用于3D封装的带TSV的超薄芯片新型制作方法

提出了一种应用于3D封装的带有硅通孔(TSV)的超薄芯片的制作方法。具体方法为通过刻蚀对硅晶圆打孔和局部减薄,然后进行表面微加工,最后从硅晶圆上分离出超薄芯片。利用两种不同的工艺实现了TSV的制作和硅晶圆局部减薄,一种是利用深反应离子刻蚀(DRIE)依次打孔和背面减薄,另一种是先利用KOH溶液湿法腐蚀局部减薄,再利用DRIE刻蚀打孔。通过实验优化了KOH和异丙醇(IPA)的质量分数分别为40%和10%。这种方法的优点在于制作出的超薄芯片翘曲度相较于CMP减薄的小,而且两个表面都可以进行表面微加工,使集成度提高。利用这种方法已经在实验室制作出了厚50μm的带TSV的超薄芯片,表面粗糙度达到0.02μm,并无孔洞地电镀填满TSV,然后在两面都制作了凸点,在表面进行了光刻、溅射和剥离等表面微加工工艺。实验结果证实了该方法的可行性。     

Reliability study of 3D IC packaging based on through-silicon interposer (TSI) and silicon-less interconnection technology (SLIT) using finite element analysis

Three-dimensional (3D) integration using the through-silicon via (TSV) approach becomes one promising technology in 3D packaging. 2.5D through-silicon interposer (TSI) is one of the applications of TSV technology, which provides a platform for realizing heterogeneous integration on the TSI interposer. However, TSV manufacturing faces several challenges including high cost. Si-less interconnection technology (SLIT) could overcome such challenges and provide the similar function and benefits as TSI interposer. In SLIT technology, TSVs and silicon substrate are eliminated and the back-end-of-line (BEOL) structures are the same as that in the TSI interposer. Thermo-mechanical reliability is still one important concern under process condition and thermal cycling (TC) test condition for both packaging technologies. In this study, solder joint reliability has been investigated and compared for both packaging technologies through finite element analysis (FEA). Reflow process induced low-k stress and package warpage have also been simulated and compared between packages with TSI and SLIT technologies. The simulation results show that SLIT-based package has comparable micro bump TC reliability as TSI-based package, but SLIT-based package has better C4 joint TC reliability than TSI-based package. SLIT-based package also has lower reflow-induced package warpage and low-k stress than TSI-based package. FEA simulation results verify that SLIT-based packaging is one of promising packaging technologies with good thermo-mechanical performance and cost efficiency.     

Thermal expansion behavior of through-silicon-via structures in three-dimensional microelectronic packaging

Thermo-mechanical reliability is an important issue for the development and deployment of the through-silicon-via (TSV) technology in three-dimensional (3D) microelectronic packaging. The mismatch in coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) between the array of copper (Cu) lines and the surrounding silicon (Si), upon temperature variation, affects the overall thermal expansion behavior of the whole TSV structure itself and generates an internal stress state. In this work we use the finite element method to numerically study the effective in-plane CTE of the Si/Cu composite structure. A 3D unit-cell approach is undertaken, which takes into account uniformly distributed TSVs in the Si chip. Results of the temperature-dependent effective CTE can be used as model input for simulating larger-scale 3D packages where the Si/Cu TSV structure is treated as a homogeneous material. We also examine the evolution of stress and deformation fields, and identify potential reliability concerns associated with the thermal loading.     

带有TSV的硅基大功率LED封装技术研究

介绍了一种带有凹槽和硅通孔(through silicon via,TSV)的硅基制备以及晶圆级白光LED的封装方法。针对硅基大功率LED的封装结构建立了热传导模型,并通过有限元软件模拟分析了这种封装形式的散热效果。模拟结果显示,硅基封装满足LED芯片p-n结的温度要求。实验结合半导体制造工艺,在硅基板上完成了凹槽和通孔的制造,实现了LED芯片的有效封装。热阻测试仪测得硅基的热阻为1.068K/W。实验结果证明,这种方法有效实现了低热阻、低成本、高密度的LED芯片封装,是大功率LED封装发展的重要方向。     

Voltage Optimization of Power Delivery Networks through Power Bump and TSV Placement in 3D ICs

To reduce interconnect delay and power consumption while improving chip performance, a three‐dimensional integrated circuit (3D IC) has been developed with die‐stacking and through‐silicon via (TSV) techniques. The power supply problem is one of the essential challenges in 3D IC design because IR‐drop caused by insufficient supply voltage in a 3D chip reduces the chip performance. In particular, power bumps and TSVs are placed to minimize IR‐drop in a 3D power delivery network. In this paper, we propose a design methodology for 3D power delivery networks to minimize the number of power bumps and TSVs with optimum mesh structure and distribute voltage variation more uniformly by shifting the locations of power bumps and TSVs while satisfying IR‐drop constraint. Simulation results show that our method can reduce the voltage variation by 29.7% on average while reducing the number of power bumps and TSVs by 76.2% and 15.4%, respectively.     

Novel Bumping and Underfill Technologies for 3D IC Integration

In previous work, novel maskless bumping and no‐flow underfill technologies for three‐dimensional (3D) integrated circuit (IC) integration were developed. The bumping material, solder bump maker (SBM) composed of resin and solder powder, is designed to form low‐volume solder bumps on a through silicon via (TSV) chip for the 3D IC integration through the conventional reflow process. To obtain the optimized volume of solder bumps using the SBM, the effect of the volumetric mixing ratio of resin and solder powder is studied in this paper. A no‐flow underfill material named “fluxing underfill” is proposed for a simplified stacking process for the 3D IC integration. It can remove the oxide layer on solder bumps like flux and play a role of an underfill after the stacking process. The bumping process and the stacking process using the SBM and the fluxing underfill, respectively, for the TSV chips are carefully designed so that two‐tier stacked TSV chips are sucessfully stacked.     

The development of effective model for thermal conduction analysis for 2.5D packaging using TSV interposer

The effective model for the orthotropic TSV (Through Silicon Via) interposer in heat conduction for 2.5D IC integration was proposed in this study. The simple parallel model was used in out-of-plane direction to predict the effective thermal conductivity for the TSV interposer. The in-plane effective thermal conductivity for the interposer was derived on basis of heat balances. By introducing the effective orthotropic thermal parameters, the TSV structures can be ignored in the present effective model. The computations using the effective model for TSV interposer and the 2.5D package with interposer were carried out. The results showed that the accuracy of the effective model was above 95% comparing with the real model including TSV structures when the volume ratio of the electroplating copper and the silicon interposer is smaller than 10%. Using the effective model, the parametric studies on the interposer sizes and the thermal conductivities of different materials in the 2.5D package were conducted with higher efficiency. The results showed that the performance and sizes of EMC (Epoxy Molding Compound) and the package substrate are more important than that of internal underfills in heat dissipation of the package with TSV interposer.     

Analysis of 3D TSV Vertical Interconnection Using Pre-applied Nonconductive Films

Much research has been carried out to realize through-silicon via (TSV) technology for three-dimensional (3D) chip stacking packaging. A vertical chip interconnection method using Cu/Sn-Ag bumps and nonconductive films (NCFs) is one of the most promising approaches for 3D TSV vertical interconnection. In this work, the relationship between the viscosity of pre-applied NCFs and loading forces was investigated to predict the gap change between a TSV chip and a substrate chip. Existing theories of squeeze flow are adapted to predict the gap change of a real TSV chip and a substrate chip during TSV bonding using a simplified model. The real gaps measured during bonding of test dies were matched to check the validity of the prediction model. Considering the thixotropy of NCFs, the prediction well matched the real gap changes between bumped TSV chips and substrate chips during bonding.     

Algorithms for TSV resource sharing and optimization in designing 3D stacked ICs

Under the current process and layer bonding technology for the TSV (through-silicon-via) based 3D ICs, it is known that the TSV resource is one of the major sources of the function failure of the chip. Furthermore, TSV takes much larger size and pitch than the normal logic components. For this reason, a careful allocation of the TSV resource has been required in 3D IC designs, and several works have been proposed to allocate minimal TSVs. This work also addresses the problem of TSV allocation and optimization, but overcomes one of the critical limitations of the previous works, which is the unawareness or no exploitation of the possibility of TSV resource sharing, previously merely resorting to a simple binding of the data transfers to TSVs. This is because the previous 3D layer partitioners have performed TSV allocation and minimization without any link to the data transfer information accessible from the high-level synthesis flow. This work proposes a set of TSV resource sharing and optimization algorithms (as a post-processing of 3D layer partitioning) by utilizing the life time information of the data transfers taken from the high-level synthesis. Specifically, we propose three algorithms for TSV resource sharing and optimization, which can be selectively applied depending on the sharing granularity and design complexity: (1) word-level TSV sharing, (2) bit-level TSV sharing, and (3) TSV refinement combined with register replication. Through experiments with benchmark designs, it is confirmed that our proposed algorithms are able to reduce the number of TSVs by 41.1% on average in word-level TSV sharing and 26.0% in bit-level TSV sharing compared with the results produced by the conventional layer partitioning with no TSV sharing while still meeting the timing constraint of designs.     

三维集成技术的现状和发展趋势

给出了三维技术的定义,并给众多的三维技术一个明确的分类,包括三维封装(3D-P)、三维晶圆级封装(3DWLP)、三维片上系统(3D-SoC)、三维堆叠芯片(3D-SIC)、三维芯片(3D-IC)。分析了比较有应用前景的两种技术,即三维片上系统和三维堆叠芯片和它们的TSV技术蓝图。给出了三维集成电路存在的一些问题,包括技术问题、测试问题、散热问题、互连线问题和CAD工具问题,并指出了未来的研究方向。     

Effects of dimension parameters and defect on TSV thermal behavior for 3D IC packaging

Through Silicon Via (TSV) technology is a promising and preferred way to realize the reliable interconnection for 3D IC integration. The temperature changed in the processes of TSV manufacturing and chip using, due to the mismatch in the Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE) of the materials used in TSV structure, significant thermal stress will be induced under the thermal load. These stresses may lead to various reliability issues. Dimension parameters and defects are the two factors affecting the thermal behavior of TSV. In order to optimize TSV design and the quality of via filling, a numerical model of Cu-filled TSV was established to simulate and analyze the effect of diameter, aspect ratio (AR) and defects on TSV thermal stress and deformation in this paper. Simulation results show that the equivalent stress and total deformation of TSV increases as the increase of the diameter of TSV. The effect of aspect ratio on equivalent stress is very little; however, it has a great impact on total deformation, especially for the large diameter of the TSV. Additionally, the effects of shape, size and location of defect on thermal stress were also investigated.     

Thermal‐Aware Floorplanning with Min‐cut Die Partition for 3D ICs

Three‐dimensional integrated circuits (3D ICs) implement heterogeneous systems in the same platform by stacking several planar chips vertically with through‐silicon via (TSV) technology. 3D ICs have some advantages, including shorter interconnect lengths, higher integration density, and improved performance. Thermal‐aware design would enhance the reliability and performance of the interconnects and devices. In this paper, we propose thermal‐aware floorplanning with min‐cut die partitioning for 3D ICs. The proposed min‐cut die partition methodology minimizes the number of connections between partitions based on the min‐cut theorem and minimizes the number of TSVs by considering a complementary set from the set of connections between two partitions when assigning the partitions to dies. Also, thermal‐aware floorplanning methodology ensures a more even power distribution in the dies and reduces the peak temperature of the chip. The simulation results show that the proposed methodologies reduced the number of TSVs and the peak temperature effectively while also reducing the run‐time.     

考虑温度因素的3D芯片TSV容错结构设计

相比于2D芯片,3D芯片具有更高的功率密度和更低的热导率。针对散热问题,多层3D芯片一般采用具有较高热导率的铜填充硅通孔(TSV)。为提高3D芯片的成品率,在温度条件限制下,对3D芯片进行TSV的容错结构设计非常重要。分析了带有TSV的3D芯片温度模型,提出了3D芯片温度模型的TSV修复方法。根据温度要求设计总的TSV数,将这些TSV分为若干个组,每组由m个信号TSV和n个冗余TSV组成,实现了组内和组间信号的TSV修复。实验结果表明,该TSV容错结构不仅有较高修复效率,而且具有较好散热效果。     

Fast thermal analysis for fixed-outline 3D floorplanning

Three dimensional integrated circuits (3D ICs) can alleviate the problem of interconnection, a critical problem in the nanoscale era, and are also promising for heterogeneous integration. However, the thermal challenge in industry is one of key obstacles to adopt the 3D ICs technology. Various thermal analysis models for 3D IC have been proposed in literature. However, the long simulation cycle makes runtime of thermal management inefficient during floorplanning phase. In this paper, we propose a fast thermal analysis method for fixed-outline 3D floorplanning. Before floorplanning, we simulate the thermal distribution of each block placed on different positions. Based on the simulated thermal profiles, bilinear interpolation is adopted to quickly estimate temperature during floorplanning. After the block planning, a heuristic method, which combines the shortest path and min-cost-max-flow, is presented for TSV allocation with minimization of chip temperature and wirelength. Compared with the superposition of thermal profiles method, the proposed thermal analysis method can reduce the peak temperature by 6.7% on average with short runtime for 3D fixed-outline floorplanning, which demonstrates the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed thermal analysis method.     

Evaluating the material properties of underfill for a reliable 3D TSV integration package using numerical analysis

The effects of the material properties of the underfill layer on thermal stress and deformation in 3D through silicon via (TSV) integration packages were evaluated through numerical analysis. Sample TSV packages with underfill composed of different silica volume ratios were fabricated. The sample packages were used to measure thermal deformation using a Moiré interferometer. Also, a cross-section from these samples was used for 2D finite element modeling and numerical analysis to obtain its thermal deformation. The experimental and numerical results were compared to confirm the suitability of the numerical technique in this research. A four-chip-stacked TSV integration package, which includes underfill layers of four different silica volume ratios, was proposed and designed. The diagonal part of the TSV integration packages were three dimensionally modeled and adopted for numerical analysis. Among the underfill with different silica volume ratios in the designed packages, a silica volume ratio of around 20% shows the best performance for a reliable flip chip bonding process, effectively minimizing thermal stress and deformation in the package.     

Fabrication and stress analysis of annular-trench-isolated TSV

The large mismatches among the coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) of the metal via, insulator liner, and Si substrate of the through-silicon via (TSV) induce thermal stresses within and around the TSV during thermal-cycled fabrication processes. Reduction of thermal stress in the Si substrate is important for minimizing the deviations in the device characteristics. An annular-trench-isolated (ATI) structure was proposed for the TSV to solve the thermal issues, which occur during the three-dimensional (3D) integrated circuit (IC) integration, by stress redistribution. The concept of ATI TSV is based on retaining a Si-ring between the metal core and insulator layer during the fabrication process. We realized the ATI TSV using a via-last fabrication approach, with two deep silicon etching processes (Bosch processes) for the insulator layer and the metal core. Parylene-HT was utilized as the insulator to achieve high uniformity. With a vacuum-assisted filling system, the vias were filled with a solder material. ATI TSVs with diameters of 10 μm and 2-μm-thick Parylene-HT insulation layers were demonstrated. Studies on the thermal stress levels of the ATI TSV were carried out by finite-element method (FEM) simulation, along with comparisons with regular and annular TSVs. We revealed that the ATI TSV shows lower thermal stresses in the Si substrate than the regular and annular TSVs. The ATI TSV is a possible candidate for 3D IC integration with stress-sensitive devices.     

硅通孔互连技术的可靠性研究

随着电子封装持续向小型化、高性能的方向发展,基于硅通孔的三维互连技术已经开始应用到闪存、图像传感器的制造中,硅通孔互连技术的可靠性问题越来越受到人们的关注。将硅通孔互连器件组装到PCB基板上,参照JEDEC电子封装可靠性试验的相关标准,通过温度循环试验、跌落试验和三个不同等级的湿度敏感性测试研究了硅通孔互连器件的可靠性。互连器件在温度循环试验和二、三级湿度敏感试验中表现出很好的可靠性,但部分样品在跌落试验和一级湿度敏感性测试中出现了失效。通过切片试验和扫描电子显微镜分析了器件失效机理并讨论了底部填充料对硅通孔互连器件可靠性的影响。     

A Force-Directed-Based Optimization Scheme for Thermal Placement Design of MCMs

Thermal management becomes exceptionally critical to both the reliability and operation performance of electronic packages, particularly for multichip modules (MCMs), as packaging and power densities continue increase while packaging dimension continues decrease. The underlying goal of the study is to pursue the minimum system temperature design of MCMs containing a number of chips of equal and/or unequal power through the optimal chip placement design. To deal with the thermal design problems, an effective indirect optimization approach that integrates a modified force-directed (FD) thermal model, a finite-element (FE) technique and an exterior penalty method (EPM) is proposed. In the modified FD thermal model, a novel representation of the repulsive and attractive forces is proposed, and the sum of these forces in the design system, representing the total system chip junction temperature, constructs the objective of the optimization problems. Together with some geometry constraints, the constrained optimization problems are formed, and furthermore, transformed into unconstrained optimization problems using an EPM. The solution of the optimization problems is sought through a direct, iterative search scheme with two proposed placement strategies. The alternative goal of the study is to address the feature and feasibility of these two proposed placement strategies for the current problems. The applicability of the proposed optimization approach is demonstrated through several design applications, and their results are extensively compared against the published data. It turns out that the current optimization approach can be very effective and robust in providing thermal optimal design of MCMs with a minimal total chip junction temperature through optimal chip placement     

Development of three-dimensional chip stacking technology using a clamped through-silicon via interconnection

This study aims at developing an advanced clamped through-silicon via (C-TSV) interconnection technology for three-dimensional (3D) chip-to-chip or chip-to-wafer packaging. The special features of the C-TSV technology include (1) the proposal of metal caps on the pads of the chip to form a nearly symmetric double-side-metal-cap structure that firmly clamps the vias on the chip, (2) the employment of a temporary conductive layer on the active side of the wafer as a seed metal layer during the electro-plating of metal caps, and (3) the introduction of a “via first redistribution” (VFR) concept in the C-TSV process for heterogeneous 3D integration and maximal performance. Basically, the metal caps can act as a bonding layer for 3D chip stacking and also a protection stopper for backside drilling. The blind vias are created using a proven low-cost laser drilling process through the wafer backside with a laminated insulation layer on the via-hole wall. Unlike the typical TSV process, the present technology has no need to carry out the seed layer deposition and photo processes to facilitate the via-hole filling with metal through electro-plating, thus being more cost-effective. Besides, because of the structural symmetry and also the tightly-clamped via structure, it can potentially yield better bonding reliability for stacked chip bonding. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the C-TSV structure for wafer-level 3D integration, feasibility study of the implementation of the novel process and mechanics comparisons of these two 3D chip stacking structures under thermal loading through finite element (FE) stress simulation are made. At last, both the thermal humidity (TH) test of 85 °C/85%RH and the 288 °C solder dipping test are carried out to demonstrate the interconnect reliability and the interface quality of the 3D interconnect technology.