Semiconductor chip assembly with embedded metal pillar Number:7,094,676 from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) owispatent A method of making a semiconductor chip assembly includes forming a routing line on a metal base, etching the metal base wherein an unetched portion of the metal base forms a pillar, mechanically attaching a semiconductor chip to the routing line and the pillar wherein the chip includes a conductive pad, the routing line extends laterally from the pillar towards the chip and the chip and the pillar extend vertically beyond the routing line in the same direction, forming an encapsulant wherein the chip and the pillar are embedded in the encapsulant, and forming a connection joint that electrically connects the routing line and the pad.<H Semiconductor, embedded, Semiconductor, c, 7094676.html, Patent, pto, 7094676

Title: Semiconductor chip assembly with embedded metal pillar

Abstract: A method of making a semiconductor chip assembly includes forming a routing line on a metal base, etching the metal base wherein an unetched portion of the metal base forms a pillar, mechanically attaching a semiconductor chip to the routing line and the pillar wherein the chip includes a conductive pad, the routing line extends laterally from the pillar towards the chip and the chip and the pillar extend vertically beyond the routing line in the same direction, forming an encapsulant wherein the chip and the pillar are embedded in the encapsulant, and forming a connection joint that electrically connects the routing line and the pad.

Patent Number: 7,094,676 Issued on 08/22/2006 to Leu, et al.

Inventors: Leu; Chuen-Rong (Hsinchu, TW), Lin; Charles W. C. (Singapore, SG)
Assignee: Bridge Semiconductor Corporation (Taipei, TW)

Appl. No.: 10/719,823

Filed: November 21, 2003

Related U.S. Patent Documents


Application Number	Filing Date	Patent Number	Issue Date
10714794	Nov., 2003
10235331	Sep., 2002	6653742
09939140	Aug., 2001	6576539
09878626	Jun., 2001	6653217
09687619	Oct., 2000	6440835
60509299	Oct., 2003
60507145	Sep., 2003

Current U.S. Class: 438/611 ; 438/106; 438/617

Current International Class: H01L 21/44 (20060101)

Field of Search: 438/106,107,118,125,611,613,617

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Primary Examiner: Dang; Phuc T.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Sigmond; David M.

Parent Case Text

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/714,794 filed Nov. 17, 2003, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/235,331 filed Sep. 5, 2002 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,653,742), which is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/939,140 filed Aug. 24, 2001 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,576,539), which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/878,626 filed Jun. 11, 2001 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,653,217), which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/687,619 filed Oct. 13, 2000 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,640,835) , each of which is incorporated by reference.

U.S. application Ser. No. 10/714,794 filed Nov. 17, 2003 also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/509,299 filed Oct. 7, 2003, and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/507,145 filed Sep. 30, 2003, each of which is incorporated by reference.

Claims

We claim:

1. A method of making a semiconductor chip assembly, comprising: providing a metal base with first and second opposing surfaces; then forming an etch mask on the first surface of the metal base; forming a routing line on the second surface of the metal base; then etching the metal base, wherein an unetched portion of the metal base defined by the etch mask forms a pillar that includes first and second opposing surfaces, the first surface of the pillar faces away from the routing line and contacts the etch mask, and the second surface of the pillar contacts the routing line; then mechanically attaching a semiconductor chip to the routing line and the pillar, wherein the chip includes first and second opposing surfaces, the first surface of the chip includes a conductive pad, the first surface of the pillar faces in a first direction, the second surface of the pillar faces in a second direction opposite the first direction, the chip extends vertically beyond the routing line in the first direction, the pillar is disposed outside a periphery of the chip and extends vertically beyond the routing line in the first direction, and the routing line extends laterally from the pillar towards the chip; forming an encapsulant that covers the chip and extends vertically beyond the chip and the routing line in the first direction, wherein the encapsulant includes a first surface that faces in the first direction and a second surface that faces in the second direction, and the chip and the pillar are embedded in the encapsulant; and forming a connection joint that electrically connects the routing line and the pad, wherein a conductive trace that includes the routing line and the pillar is electrically connected to the pad and extends through the first surface of the encapsulant.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein forming the routing line includes selectively depositing the routing line on the metal base.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein forming the routing line includes: providing a plating mask on the metal base, wherein the plating mask includes an opening that exposes a portion of the metal base; and then electroplating the routing line on the exposed portion of the metal base through the opening in the plating mask.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein forming the etch mask and the routing line includes simultaneously depositing the etch mask and the routing line on the metal base.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein forming the etch mask and the routing line includes: providing a first plating mask on the metal base, wherein the first plating mask includes an opening that exposes a first portion of the metal base; providing a second plating mask on the metal base, wherein the second plating mask includes an opening that exposes a second portion of the metal base; and then simultaneously electroplating the etch mask on the first exposed portion of the metal base through the opening in the first plating mask and the routing line on the second exposed portion of the metal base through the opening in the second plating mask.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein etching the metal base etches through the metal base.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein etching the metal base exposes the routing line.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein etching the metal base reduces contact area between the metal base and the routing line.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein etching the metal base electrically isolates the routing line from other routing lines formed on the metal base.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein forming the encapsulant includes depositing the encapsulant on the pillar such that the encapsulant covers the pillar.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein forming the encapsulant includes depositing the encapsulant on the pillar such that the first surface of the pillar is exposed.

12. The method of claim 1, including removing a portion of the encapsulant thereby exposing the pillar.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein removing the portion of the encapsulant exposes the first surface of the pillar and laterally aligns the first surfaces of the encapsulant and the pillar with one another.

14. The method of claim 1, including removing a portion of the encapsulant thereby exposing the chip.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein removing the portion of the encapsulant exposes the second surface of the chip and laterally aligns the first surface of the encapsulant and the second surface of the chip with one another.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein forming the connection joint includes electroplating the connection joint on the routing line and the pad.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein forming the connection joint includes electrolessly plating the connection joint on the routing line and the pad.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein forming the connection joint includes depositing a non-solidified material on the routing line and the pad and then hardening the non-solidified material.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein forming the connection joint includes providing a wire bond that extends vertically beyond the chip and the routing line in the second direction.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein forming the connection joint occurs before forming the encapsulant.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein forming the connection joint occurs after forming the encapsulant.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the first surface of the chip faces in the first direction after mechanically attaching the chip to the routing line and the pillar.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the first surface of the chip faces in the second direction after mechanically attaching the chip to the routing line and the pillar.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the routing line extends vertically beyond the chip in the second direction after mechanically attaching the chip to the routing line and the pillar.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein the routing line extends vertically beyond the pillar in the second direction after mechanically attaching the chip to the routing line and the pillar.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the routing line extends within and outside the periphery of the chip after mechanically attaching the chip to the routing line and the pillar.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the routing line is disposed outside the periphery of the chip after mechanically attaching the chip to the routing line and the pillar.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the first surface of the pillar extends vertically beyond the chip in the first direction after mechanically attaching the chip to the routing line and the pillar.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein the second surface of the pillar extends vertically beyond the chip in the second direction after mechanically attaching the chip to the routing line and the pillar.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein the metal base is a copper plate.

31. The method of claim 1, wherein the routing line is an essentially planar metal lead.

32. The method of claim 1, wherein the pillar has a conical shape.

33. The method of claim 1, wherein the pillar is narrowest its first surface.

34. The method of claim 1, wherein the pillar is widest at its second surface.

35. The method of claim 1, wherein the pillar has tapered sidewalls that extend between its first and second surfaces and slant inwardly towards its first surface.

36. The method of claim 1, wherein the pillar has a first surface area at its first surface and a second surface area at its second surface, and the first surface area is at least 20 percent smaller than the second surface area.

37. The method of claim 1, including forming an insulative base that contacts the metal base and the routing line before forming the pillar, wherein the insulative base extends vertically beyond the chip, the routing line and the pillar in the second direction after mechanically attaching the chip to the routing line and the pillar.

38. The method of claim 37, including forming a through-hole that extends through the insulative base and exposes the pad, and then forming the connection joint.

39. The method of claim 1, including mechanically attaching the metal base and the routing line to a support before forming the pillar, and removing the support after forming the encapsulant.

40. The method of claim 39, including removing the support before forming the connection joint.

41. The method of claim 1, including mechanically attaching the chip to the routing line and the pillar using an insulative adhesive before forming the encapsulant.

42. The method of claim 41, including forming a through-hole that extends through the adhesive and exposes the pad, and then forming the connection joint.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the adhesive contacts and is sandwiched between the routing line and the pad, and the routing line and the pad are electrically isolated from one another after forming the through-hole and before forming the connection joint.

44. The method of claim 1, including simultaneously forming the connection joint and a first terminal that contacts the first surface of the pillar, extends vertically beyond the pillar in the first direction and is spaced from the connection joint during a plating operation.

45. The method of claim 1, including simultaneously forming the connection joint and a second terminal that contacts the routing line, extends vertically beyond the routing line in the second direction and is spaced from the connection joint during a plating operation.

46. The method of claim 1, including simultaneously forming the connection joint, a first terminal that contacts the first surface of the pillar, extends vertically beyond the pillar in the first direction and is spaced from the connection joint, and a second terminal that contacts the routing line, extends vertically beyond the routing line in the second direction and is spaced from the connection joint and the first terminal during a plating operation.

47. The method of claim 46, including forming a first solder ball on the first terminal and a second solder ball on the second terminal.

48. The method of claim 1, including mechanically attaching a heat sink to the chip, the routing line, the pillar, the encapsulant and the connection joint, wherein the heat sink is electrically isolated from the chip, overlapped by the chip and disposed vertically beyond the chip in the second direction.

49. The method of claim 1, including mechanically attaching a ground plane to the chip, the routing line, the pillar, the encapsulant and the connection joint, and then electrically connecting the ground plane to the routing line, wherein the ground plane is overlapped by the routing line and disposed vertically beyond the routing line in the second direction.

50. The method of claim 1, wherein the assembly is devoid of wire bonds and TAB leads.

51. A method of making a semiconductor chip assembly, comprising: providing a metal base with first and second opposing surfaces; then forming an etch mask on the first surface of the metal base; forming a routing line on the second surface of the metal base; then etching the metal base, thereby etching through the metal base and reducing contact area between the metal base and the routing line, wherein an unetched portion of the metal base defined by the etch mask forms a pillar that includes first and second opposing surfaces, the first surface of the pillar faces away from the routin