Patent Document

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to Taiwan Patent Application No. 101109411 filed on Mar. 20, 2012, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention provides a structure of stacking chips and a method for manufacturing the same, with the structure of stacking chips comprising signal processing chips and optical chips. 
     2. Descriptions of the Related Art 
     With the evolution of people&#39;s living habits and the advancement of manufacturing technologies, imaging sensors have been generally used in the daily life. The imaging sensors that have already been known are, for example, complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) imaging sensors and charge coupled device (CCD) imaging sensors. The CMOS imaging sensors have advantages, such as a lower price and power consumption, and are usually suitable for use in low-level products. The CCD imaging sensors can capture images of a better quality, which is the reason why they have been the primary products in the market of high-level imaging sensors. 
     However, combining digital signal processor (DSP) chips with the CMOS imaging sensors can compensate for the shortcomings of the CMOS imaging sensors. In detail, the DSP chips can simulate human eyes to process what photosensitive components cannot identified, and further contribute to the imaging performance of the CMOS imaging sensors by using an algorithm. Therefore, the modules combining the CMOS imaging sensors and the DSP chips have been gradually used in high-resolution portable products such as digital video cameras and digital cameras. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1A to 1C , a conventional package structure  1  for CMOS imaging sensor (CIS) chips  11  and DSP chips  12 , and its manufacturing process of the package structure  1  are shown therein. As shown in  FIG. 1A , multiple imaging sensor chips  11  are formed on a wafer  13  and then sliced into individual imaging sensor chips  11 , and each imaging sensor chip  11  has multiple first contacts  111  distributed at two sides of the imaging sensor chip  11 . Likewise, as shown in  FIG. 1B , multiple DSP chips  12  are also formed on a wafer  14  and then sliced into individual DSP chips  12 , and each DSP chips  12  has multiple second contacts  121  distributed at the two sides of the DSP chip  12 . 
     With reference to  FIG. 1C , in the prior art, the individual sliced imaging sensor chips  11  and the individual DSP chips  12  transversely aligned and arranged on a substrate, and then the first contacts  111  and the second contacts  121  are sequentially electrical connected through wire bonding. 
     Conceivably in the prior art, first the wafer  13  and the wafer  14  are sliced respectively to form the individual imaging sensor chips  11  and the individual DSP chips  12  which are corresponding sizes. Then the imaging sensor chips  11  and the DSP chips  12  are attached respectively and the imaging sensor chips  11  and the DSP chips  12  are connected through wire bonding. The prior art requires a complex manufacturing process and a long production cycle, which increases manufacturing costs. In addition, the imaging sensor chips  11  and the DSP chips  12  are transversely arranged on the substrate side by side and, thus, it&#39;s occupied a relatively larger area, and the reliability of wire bonding is poor. Consequently, the prior art tends to cause poor contact or poor stability. 
     In view of this, an urgent need exists in the art to provide a structure of stacking chips and a method for manufacturing the same which can improve the manufacturing process, reduce the volume and occupied area and increase the reliability. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An objective of the present invention is to reduce the arrangement space of the chip stacking structure. With the package structure of stacking chips, the package structure of the prior art in which the chips were arranged in parallel and occupying a relatively large area can be avoided. Apart from reducing the occupied area, the structure of stacking chips of the present invention can further free the space for use by other components. 
     Another objective of the present invention is to simplify the manufacturing process of the structure of stacking chips Instead of firstly forming individual imaging sensor chips and individual DSP chips through slicing, a single structure of stacking chips is produced by firstly connecting a wafer comprising multiple imaging sensor chips and a substrate comprising multiple DSP chips in alignment and then slicing the assembly formed by the wafer and the substrate, so some of the conventional needs are eliminated such as the subsequent positioning and wire bonding. This can significantly simplify the manufacturing process and reduce the production cost. 
     A further objective of the present invention is to improve the reliability and the stability of the structure of stacking chips and the manufacturing process thereof. By stacking the imaging sensor chips and the DSP chips together in alignment and electrically connecting the imaging sensor chips and the DSP chips to an outer surface of the substrate via multiple through holes in the substrate which are plated with metal on the inner surfaces thereof, the stability and the reliability of the overall structure are improved significantly. 
     To achieve the aforesaid objectives, the present invention provides a structure of stacking chips, which comprises a signal processing chip module and an optical chip module. The signal processing chip module comprises the following: a glass substrate, with a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface, in which the first surface is provided with a cavity formed thereon, wherein the glass substrate is provided with a plurality of through holes formed between the first and second surfaces, and some of the through holes are formed at an area where the cavity is formed; and wherein each of the through holes is defined by an inner surface plated with a metal to electrically connect the first surface and the second surface; and a signal processing chip, being disposed in the cavity. The optical chip module comprises an optical chip. The optical chip module is disposed on the first surface of the glass substrate and overlapping the signal processing chip module, wherein the optical chip has a surface area greater than the surface area of the signal processing chip to fully cover the signal processing chip. The signal processing chip and the optical chip comprise respectively multiple electrical contacts correspondingly connected with the through holes. 
     The present invention further provides a method of manufacturing a structure of stacking chips, which comprises the following steps: First, forming a plurality of cavities on a first surface of a glass substrate according to a predetermined layout. Then, forming a plurality of through holes on the glass substrate and plating a metal on an inner surface of each of the through holes. Disposing a plurality of multiple signal processing chips respectively in the cavities and each of the signal processing chips is electrically connected with the inner surface of each of the through holes; forming a plurality of optical chips on a wafer; and stacking the wafer and the glass substrate so that the optical chips and the signal processing chips are electrically connected via the respective through holes. 
     The detailed technology and preferred embodiments implemented for the subject invention are described in the following paragraphs accompanying the appended drawings for people skilled in this field to well appreciate the features of the claimed invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1A  is a schematic view illustrating the manufacturing of imaging sensor chips in the prior art; 
         FIG. 1B  is a schematic view illustrating the manufacturing of DSP chips in the prior art; 
         FIG. 1C  is a schematic view illustrating the chip package structure of the prior art; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic view illustrating structure of stacking chips of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  to  FIG. 8  are schematic views illustrating the manufacturing of a structure of stacking chips in the present invention; and 
         FIG. 9  is a flowchart diagram of a method for manufacturing the structure of stacking chips of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a schematic cross-sectional view of a structure of stacking chips  2  according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The structure of stacking chips  2  comprises an optical chip module  21  and a signal processing chip module  23  stacked together. 
     The signal processing chip module  23  comprises a glass substrate  231  and a signal processing chip  233  which is preferably a digital signal processor (DSP) chip. For convenience of description, it is further defined that the glass substrate  231  has a first surface  231   a  and a second surface  231   b  opposite to the first surface  231   a  and is further formed with multiple through holes  235  which have inner surfaces plated with metal to connect the first surface  231   a  and the second surface  231   b.    
     The first surface  231   a  of the glass substrate  231  further has a cavity  237  formed thereon in which the signal processing chip  233  is disposed. Through holes  235  plated with metal are also formed in the cavity  237 . The signal processing chip  233  further comprises multiple electrical contacts  233   a  (e.g., conventional bumps) which are correspondingly electrically connected to the corresponding through holes  235 . 
     The structure of stacking chips  2  preferably comprises a conductive wire layer  25  and multiple solder balls  27 . The conductive wire layer  25  is formed on the second surface  231   b  of the glass substrate  231  to be electrically connected with the through holes  235 . The solder balls  27  are formed at appropriate positions on the conductive wire layer  25 . 
     The optical chip module  21  comprises an optical chip  213 , which is preferably a CMOS imaging sensor (CIS) chip. The optical chip module  21  is stacked with the signal processing chip module  23  on the first surface  231   a  of the signal processing chip module  23 . The surface area of the optical chip  213  is larger than the surface area of the signal processing chip  233  to cover the signal processing chip  233  so that the electrical contacts  233   a  of the optical chip  213  can be accurately correspondingly connected with some of the through holes  235  outside the signal processing chip  233 . Likewise, the optical chip  213  may also comprise multiple electrical contacts  213   a  (e.g., conventional bumps) which are correspondingly connected to some of the through holes  235 . 
     To securely bond the signal processing chip module  23  and the optical chip module  21  together, the structure of stacking chips  2  of the present invention preferably further comprise a bonding layer  29  applied between the signal processing chip module  23  and the optical chip module  21 . 
     Thus, through the through holes  235  and the conductive wire layer  25 , the optical chip  213  and the signal processing chip  233  can be electrically connected on the second surface  231   b  of the glass substrate  231 . 
     Next, the second embodiment of the present invention, which is a method for manufacturing the structure of stacking chips  2 , will be described. Herein below, the method will be described with reference to schematic views of  FIGS. 3 to 8  and a flowchart diagram of  FIG. 9 . 
     First, as shown in  FIG. 3  and by step  901  in  FIG. 9 , a glass substrate  231  is provided, with the glass substrate  231  being formed with multiple through holes  235  and multiple cavities  237  in which multiple signal processing chips  233  are disposed. The glass substrate  231  has a first surface  231   a  and a second surface  231   b  opposite to the first surface  231   a . The cavities  237  are formed on the first surface  231   a  according to a layout. The through holes  235  on the cavities  237  and the first surface  231   a  are plated with metal on the inner surfaces thereof to form contacts on the first surface  231   a  and the second surface  231   b . The signal processing chips  233  are respectively embedded in the cavities  237  and electrically connected with the corresponding through holes  235 . 
     Then, step  902  is executed to form a conductive wire layer  25  on the second surface  231   b  of the glass substrate  231  to be selectively electrically connected with the through holes  235 . 
     Next, as shown in  FIG. 4  and by step  903  in  FIG. 9 , a wafer  210  (which usually comprises a silicon substrate) is provided, with multiple optical chips  213  formed on the wafer  210 . As described in the first embodiment, each of the optical chips  213  further comprises and exhibits multiple electrical contacts  213   a , which may be conventional bumps such as gold bumps, solder balls, copper pillar, silver bumps, composite metal bumps or stud bumps. 
     Then, as shown in  FIG. 5  and by step  904  in  FIG. 9 , the glass substrate  231  and the wafer  210  are stacked so that the optical chips  213  and the corresponding signal processing chips  233  are electrically connected via the through holes  235 . More specifically, in this step, the wafer  210  is attached onto the first surface  231   a  of the glass substrate  231  so that the electrical contacts  213   a  of the optical chips  213  are connected to the corresponding through holes  235 . 
     The structure obtained through stacking is as shown in the cross-sectional view of  FIG. 6 . Each of the optical chips  213  comprises multiple electrical contacts  213   a , and each of the signal processing chips  233  comprises multiple electrical contacts  233   a . In stacking the glass substrate  231  and the wafer  210 , the electrical contacts  213   a ,  233   a  are aligned with and electrically connected to the corresponding through holes  235 . 
     In the stacking process of step  904 , a bonding layer (or an adhesive layer)  29  is further applied between the glass substrate  231  and the wafer  210  to facilitate bonding therebetween. The bonding layer  29  may be an under-fill adhesive. In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the bonding layer  29  may be a semi-cured B-stage adhesive that is disposed around the bumps of the chips in advance, and the bonding layer  29  is cured during the stacking of the glass substrate  231  and the wafer  210  to enhance the bonding performance between the optical chips  213  and the signal processing chips  233 . 
     Next, as shown in  FIG. 7  and by step  905  in  FIG. 9 , the back surface of the wafer  210  is polished to reduce the overall thickness of the wafer  210 . 
     Finally, as shown in  FIG. 8 , step  906  is executed first to implant multiple solder balls  27  on the conductive wire layer  25  and then step  907  is executed to slice the glass substrate  231  and the wafer stacked together to finally form the structure of stacking chips  2  of the first embodiment. Undoubtedly, the structure of stacking chips  2  comprises the optical chips  213  (e.g., GIS chips) and the signal processing chips  233  (e.g., DSP chips). 
     According to the above descriptions, in the structure of stacking chips and the method for manufacturing the same disclosed in the present invention, a package structure in which chips are stacked is formed by directly stacking a wafer and a substrate and then slicing them. This can not only reduce the arrangement space and the occupied area of the structure of stacking chips, but also significantly simplify the manufacturing process and reduce the cost. This can further improve the reliability and the stability of the structure of stacking chips. 
     The above disclosure is related to the detailed technical contents and inventive features thereof. People skilled in this field may proceed with a variety of modifications and replacements based on the disclosures and suggestions of the invention as described without departing from the characteristics thereof. Nevertheless, although such modifications and replacements are not fully disclosed in the above descriptions, they have substantially been covered in the following claims as appended.

Technology Category: 5