Abstract:
A carrier ring provides a stiffening function for assembling flexible circuits or semi-rigid circuits. The carrier ring is attached to a substrate adapted for attachment of a matrix of semiconductor dies. The carrier ring is provided with mold gates and mold vents for use with a transfer molding step to provide encapsulation for the semiconductor dies. Alignment and indexing marks on the carrier ring allows use of conventional assembly process flows in conventional assembly equipment. The height of the carrier ring also provides a means of providing integrated circuits with a predetermined thickness.

Description:
This is a divisional application of Ser. No. 09/020,903 filed Feb. 5, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,111,324. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to integrated circuit packaging technology. In particular, the present invention relates to an integrated carrier and stiffener for an integrated circuit package, and a method for manufacturing such a package. 
     2. Discussion of the Related Art 
     Flexible circuits, including ball grid array packages, and semi-rigid circuits, such as those using a printed circuit board material as a substrate, are small-footprint and high pin-count packages. Various techniques for making these circuits are disclosed, for example, in (1) U.S. Pat. No. 5,614,443 to Nakashima et al., entitled “METHOD FOR PRODUCING A FRAME MADE OF CONNECTED SEMICONDUCTOR DIE MOUNTING SUBSTRATE,” issued on Mar. 25, 1997, and (2) U.S. Pat. No. 5,652,185 to Lee, entitled “MAXIMIZED SUBSTRATE DESIGN FOR GRID ARRAY BASED ASSEMBLIES,” issued on Jul. 29, 1997. 
     In a tape-automated bonding ball grid array (“TBGA”) package, for example, a semiconductor die is attached and conventionally bonded (e.g., using wire bonding, direct chip attach, or tape-automated bonding) to a polyimide substrate embedded with photolithographically developed conductive traces provided for interconnecting the input and output terminals of the semiconductor die to external terminals provided on the package. Typically, these external terminals are provided by an array of solder balls, or other conductive terminals (e.g., terminals suitable for eutectic reflow). In one implementation of a TBGA, the substrate, wire bonds and the semiconductor die are encapsulated in a resin using a transfer molding process or an encapsulation dispensed in the liquid form. 
     In the prior art, to maximize the benefits of automation in the assembly process, and to minimize retooling requirements, standard assembly process flows provide highly automated assembly for packages of a few standard size packages. The sizes of these standard size packages, however, do not bear a close relationship with the size of the actual semiconductor die, and hence increase the packaging material cost by incurring waste, and provide larger footprints when incorporated in systems. There is a need to minimize material costs, to accommodate a greater range of package sizes and at the same time, without compromising the advantages of standard assembly processes and tooling. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a carrier ring and a method for using such a carrier ring for assembling integrated circuits. The carrier can act as a stiffener for flexible or semi-rigid circuits during the assembly process. The same carrier can be used to manufacture integrated circuits packages of any size, so that retooling or customizing of conventional assembly equipment is not required. The carrier provide alignment and index holes or marks which can be used with conventional assembly equipment. 
     In one embodiment, the carrier includes a stiff carrier frame, provided in a strip form, which includes a row of annular portions each enclosing a cavity sized to accommodate an array of semiconductor dies. Included on the carrier are distinctive marks for use in automatic alignment and indexing operations of conventional assembly equipment in subsequent assembly steps. The stiff carrier frame can be provided by high temperature plastic capable of withstanding the temperature of a transfer molding process, when used in such transfer molding process, or low temperature plastic, when used in a liquid encapsulation process. Alternatively, the stiff carrier frame can also be machined from a metal of the requisite strength. 
     During a first step in the assembly process the stiff carrier frame is attached to a substrate by adhesive, which can be a thermal set adhesive dispensed in liquid, semi-liquid or preformed formats. Alternatively, the stiff carrier frame can be attached using other suitable adhesives, such as pressure sensitive or liquid adhesives. A conductive pattern can be provided on the substrate to which terminals of the semiconductor dies can be wire-bonded or directly attached, and external terminals or pins, such as solder balls or a lead frame coupled to the conductive pattern can be provided for external connections. 
     Suitable substrates to be used under the present invention includes single or multi-layer polyimide tapes, such as those used in tape-automated bonding applications, or-semi-rigid printed circuit boards. 
     In one embodiment of the present invention, the stiff carrier frame is designed for use with a transfer molding process. For that application, a protruding portion is provided on the annular portion of the stiff carrier frame. This protruding portion is adapted to provide a seal of the enclosed cavity against a transfer mold. In addition, the stiff carrier frame also provides a mold gate and a mold vent, wherein a mold gate to act as a conduit for introducing an encapsulation material and a mold vent to allow passage for air from the cavity during the transfer molding step. 
     The present invention also provides a method for assembling integrated circuits using the carrier provided above. In one embodiment, the stiff carrier frame provided above is attached to a substrate, aligned according to the corresponding distinctive marks on both the stiff carrier frame and the substrate. Thereafter, single or multiple semiconductor dies are attached to the substrate. The semiconductor dies can then be wire-bonded or direct chip attached, and then encapsulated. In one embodiment, the thickness of the stiff carrier frame is used to define a thickness of the encapsulation. 
     As mentioned above, when a transfer molding step is used, the protruding portion of the stiff carrier frame can be used to provide a seal for the cavity against a transfer mold. In addition, the mold gates and the mold vents built into the stiff carrier frame can be used to provide a conduit for introducing an encapsulation material and to provide a passage for air exuded from the cavity during the transfer molding step. 
     The semiconductor dies can be singulated from the carrier assembly without removing the stiff carrier frame. In one embodiment, the semiconductor dies are singulated by sawing through the stiff carrier frame using a wafer saw. 
     The present invention is better understood upon consideration of the detailed description below and the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 shows a carrier ring  100  in accordance with the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 shows a cross section of carrier ring  100  along a line A—A indicated in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 shows in further detail a portion of carrier ring  100  indicated in FIG. 1 by a circle B. 
     FIG. 4 shows in further detail the portion of carrier ring  100  including mold gate  107 - 4 . 
     FIG. 5 shows an initial step of this process in which carrier ring  100  is attached by an adhesive to a “matrix substrate”  501 . 
     FIG. 6 shows carrier assembly  600  resulting from the attachment of carrier ring  100  to matrix substrate  501 . 
     FIG. 7 shows a cross section of carrier assembly  600  along line A—A of FIG.  6 . 
     FIG. 8 shows a cross section of an encapsulated site  800 , showing carrier ring portions  201   a  and  201   b , matrix substrate  501 , wire-bonded semiconductor dies  803 - 1  through  803 - 4  and resin encapsulation  802 . 
     FIG. 9 shows a cross section of an encapsulated site  900 , showing carrier ring portions  201   a  and  201   b , matrix substrate  501 , direct chip attached semiconductor dies  903 - 1  through  903 - 4  and resin encapsulation  802 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     In the following description, to simplify description and to facilitate identification of corresponding elements in the figures, like elements in the figures are provided like reference numerals. 
     The present invention provides a carrier, comprising a multiple-cavity strip, that can be used for packaging flexible or semi-rigid circuits. One embodiment of the present invention is provided in a carrier ring  100  shown in FIG.  1 . As shown in FIG. 1, carrier ring  100  is provided in a strip form enclosing four cavities  101 - 1  to  101 - 4 . The strip form of carrier ring  100  is designed to match the familiar strips used in conventional integrated circuit assembly processing. Carrier ring  100  provides alignment holes  103 - 1  to  103 - 4  and index holes  104 - 1  to  104 - 4  along a length of the strip to provide reference points to which sensors of standard commercially available assembly equipment can automatically align and index carrier ring  100  for processing. In manufacturing integrated circuits encapsulated using a transfer molding process, carrier ring  100  is preferably made of a high temperature plastic, such as the material commercially known as PAS or another suitable material, which is capable of withstanding the high transfer molding temperature. For that application, carrier ring  100  provides molding gates in regular intervals, e.g., molding gate  107 - 4  (shown in further detail in FIGS. 3 and 4 and discussed below), along one side of carrier ring  100 , and molding vents  102   a  and  102   b  along an opposite side of carrier ring  100 . Alternatively, carrier ring  100  can be provided by low temperature plastic for packages formed using liquid encapsulation package filling. Yet another material choice for carrier ring  100  is a metallic material. A metallic carrier ring can be formed, for example, by machining or etching. 
     A cross section of carrier ring  100  along line segment A—A of FIG. 1 is provided in FIG.  2 . As shown in FIG. 2, the cross section along the line segment A—A in FIG. 1 shows ring portions  201   a  and  201   b  on opposite sides of cavity  101 - 4 . In this embodiment, portions  201   a  and  201   b  are each 0.6 mm thick and 6.346 wide. On top of carrier ring  100  is a protruding or ridge structure  202 , represented in the cross section of FIG. 2 as ridge portions  202   a  and  202   b . As discussed-below, ridge portions  202   a  and  202   b , each 0.25 mm wide and 0.076 mm high in this embodiment, seal carrier ring  100  against the mold surface during a transfer molding process used for encapsulating the integrated circuits. 
     FIG. 3 shows in further detail the portion of carrier ring  100  indicated by circle B. As shown in FIG. 3, between alignment hole  103 - 4  and index hole  104 - 4  is provided a mold gate  107 - 4 , which is shown in further detail in FIG.  4 . As shown in FIG. 4, mold gate  107 - 4  is formed by a 1.02 mm break in ridge structure  202  in the form of a slanting portion  401  which opens into cavity  101 - 1 . 
     An example of an assembly process in which carrier ring  100  can be used is next described in conjunction with FIGS. 5-8. FIG. 5 shows an initial step of this process in which carrier ring  100  is attached by an adhesive to a “matrix substrate”  501 . Matrix substrate  501  can be, for example, a flexible polyimide tape, or a semi-rigid printed circuit board material, such as any of those materials known commercially as FR 5 , BT resin, or other suitable printed circuit board material. Matrix substrate  501  is attached to carrier ring  100  such that index holes  504 - 1  to  504 - 4 , provided on matrix substrate  501 , correspond to index holes  104 - 1  to  104 - 4  of carrier ring  100 . Alignment of carrier ring  100  and matrix substrate  501  can be provided using alignment holes  103 - 1  through  103 - 4  relative to alignment marks on matrix substrate  501 . So attached, carrier ring  100  acts as a stiffener for the flexible substrate packages and enhances rigidity for semi-rigid printed circuit board packages. In addition, since carrier ring  100  is designed to have dimensions and alignment and indexing features of a conventional strip used in standard assembly process flows and conventional equipment, subsequent assembly steps can be carried out without special or retooling of the conventional equipment. 
     On matrix substrate  501  are allocated, corresponding to each of cavities  101 - 1  to  101 - 4 , a matrix of areas (“site”)  502  (e.g., a 4×5 matrix of areas are provided in cavity  101 - 1 ). Each area in site  502  is designed to accommodate a single semiconductor die. For a BGA package, for example, the size of each area in a site can be made very close to the size of the semiconductor die, providing only sufficient clearance to satisfy tooling requirements (e.g., clearance for die-attach collets and wire-bond clamps), thereby minimizing waste of material. Thus, the number of semiconductor dies which can be accommodated in site  502  is determined by the package size. Matrix substrate  501  is attached to carrier ring  100  by an adhesive layer  506  applied between carrier ring  100  and matrix substrate  501  in areas outside of site  502 . Suitable adhesive materials include a thermal set adhesive, dispensed in any of the liquid, semi-liquid or preformed formats. The adhesive should be dispensed, however, with controlled adhesive bleed to avoid contaminating site  502  and otherwise interfering with the remaining assembly process steps. The thickness of the cured adhesive is preferably controlled, so that the total package height at the end of the assembly process can be controlled. If the package is to be formed using a transfer molding process, the adhesive should be dispensed void free so as to prevent mold flash in the subsequent molding step. 
     FIG. 6 shows carrier assembly  600  resulting from the attachment of carrier ring  100  to matrix substrate  501 . FIG. 7 shows a cross section of carrier assembly  600  along line A—A of FIG.  6 . 
     Semiconductor dies are then attached to site  502  of carrier assembly  600  and wire-bonded or direct chip attached using conventional assembly equipment. At this point, an electrical test can be performed to identify defective circuits. To minimize waste, a site including a defective die can be detached from carrier ring  100  and substituted by a site with fully functional dies, prior to the encapsulation step. The semiconductor dies are then encapsulated in a resin using the cavities  101 - 1  to  101 - 4  as mold cavities in a transfer molding process. As discussed above, during the transfer molding process, ridge structure  202  provide a good seal between the mold and carrier assembly  600 . In the transfer molding process, the fluidized resin enters the sealed cavities  101 - 1  to  101 - 4  through mold gates  107 - 1  to  107 - 4  along a side of carrier assembly  600 , displacing air in cavities  101 - 1  to  101 - 4  through mold vents along an opposite side of carrier assembly  600 . Since the mold gates are provided in carrier assembly  600 , and thus each molding is provided with new mold gates, there is no gate wear on the molds. Alternatively, encapsulation can be achieved using a liquid dispensed material. During the encapsulation process, the height of carrier ring  100  controls the mold or encapsulation height. Thus, the thickness of the resulting integrated circuit package can be provided by varying the thickness of carrier ring  100 . 
     A cross section of an encapsulated site  800  is shown in FIG.  8 . As shown in FIG. 8, wire-bonded semiconductor dies  803 - 1  through  803 - 4  are shown attached to matrix substrate  501 . Portions  201   a  and  201   b  of carrier ring  100 , which are attached by adhesive layer  506  to matrix substrate  501 , as described above, control the height of encapsulation material  802 . As mentioned above, electrical connection to terminals on semiconductor dies can be provided by a direct chip attach configuration. FIG. 9 shows a cross section of an encapsulated site  900 , showing carrier ring portions  201   a  and  201   b , matrix substrate  501 , direct chip attached semiconductor dies  903 - 1  through  903 - 4  and resin encapsulation  802 . 
     Subsequent to the encapsulation step, solder balls are attached to the under side of matrix substrate  501 , to provide external electrical connections to the wire-bonded terminals of the semiconductor dies attached on the other side of matrix substrate  501 . Conventional steps, such as solder ball flux cleaning and marking are then carried out. Finally, the packages are singulated in a precision sawing step using, for example, a conventional wafer saw. In this precision sawing step, carrier ring  100  is saw through and discarded. 
     The above detailed description is provided to illustrate the specific embodiments of the present embodiments and is not intended to be limiting. For example, the dimensions given above for various features of the specific embodiments are merely exemplary. Many variations and modifications within the scope of the present invention are possible. The present invention is set forth in the following claims.