Development of Through Silicon Via (TSV) Interposer for
Memory Module Flip Chip Package
Nicholas Kao, Eason Chen, Daniel Lee, Mike Ma
Advanced Product Design & Testing Dept. Corporate R & D, Siliconware Precision Industries Co. Ltd.
No. 123, Sec. 3, Da Fong Rd, Tantzu, Taichung 42749, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Email: nicholas@spil.com.tw
Tel: 886-4-25341525 ext 7941
Abstract
With the trend of microelectronics packaging toward
more functionality, high performance and smaller form
factor, the product is required to deliver more I/Os and better
electrical characteristics under a minimum module system.
Therefore, a 3D IC integration System in Package (SiP) with
passive Through Silicon Via (TSV) interposer technology is
proposed to provide high density and heterogeneous
integration needed for such requirement.
Due to the Coefficients of Thermal Expansion (CTE)
mismatch between materials, thermal-mechanical stress and
warpage are induced during Through Silicon Interposer (TSI)
fabrication process, which may affect TSV crack or
Controlled Collapse Chip Connection (C4) bump crack after
TSI bonding to organic substrate process. Therefore, this
work is a step by step process simulation with various design
parameters by finite element method (FEM) to investigate
stress and warpage behaviors of processing effect. For both
full array dummy bumps layout and thinner top chips are to
reduce micro-bump stress. Also, low CTE organic substrate
core, high CTE mold compound and thinner top chips
perform lower package warpage. Finally, this paper aims to
provide a guideline to designer for 3D IC integration SiP
with passive TSV interposer structure by using the finite
element models.
Introduction
As the demands of more functionality and high
performance, the product is required to deliver more I/Os and
better electrical characteristics. Therefore, a 3D IC
integration package with TSI technology is proposed to
provide high density and heterogeneous integration needed
for such requirement. Functional chips stacked on a TSI then
assembled on an organic substrate is as test vehicle (See
Figure-1). The electrical connection between functional chips
to TSI is through micro-bumps and Re-Distribution Layer
(RDL) then is going to the TSV of TSI. TSI and organic
substrate interconnect is by C4 bumps. Due to the CTE
mismatch between materials, thermal-mechanical stress and
warpage are induced during TSI fabrication and package
assembly process, which may affect TSV crack or C4 bump
crack after top chips bonding to TSI and TSI bonding to
organic substrate processes.
Firstly, the design parameters including RDL design, TSI
thickness, bump layout, top chip thickness and DRAM chips
space are discussed in detail. The key challenge during
assembly process is chip level warpage contribution to cause
solder bump non-wetting or bridge issue. From simulation
result, a balanced RDL Cu coverage design is effective to
reduce TSI warpage. In addition, thinner top chip thickness
with full array dummy bump layout performs lower micro-
bump stress. Secondly, the underfill, mold compound and
organic substrate core material selection are also included in
this paper. In assembly flow, top chips are assembled on TSI
and filled the micro-bump gap with underfill, then entire
package and C4 bump gap are filled with mold compound.
The simulation indicated that low CTE core and high CTE
compound are effective to reduce package warpage. Finally,
this paper aims to provide a guideline to designer for 3D IC
integration SiP with passive TSV interposer structure by
using the finite element models.
(a)
(b)
Figure-1: 3D FCCSP test vehicle. (a) side view (b) top view.
Test Vehicle
Figure-1 shows a multi-chip stacked 3D-FCCSP test
vehicle used in this paper. This structure consists of three top
chips with lead free micro-bumps and a bottom TSI with lead
free C4 bumps. Top chips include two DRAM chips and one
SOC chip with the size of 7.74mm 6.24mm and 6.98mm
6.73mm, respectively. They were stacked on a TSI with the
size of 16.0mm 14.6mm. Then, underfill was filled into the
gap between top chips and TSI which is around micro-
bumps. After chip to chip stacking process, it was stacked on
an organic substrate and jointed by C4 bumps. The entire
package and C4 bump gap was filled with mold compound.
Detail package size and dimension are summarized in Table-
1.