhesive. Thus, the insulative layer13is formed with an embedding function for the at least one passive component and a supporting function for the image sensor14.

The image sensor14is coupled to the first welding pads113using a number of wires16. The wires16are, advantageously, made of an excellent conductor, such as, for example, gold, silver, or copper. In the present embodiment, the first welding pads113and the wires16are embedded in a curable adhesive17.

In the present embodiment, the cover15is disposed on the top of the curable adhesive17. The cover15is a transparent cover, which can allow light to strike the image sensor14. The material of the cover15can be selected from glass or plastic. The cover15is disposed on an adhesive which is attached around the image sensor14, wherein the cover15cooperates with the adhesive to seal a sensitive area of the image sensor14.

The image sensor package10packaging the at least one passive component12within the cavity111under the image sensor14can save space, thus size of the image sensor package10is reduced. It is understood that the image sensor can also be other type of semiconductor chips.

The lens module20includes a barrel21with at least one lens211received therein and a holder22. The material of the barrel21can, usefully, be selected from the group consisting of polycarbonate, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, and any combinations thereof. The barrel21can, beneficially, also have a focus-adjusting ring212arranged at an end of the barrel away from the image sensor package10, in order to allow the focus of the image capturing device100to be conveniently adjusted. Advantageously, the focus-adjusting ring212is integrally formed with the barrel21. Moreover, in order to improve light transmittance in the lens211, the lens211can further have anti-reflection coatings on its two surfaces facing along the direction of the optical axis of the lens211.

The holder22defines a first receiving portion221and a second receiving portion222communicating with the first receiving portion221. The first receiving portion221is substantially cylindrical and is both shaped and sized (i.e., is, thus, properly structured/configured) for fittingly receiving the barrel21. The second receiving portion222has an approximately rectangular parallelepiped shape. In the present embodiment, an end of the holder22away from the barrel21is secured on the substrate11of the image sensor package10, so that, partial portions of the image sensor14, the curable adhesive17, and the cover15are received in the second receiving portion222. In the present embodiment, the cover15can be secured to the holder22by an adhesive30. Securing an end of the holder22on the substrate11can make the image capturing device100more compact.

It will be understood that the above particular embodiments and methods are shown and described by way of illustration only. The principles and the features of the present invention may be employed in various and numerous embodiment thereof without departing from the scope of the invention as claimed. The above-described embodiments illustrate the scope of the invention but do not restrict the scope of the invention.