Patent Publication Number: US-6667439-B2

Title: Integrated circuit package including opening exposing portion of an IC

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is based upon U.S. provisional application serial No. 60/225,972 filed Aug. 17, 2000, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to the field of electronics, and, more particularly, to integrated circuit packages. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Integrated circuit (IC) devices or packages are used in a wide variety of electronic applications including computers, cellular telephones, entertainment systems, etc. A typical IC package includes a chip of semiconductor material, or IC, in which active electronic devices are formed. Surrounding the IC is an encapsulating material, such as typically formed of a thermosetting or thermoplastic resin compound. To protect the IC from damage or contamination, the encapsulating material typically totally surrounds the IC. 
     The IC itself may be carried by a leadframe. The leadframe includes a die pad which carries the IC, finger portions which provide the electrical pins extending outwardly from the encapsulating material, and die pad support bars which extend from the die pad to the finger portions. Contact or bond pads on the surface of the IC are typically electrically connected to respective finger portions by bond wires which are surrounded by encapsulating material. 
     IC packaging has typically been concerned with protection and interconnects. Low cost, high volume manufacturing techniques are well established for conventional IC packaging. However, with the advent of various types of sensor, receiving, and/or transmitting circuits based on IC&#39;s, the need has arisen to expose some or most of the surface of the IC to the ambient environment. An example of such an IC device is an electric field fingerprint sensor, such as of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,963,679 to Setlak and U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,248 to Salatino et al. Such sensors are available commercially from the assignee of these patents and the present invention, AuthenTec, Inc. of Melbourne, Fla. 
     The Salatino et al. patent, for example, discloses several approaches for molding the opening in the encapsulating material to expose the fingerprint sensing matrix. One approach uses a frame which holds a body of removable material in its interior and which is positioned on the IC before molding. After molding the body may be removed thereby producing the opening through the encapsulating material. In another embodiment, an upper mold includes a downward protruding portion which directly contacts the IC to exclude the encapsulating material from the surface of the IC during injection molding to thereby form the opening exposing the IC. 
     Somewhat similar, a number of other patents disclose forming an opening in the encapsulating material from beneath the IC. Accordingly, cooling media may be circulated in the opening, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,474 to Hamzehdoost et al. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,272 to Variot provides a heatsink body in the opening beneath the IC. A pressure sensor is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,424,249 to Ishibashi wherein the encapsulating material is first completely formed then an opening is cut therethrough to an underlying sensing diaphragm. 
     Methods for packaging IC&#39;s with an opening therein have generally been cumbersome and expensive, such as requiring specialized pre-made packaging and flexible or rigid printed circuit boards. These approaches are not well-suited to reliable, high volume, low cost manufacturing. Indeed, despite continuing significant developments, such as those described in the above noted Salatino et al. patent, a number of challenges are still presented for an IC package that exposes a portion of the IC. For example, it may be difficult to keep encapsulating material from bleeding under a mold protrusion that contacts the IC to form the opening. Preventing crush damage to the IC from foreign particles pressed between the mold and the IC also remains a challenge. Variations in the thicknesses of the IC&#39;s, adhesive layers, leadframes, etc. as well as accommodating IC skew also remains an area of concern. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the foregoing background, it is therefore an object of the invention to provide an integrated circuit package comprising an IC and encapsulating material surrounding the IC, but leaving an exposed portion, and wherein the IC package is readily manufactured. 
     This and other objects, features, and advantages in accordance with the present invention are provided by an integrated circuit package comprising an IC and encapsulating material surrounding the IC, with the encapsulating material having an opening therein to define an exposed portion of the IC. In one class of embodiments, in view of the manufacturing approach, vestigial portions of encapsulating material are left on the exposed portion of the IC and spaced inwardly from a periphery of the opening in the encapsulating material. This is a result of a manufacturing process using a mold protrusion to form the opening. The mold protrusion may include a bleed-through retention channel positioned inwardly from the peripheral edges of an IC-contact surface. The bleed-through retention channel collects and retains any bleed-through of the encapsulating material and prevents its spread further inwardly onto the exposed surface of the IC. 
     The opening in the encapsulating material may be generally rectangular. Accordingly, the vestigial portions of encapsulating material may be arranged along at least one side of an imaginary rectangle spaced inwardly from the generally rectangular opening in the encapsulating material. 
     In some embodiments, the IC package may further include a leadframe carrying the IC. More particularly, the leadframe may comprise a die pad, finger portions, and a plurality of die pad support bars extending between the die pad and the finger portions at the corners. The die pad may be downset below a level of the finger portions. In addition, each of the die pad support bars may be resilient deformed to accommodate the downset of the die pad. 
     The package may further include bond wires extending between the IC and the finger portions. These bond wires may have a desired clearance from adjacent portions of the IC and an upper surface of the encapsulating material when the die pad is downset. In other words, shaping of the bond wires is performed to account for the downset imparted during manufacturing. 
     To reduce stress during cooling, the die pad may have an opening therein. Further, a low stress, low modulus adhesive may be used to secure the IC to the die pad. The encapsulating material may also be a low stress encapsulating material. 
     In other embodiments, the IC package may include a substrate on a back surface of the IC opposite the exposed portion. This substrate may cover the back surface so that the encapsulating material does not extend onto the back surface. In slightly different terms, the substrate, such as a printed circuit board, provides protection for the back surface of the IC and becomes part of the package. 
     The IC may include upper surface portions with active devices formed therein. The exposed portion of the IC may comprise these upper surface portions. In some advantageous embodiments, the active devices may define a sensor, such as an electric field fingerprint sensor, for example. Other devices may be similarly packaged. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary fingerprint sensor IC package in accordance with the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the IC package as shown in FIG. 1 during manufacture. 
     FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of the leadframe as shown in FIG.  2 . 
     FIGS. 4 and 5 are schematic partial side cross-sectional views during manufacture of the IC package as shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 6 is a greatly enlarged schematic partial side cross-sectional view of the IC package during manufacture thereof after encapsulating material has been injected into the mold. 
     FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the method for manufacturing the IC package as shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIGS. 8 and 9 are schematic cross-sectional views of another embodiment of an IC package during manufacturing thereof. 
     FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the IC package as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 upon completion. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. 
     For clarity of explanation, the present invention is explained with reference to manufacturing methods for making an IC package  30  in the illustrated form of an electric field fingerprint sensor IC package as shown in FIG.  1 . The electric field fingerprint sensor IC package  30  may of the type using an electric field to sense the ridges and valleys of a fingerprint as offered by AuthenTec, Inc. of Melbourne, Fla. under the designation FingerLoc™ AF-S2™. 
     The IC package  30  illustratively corresponds to a JEDEC-standard 68-pin plastic leaded chip carrier (PLCC) format, although other sizes, standards, and configurations are possible. The IC package  30  may be about 24 mm square, and have a height or thickness of about 3.5 mm, for example. Another exemplary package may be a  144  lead LQFP about 1.6 mm thick. 
     Further details on the operation of the electric field fingerprint sensor may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,963,679 and 5,862,248 mentioned above, and, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Of course, other sensors and other devices are also contemplated by the present invention. 
     The IC package  30  illustratively includes an IC chip or die  32  illustratively including an IC sensor matrix  31  which is exposed through an opening  36  in the upper portion of the encapsulating material  33 . Vestigial portions of encapsulating material may remain on the exposed portion of the IC  32 , outside the area of the sensor matrix  31 . These vestigial portions  39  are schematically indicated in FIG. 1 by the dashed line rectangle and these vestigial portions are described in greater detail below. 
     The IC package  30  also includes a leadframe on which the IC  32  is mounted as will be described in greater detail below. The leadframe includes a plurality of finger portions which become the visible leads or pins  37  which also extend outwardly from the sides of the encapsulating material  33  as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art. An annular drive ring  34  is provided on the upper surface of the encapsulating material  33  adjacent the opening  36  exposing the sensing matrix  31 . This drive ring  34  is specific to the illustrated electric field fingerprint sensor and is not needed in all such embodiments, or in other IC packages. 
     For ease of explanation, the term “IC” by itself is used primarily herein for simplicity to denote the actual integrated circuit die as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art. Also for ease of explanation, the term “IC package” is used to indicate the IC  32 , surrounding encapsulating material  33 , leadframe  35 , etc. as an entity. 
     Referring now additionally to the flowchart  50  of FIG. 7, and the schematic diagrams of FIGS. 2 through 5, further details of the manufacturing method and IC package  30  produced thereby are now described. From the start (Block  52 ), an IC  32  is attached to a die pad  41  of the leadframe  35  at Block  54 . More particularly, as perhaps best understood with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the leadframe  35  includes a die pad  41  and finger portions  43  which are connected together at each corner by a respective resilient die pad support bar  44 . As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the finger portions  43  are later processed to form the visible leads  37  extending outwardly from the encapsulating material  33  as shown in FIG.  1 . 
     The die pad  41  of the leadframe  35  also illustratively has a central opening  42  therein. This opening  24  reduces stress during cooling of the encapsulating material  33  as will be described in greater detail below. A low stress, low modulus adhesive  49  may also be used to adhesively secure the IC  32  to the die pad  41  as will also be described in greater detail below. 
     At Block  56  the bond wires  45 , which extend between respective finger portions  43  and bond pads  46  of the IC  32 , are shaped to account for later downsetting. As shown best in FIGS. 2 and 4, the bond wires  45  are initially shaped so as to be angled downwardly at their upper ends. These upper ends will extend generally horizontally upon downsetting as shown best in FIGS. 5 and 6. 
     At Block  58  a mold is provided having first and second, or upper and lower mold portions  47 ,  48  as shown in FIG.  4 . The first or upper mold portion  47  preferably carries a mold protrusion  70  defining an IC-contact surface  71  with peripheral edges and a bleed-through retention channel  72  positioned inwardly from the peripheral edges. 
     At Block  60  the upper and lower mold portions  47 ,  48  are closed around the IC  32 . As shown in the illustrated embodiment, the IC-contact surface  71  contacts and presses directly upon the upper surface of the IC  32  and causes the IC to be downset a distance DS as shown in FIG.  5 . In other words, the resilient die pad support bars  44  permit the IC  32  to be contacted and moved downwardly to the position as shown in FIG. 5 so that the die pad  41  is displaced below the finger portions  43 . Accordingly, a close fit is provided between the IC  32  and contact surface  71  to prevent encapsulating material from bleeding extensively beneath the mold protrusion  70  and onto the surface of the IC  32 , and without crushing the IC. 
     The downsetting also accommodates skew of the IC surface and variations in thickness of the IC  32 , adhesive layer  49 , and/or portions of the leadframe  35  as will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art. Considered in somewhat different terms, the manufacturing method includes controlling pressure applied by the IC-contact surface  71  to the IC  32  when the first and second mold portions  47 ,  48  are closed around the IC. This may be done as shown in the illustrated embodiment by mounting the IC  32  on the leadframe  35  having resilient portions to resiliently accommodate downsetting of the IC as the IC-contact surface  71  contacts the IC. The resilient die pad support bars  44  as shown in the illustrated embodiment, for example, maintain a desired pressure placed on the IC  32  by the contact surface  71  of the mold protrusion  70  when the mold is closed. The die pad support bars  44  are placed in tension by the downsetting to provide a spring-like force or pressure to IC  32  against the contact surface  71  of the mold protrusion  70 . This pressure is controlled to avoid risk of damage while reducing likelihood of bleed-through of the encapsulating material  33  beneath the contact surface  71  as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. Considered yet in other terms, the die pad  41  is essentially allowed to float during the molding process. The die pad support bars  44  can readily accommodate tolerance variations of several thousandths of an inch and produce high quality IC packages. 
     The downsetting also aligns the bond wires  45  in a proper position to provide clearance from adjacent portions of the IC  32  as well as to provide clearance from the adjacent upper surface portions of the encapsulating material  33 . Accordingly shorts from contact with the IC  32 , or bond wires  45  being exposed through the encapsulating material  33  are avoided. As shown in the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 5, the bond wires  45  in the completed position after downsetting may have upper portions which extend generally horizontally away from the IC  32  before turning downward toward the finger portions  43  of the leadframe  35 . 
     At Block  62  the encapsulating material  33  is injected into the mold from the schematically illustrated injector  75  under controlled pressure. Those of skill in the art will appreciate detailed construction and operation of the encapsulating material injector  33  without further discussion herein. 
     As can be seen perhaps best in FIG. 6, a small bead or line of encapsulating material  33  may bleed under the peripheral edges of the mold protrusion  70  and remain as a vestigial portion  39  of the encapsulating material on the exposed surface of the IC  32 . As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art the relative size of the vestigial portions  39  is greatly exaggerated for clarity of illustration. In short, the bleed-through retention channel  72  retains any encapsulating material bleeding beneath the peripheral edges of the IC contact surface  71 . 
     It has been found that a flat contact surface of a mold protrusion alone is not likely to reliably prevent the encapsulating material  33  from wicking along the interface between the contact surface  71  and the IC  32 . It is also likely that typical mold clamping pressures cannot be exerted on the IC  32  without considerable risk of damage. Because the clamping pressure is typically lowered, the potential for bleed-through or wicking of the encapsulating material becomes more important. Accordingly, the bleed-through retention channel  72  may be considered as providing a moat to act as a natural break for the bleeding of the encapsulating material  33  during molding. 
     The mold protrusion  70  may comprise a resilient material, and have a generally rectangular shape having a side dimension of about 5 to 20 mm for an IC package  30  having a side dimension of about 25 mm, for example. The bleed-through retention channel  72  may be spaced inwardly from the peripheral edges a distance of about 0.2 to 0.4 mm, for example. The retention channel  72  may also have a width of about 1 mm, and a height of about 0.15 to 0.25 mm. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that other sizes are also contemplated by the present invention depending on the application and the size of the IC package. 
     The IC package  30 , that is, the IC  32 , leadframe  35 , and encapsulating material  33  may be released from the mold at Block  64  before stopping at Block  66 . Those of skill in the art will appreciate that other finishing steps, including trimming excess encapsulating material, and separating the finger portions, for example, are also typically performed to produce the finished IC package  30 . 
     Another aspect of the manufacturing relates to stress relief. Stress relief may be important since the encapsulating material  33  and the IC  32  typically have different coefficients of thermal expansion (CTEs). It is noted that the leadframe  35  may also have a different CTE. Accordingly, the manufacturing method preferably includes relieving stress during cooling of the encapsulating material  33  despite the different CTEs. The IC package  30  will have an unbalance of thermal-mechanical stress because of the opening  36 . This is in contrast to the balanced stress which results in a balanced compressive force experienced by an IC in a typical fully encapsulated IC. 
     For example, relieving the stress may comprise using a low stress encapsulating material  33 . For example, the encapsulating material  33  may be a mold compound sold under the designation Plaskon SMT-B1-LV by Cookson Semiconductor Packaging Materials of Alpharetta, Ga. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that other similar mold compounds may be used as well. Alternately or additionally, stress relief may be provided by using a leadframe  35 , such as illustrated and described herein, which includes the die pad  41  with the opening  42  therein. The IC  32  may also be mounted on the die pad  41  using a low stress, low modulus adhesive  49 . For example, the die attach adhesive  49  may be an adhesive sold under the designation Ablebond 8340, and manufactured by Ablestick Electronics Materials and Adhesives (National Starch and Chemical Co.) of Rancho Dominguez, Calif. The low stress, low modulus adhesive  49  and/or open die pad  41  tends to decouple the IC  32  from the leadframe  35  which may typically comprise copper. 
     As described herein, the IC  32  may have an upper surface with active devices formed therein, such as the illustrated fingerprint sensor with the pixel element matrix  31 . Of course, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the techniques described herein could also be used to expose the back or underside of an IC. 
     The first and second mold portions  47 ,  48  may each comprise a rigid material, such as hardened steel, to provide accurate dimensions and to resist abrasion from the encapsulating material  33 . Although the molding process is relatively clean, small particles may be left on the top of the IC  32  or on the contact surface  71  of the mold protrusion  70  as will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art. In contrast to the mold portions  47 ,  48 , the mold protrusion  70  may comprise a compliant or resilient material so that any contaminants are not forced into the IC  32  causing damage. The material properties of the mold protrusion  70  are desirably such that any small particles will be pressed into the contact surface  71  instead of into the IC  32 . However, it is still desired that the mold protrusion  70  retain its shape through the molding process. The mold tooling is also preferably such as to permit removal of the mold protrusion  70  for cleaning and/or replacement if worn or damaged as will also be appreciated by those skilled in the art. 
     One attribute of the molding process is that the mold will acquire a build-up of encapsulating material and wax material that may produce aesthetic problems in the finished IC package. Accordingly, mold cleaning is typically performed at periodic intervals. A conventional mold cleaning process entails molding a plastic gettering material, such as melamine, that will adhere to any organic material. After a few molding cycles using the gettering material, normal production is continued. The melamine has a high adhesion to organic particles, but low adhesion to hardened steel mold surfaces. 
     The mold protrusion  70  can be made of any of a number of appropriate materials. If the mold protrusion  70  is formed of an organic polymer, precautions may be needed to clean the mold, as the conventional melamine cleaning process could potentially damage the compliant mold protrusion by sticking to it and pulling it apart. Several approaches may be used to alleviate this potential difficulty. The organic polymer mold protrusion  70  can be temporarily replaced with a corresponding metal insert during melamine cleaning, for example. A metal or non-stick cap or non-stick coating could be provided over the organic polymer mold protrusion  70 . 
     Returning again to FIGS. 1 through 6, it can be appreciated that the IC package  30  produced using the advantageous processes described herein will have certain distinguishing features and characteristics. For example, in one class of embodiments, in view of the manufacturing approach, vestigial portions  39  of encapsulating material  33  are left on the exposed portion  31  of the IC  32  and spaced inwardly from a periphery of the opening  36  in the encapsulating material. Of course, these vestigial portions  39  could be removed in some embodiments if desired, but simpler and less expensive manufacturing is obtained if the vestigial portions do not effect IC operation and are, therefore, allowed to remain on the IC  32 . 
     As described herein, the opening  36  in the encapsulating material  33  may be generally rectangular. For these embodiments the vestigial portions  39  of encapsulating material are arranged along an imaginary rectangle spaced inwardly from the generally rectangular opening in the encapsulating material. It should be noted that the vestigial portions  39  need not necessarily be connected to form a complete rectangle, rather, the vestigial portions may be spaced, but lie along an imaginary rectangle as defined by the bleed-through retention channel  72  of the mold protrusion  70 . For example, the vestigial portions may be spaced inwardly a distance of from 0.1 to 3 mm for an IC package having side dimensions of about 25 mm. Of course, the same principles can be readily applied to other polygonal, round, or other closed geometric shapes as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. 
     Another characteristic of the IC package  30  resulting from manufacture as described herein is the downset relationship of the die pad  41  relative to the finger portions  43 . The die pad support bars  44  may also be resiliently deformed to accommodate the downset of the die pad  41 . In addition, the bond wires  45  will also likely have a desired clearance from adjacent portions of the IC  32  and an upper surface of the encapsulating material  33  when the die pad  41  is downset. 
     As also described herein, to reduce stress during cooling, the die pad  41  (FIG. 3) may have an opening  42  therein. Further, a low stress, low modulus adhesive  49  may be used to secure the IC to the die pad  41 . The encapsulating material  33  may also be a low stress encapsulating material. 
     The IC  32  may include upper surface portions with active devices formed therein, such as fingerprint sensing circuitry. The exposed portion of the IC may comprise these upper surface portions. In some advantageous embodiments, the active devices may define a sensor, such as an electric field fingerprint sensor, for example. Other devices may be similarly packaged as will be also readily understood by those skilled in the art. 
     Turning now additionally to FIGS. 8-10, another embodiment of an IC package  80  and its method of manufacture are now described. As shown in FIG. 8, the IC  81  is adhesively secured to a substrate  84 , which may be a printed circuit board, for example. For clarity of explanation, the layer of adhesive is not shown, but may be of the type described above, for example. The substrate  84  may be rigid in some embodiments, but can also be flexible in other embodiments. The substrate  84  may be a ball grid array substrate, or be of the type that with further processing will become a ball grid array substrate. Other substrate types are also contemplated by the invention. In other words, in this IC package  80  the leadframe  35  for mounting the IC and described extensively above is replaced with the substrate  84 . 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the bond pads  82  are also along only one side of the IC  81 , and, accordingly, the bond wires  83  are also along only one side of the IC  81 . Those of skill in the art will recognize that in other embodiments, the bond pads  82  could be along two, three or all four sides in other embodiments. 
     The IC  81  and substrate  84  are placed between a lower mold portion  85  and an upper mold portion  86  as shown in FIG. 9, and encapsulating material  91  is injected under controlled pressure. A mold protrusion  87  is provided adjacent the upper mold portion  86 . The mold protrusion  87  is desirably relatively compliant so as not to crush foreign particles into the IC  81 . Further, in this embodiment, since downsetting of a leadframe  35  is not used to accommodate variations in thicknesses, the compliancy of the mold protrusion  87  accommodates any variations, such as in the thickness of the substrate  84 , adhesive layer and/or IC  81 . In one example, the mold protrusion  87  may comprise a solid body of Teflon, for example. As will be seen below, because there is no encapsulating material  91  injected under pressure beneath the IC  81 , a more compliant mold protrusion  87  may be used than compared, for example, to the embodiments described above using the leadframe  35 . 
     The upper mold portion  86  may be provided as two portions which mate at the illustrated dashed line  88 . In other words the upper mold portion  86  may include a changeable cavity plate at the level of the dashed line  88  so that this plate may be changed to accommodate different sized packages as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. 
     In this illustrated embodiment, it is further noted that the bleed-through retention channel  90  in the mold protrusion  87  is only along the right hand side of the IC  81 . This is so because the encapsulating material  91  will extend onto the upper surface of the IC  81  to cover the bond pads  82  and bond wires  83  on the right hand side. On the lefthand side it can be seen that the encapsulating material  91  does not extend onto the upper surface, and bleed through of the encapsulating material can be controlled since the mold protrusion  87  extends completely over the upper surface and slightly beyond. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that in other embodiments, the mold protrusion  87  could also be made or configured to have the bleed-through retention channel  90  extend on two, three or all four sides. 
     The finished IC package  80  is shown in FIG. 10 wherein an upper surface  92  of the IC  81  is exposed through the opening  93  in the encapsulating material  91 . In this illustrated embodiment, the substrate  84  extends outwardly beyond the side edges of the IC  81 . In other embodiments, the side edges of the substrate  84  may be terminated flush with the side edges of the IC  81  as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. The vestigial portions  95  of encapsulating material  91  are also schematically illustrated by the dashed line on the right hand side of the upper surface  92  of the IC  81 . 
     It is further noted that although the encapsulating material  91  surrounds the IC  81 , there is no encapsulating material  91  on the back surface of the IC in the illustrated IC package  80 . In this embodiment, the substrate  84  provides the protection for the back surface. 
     Other aspects of the invention are disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 09/931,587, entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING INTEGRATED CIRCUIT PACKAGE INCLUDING OPENING EXPOSING PORTION OF THE IC” file concurrently herewith. The entire contents of this application are incorporated herein by reference. In addition, many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to the mind of one skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Accordingly, it is understood that the invention is not to be limited to the illustrated embodiments disclosed, and that other modifications and embodiments are intended to be included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.