Abstract:
An integrated circuit arrangement or package includes a set of contact pads arranged in a pattern and a multi-layer conductive structure, which electrically connects the set of contact pads to at least one signal line. The conductive structure provides impedance matching between the pads and the at least one signal line.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to integrated circuits, and more particularly to circuit structures, which provide smooth transitions in multi-layer substrates.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     Multi-layer structures often include a plurality of electrical connections. The metal lines or conductive landings between structures may or may not share a common layout scheme. In such structures, transitions and connections between these structures may prove difficult and are often a source of performance issues.  
         [0005]     In multi-layer substrates such as a Ball Grid Array (BGA) package, via structures as well as transitions from a C4 or wirebond pitch (˜225 um) to a BGA or other pin pitch (˜1000 um) become the bottlenecks of electrical performance. These bottlenecks are compounded with ever increasing operating speed. A via size/spacing that is selected for matching a system characteristic impedance at the C4 or wirebond end of a package tends to result in much higher impedance at the BGA end. This impedance variation is detrimental particularly when via length is larger than {fraction (1/10)} of a propagation wavelength, noting that the wavelength decreases with the increase in operating frequency.  
         [0006]     For example, in a 2 mm thick alumina substrate, the critical frequency is about 5 GHz, and this critical frequency decreases with the increase of substrate thickness. Issues arise with 6 Gb/sec server and network switching links are emerging in the near future, and with many communication and testing applications targeting 40 Gb/sec and above.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     An integrated circuit arrangement or package includes a set of contact pads arranged in a pattern and a multi-component conductive structure, which electrically connects the set of contact pads to at least one signal line. The conductive structure provides impedance matching between the pads and the at least one signal line.  
         [0008]     These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0009]     The invention will be described in detail in the following description of preferred embodiments with reference to the following figures wherein:  
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is an illustrative side view of a chip mounted on a printed wiring board in accordance with the present disclosure;  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a standard via structure for connecting contacts to pads in accordance with the prior art;  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a double via structure for connecting contacts to pads in accordance with the present disclosure;  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a direct via structure for connecting contacts to pads in accordance with the present disclosure;  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of an offset via structure for connecting contacts to pads in accordance with the present disclosure;  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an inline pyramid via structure for connecting contacts to pads in accordance with the present disclosure;  
         [0016]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a parallel pyramid via structure for connecting contacts to pads in accordance with the present disclosure;  
         [0017]      FIG. 8  is a chart showing insertion loss versus frequency for the structures of  FIGS. 2-7 ;  
         [0018]      FIG. 9  is a view of a test configuration used to obtain the data of  FIG. 8 ; and  
         [0019]      FIG. 10  is an eye-chart showing error free operation using the structures of the present disclosure. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0020]     Via structures and landings disclosed herein provide smooth transitions within multi-layer substrates. This assists in avoiding reduced performance due to operational frequency limitations. Multi-layer substrates may be employed in a variety of different applications, such as for example, packaging of semiconductor chips and chips set, integrated circuit boards with chips mounted thereon, chips having multiple substrates and related applications.  
         [0021]     In one embodiment, pyramid vias and via landing structures are disclosed to provide smooth via and pitch transitions within multilayer substrates. These provide substantially continuous impedance structures and therefore extend existing packaging solutions to much higher frequency applications. The disclosed structures are fully compatible with existing substrate manufacturing processes with little or no additional costs for implementation.  
         [0022]     Referring now in detail to the figures in which like numerals represent the same or similar elements and initially to  FIG. 1 , an illustrative chip mounting setup is illustratively shown. A chip  2 , for example, a semiconductor chip, is mounted or otherwise connected to a multi-layer substrate  4  through transmission lines  24 , which connect to C4 joints  25 . Multi-layer substrate  4  includes via structures  21  which connect to BGA joints  16 . The present invention will illustrate a plurality of different via structures for multiplayer substrate  4 . Joints  16  provide an electrical path to conductive structures  12  formed on a printed wiring board  6 . The setup shown in  FIG. 1  is illustrative of one setup that can benefit from the embodiments of present disclosure. Other embodiments and setup are also contemplated.  
         [0023]     Referring to  FIG. 2 , standard via and landing structures are for multi-layer substrate  4  shown in accordance with the prior art to provide a comparison to the structures of the present disclosure. Metal lines or waveguides  12  are provided on a printed wiring board (PWB)  6 . BGA joints  16  are formed connecting to lines  12  and are depicted as cylinders in  FIG. 2 . A dielectric or air gap  18  is provided as a standoff for BGA joints  16 . Vias  20  are formed through dielectric layer  22 . Transmission lines  24  (which connect to C4 joints  25 ) are connected to vias  20 . At higher frequency operations of structure  10 , performance degradation is experienced due to impedance mismatches as a result of the size discrepancies between vias  20  and connected conductors (e.g., joints  16 , lines  12  and lines  24 ). While this structure is relatively easy to manufacture, the structures is less compatible with high-speed operations.  
         [0024]     Illustrative embodiments will now be described with reference to  FIGS. 3-7 . While these embodiments are illustrative of the concepts of the present disclosure, they should not be construed as limiting the present disclosure.  
         [0025]     Referring to  FIG. 3 , one embodiment, which may be called a double via structure, is shown. Metal lines or waveguides  106  are provided on a first substrate  102 . Substrate  102  may include, for example, a PWB or other structure. Via landings or joints  108  are connected to lines  106 , which be formed on substrate  102 . A dielectric or air gap  104  is provided as a standoff to permit landings ( 108 ) to be connectable to vias  110  formed through dielectric layer  112 . Vias  110  are doubled-up within multiplayer stack  101  in this embodiment, that is, two for each landing  108 . It is also contemplated that more than two vias  110  be provided for each landing  108 . Vias  110  may each include a 660 μm long, 62 μm diameter via. Other sizes may also be employed.  
         [0026]     At the top of via structures  110 , a finite ground plane coplanar waveguide (CPW)  114 , e.g., a 50-Ohm transmission line, is employed to connect to C4 joints of a chip (not shown) to the vias  110 . Transmission lines  114  may include a signal line surrounded by two ground lines, may include two signal lines or any other combination of ground lines and signal line or lines.  
         [0027]     The double via structure is employed on each interconnect to lower via inductance and to increase via coupling capacitance, which adjusts the characteristic impedance (e.g., towards 50 Ohm) and therefore improves impedance match.  
         [0028]     Referring to  FIG. 4 , a direct via structure is illustratively shown. In this multi-layer structure  201 , vias  120   a  and  120   b  are over or in close proximity of landings  108 . Adjacent landings  108  include a teardrop or other gradual-shaped conductor  122  to permit vias  120   a  to be located closer to via  120   a . In this way, vias  120   a  and  120   b  are located close to one another to affect the capacitive coupling therebetween. Parallel Ground-Signal-Ground (GSG) vias (to lines  114 , which are ground, signal, and ground in this illustrative example) are spaced so that a given impedance is obtained (e.g., 50 Ohm). Teardrop-shaped conductors  122  are used to fan-out the ground via to corresponding pads/landings  108  to minimize coupling capacitance.  
         [0029]     Referring to  FIG. 5 , an offset via multi-layer structure  301  is illustratively shown. This structure is similar to the direct via structure of  FIG. 4 ; however, the vias  130  are offset from a centrally located landing  108  by conductors  132 . The “offset via” is similar to the “direct via” except that the via  130  lands in between two rows of landing pads or joints  108  (a second row of pads  108  not shown). A short taper CPW-like structure  132  is inserted to smooth the transition with continuous impedance.  
         [0030]     Referring to  FIG. 6 , an inline pyramid via structure  401  is illustratively shown. This structure remains in-line over landing pads or joints  108 . In the embodiment shown, double vias  148  and  154  (more vias may be employed) make contact with pads  108 . An intermediate level conductor  146  is patterned to connect vias  148  to vias  144 . Vias  144  are then connected to conductors  142 , and vias  140  connect to line  114 . The conductive path of the outer landing pads  108  is moved more centrally in a step-wise manner using a series of vias ( 140 ,  144 ) and conductive connections ( 142 ,  146 ). It should be noted that a greater number (or lesser number) of conductive steps/layers may be employed to achieve improved results over the prior art. Two or more vias may be employed at each connection point although only one or two are illustrated in  FIGS. 3-7 .  
         [0031]     Over centrally disposed pads  108 , a conductive path including vias  150  and  154  and conductor  152  is formed to connect to a centrally disposed line  114 . In the case of an inline pyramid structure  401 , the impedance control is achieved through vertical via stack structures, which increase the number of vias as the spacing grows down toward pads/joints  108 .  
         [0032]     Referring to  FIG. 7 , a parallel pyramid via structure  501  is illustratively shown. This structure remains in-line over landing pads  108 ; however, via pairs  160 ,  164  and  172  remain in a parallel orientation to lines  114 . In the embodiment shown, double vias  160  and  164  (more vias may be employed) make contact with pads  108 . An intermediate level conductor  162  is formed to connect vias  160  to vias  164 . Vias  164  are then connected to conductors  166 , and vias  168  connect to line  114 . The conductive path of the outer landing pads  108  is placed more centrally in a step-wise manner using a series of vias ( 160 ,  164 ,  168 ) and conductive connections ( 162 ,  166 ). It should be noted that a greater number (or lesser number) of conductive steps/layers may be employed to achieve improved results over the prior art. Two or more vias may be employed at each connection point although only one or two are illustrated in  FIGS. 3-7 .  
         [0033]     Over a centrally disposed pad  108 , a conductive path including vias  170  and  172  and conductor  174  is formed to connect to a centrally disposed line  114 . In the case of parallel pyramid, the impedance control is achieved through vertical via stack structures, which increase the number of vias as the spacing grows down toward pads  108 .  
         [0034]     Referring to  FIG. 8 , the illustrative via structures of this disclosure, including double via, direct via, offset via, inline pyramid, and parallel pyramid were modeled and tested by the inventors. To various extents, high frequency performances were improved over a standard via layout according to both simulation and measurement results.  
         [0035]     As an example to demonstrate the improvement,  FIG. 8  includes the models of these five via structures compared with a standard via layout.  FIG. 8  shows insertion loss (dB) versus Frequency (GHz) curves for a standard via  206 , double via  204 , direct via  202 , offset via  200 , inline pyramid  208 , and parallel pyramid  210 .  
         [0036]     For the multi-layer stack, an 8-layer stack alumina substrate and 660 μm long 62 μm diameter vias were used for the model setup. At the top of these via structures, a 50 Ohm finite ground plane coplanar waveguide (CPW) was adopted to connect C4 joints of a chip to the vias, and a 50 Ohm microstrip line on an organic test card was used to connect the BGA balls to coaxial connectors. (see e.g.,  FIG. 1 )  
         [0037]     A performance comparison based on 3D FEM (HFSS) simulation results ( FIG. 8 ) conveys the insertion loss in dB as a measure of signal power loss over the modeled structures. In this case, −5 dB or 70% power loss is used to estimate the improvement of the disclosed structures over standard via layout ( 206 ). Compared with the 23 GHz of standard via layout, the frequency response is surprisingly increased up to 36 GHz for double via  204 , 40 GHz for direct via  202 , and 45 GHz for the rest of the three structures (offset via  200 , inline pyramid  208 , and parallel pyramid  210 ).  
         [0038]     The improvement is significant and provides for the implementation of high speed interconnects using existing packaging solutions. For those applications with more layer stacks and thicker substrates, the improvement should be even more pronounced over standard via layout when moving towards the lower frequency range.  
         [0039]     Referring to  FIGS. 9 and 10 , in addition to the insertion loss measurements on prototype packages, which support the observations from simulations (e.g.,  FIG. 8 ), an assembled package  300  with a multiplexer circuit chip  302  ( FIG. 9 ) and a test carrier  304  was operated at 40 Gb/sec data rate free of error. An 8-layer stack alumina substrate  306  (below chip  302 ) with 660 μm long 62 μm diameter vias were used for the multi-layer setup. At the top of these via structures, a 50 Ohm finite ground plane coplanar waveguide (CPW) was adopted to connect C4 joints of a chip to the vias (see also  FIG. 1 ), and a 50 Ohm microstrip line on an organic test card  304  was used to connect BGA balls ( FIG. 1 ) to coaxial connectors  308 .  
         [0040]     A 40 Gb/sec eye-diagram ( FIG. 10 ) is shown at the output of the test carrier, and as reported, through low cost commercial packages, error-free high frequency operation can be performed in accordance with the present disclosure.  
         [0041]     The multi-layer transition stack structures of the present disclosure provide alterative impedance magnitudes, which can be matched to the chips and PWB in accordance with the needed characteristics. The stack may be optimized to the requirements of each chip/PWB combination, and the structure and its characteristics, e.g., impedance, geometry (thickness and electrical connection positions), etc. may be determined and selected for each situation.  
         [0042]     Having described preferred embodiments of a via and via landing structures for smoothing transitions in multi-layer substrates (which are intended to be illustrative and not limiting), it is noted that modifications and variations can be made by persons skilled in the art in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that changes may be made in the particular embodiments of the invention disclosed which are within the scope and spirit of the invention as outlined by the appended claims. Having thus described the invention with the details and particularity required by the patent laws, what is claimed and desired protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims.