Patent ID: 8026111

Claim:
A method for improving signal levels between capacitively-coupled chips in proximity communication (PxC), the method comprising: depositing a high permittivity dielectric material layer over a signal pad of a first chip; and placing a second chip in close proximity to the first chip such that a face of a signal pad of the second chip is aligned with a face of the signal pad of the first chip to enable for capacitive signal coupling, with the face of the signal pad of the first chip being an area of deposition of the high permittivity dielectric material layer, wherein the high permittivity dielectric material layer fills at least a portion of a gap between the first chip and the second chip, and wherein the high permittivity dielectric material layer improves capacitive coupling between signal pads of the first chip and the second chip by providing for an increased permittivity in the gap between the first chip and the second chip, with the increased permittivity ensuring that electric fields are substantially confined to a space between the signal pad of the first chip and the signal pad of the second chip wherein at least one of a width and a length of the deposited high permittivity dielectric material layer perpendicular to the gap between the first chip and the second chip is less than or equal to at least one of a width and a length of the signal pad of the first chip.