JAYDEN CHO, Global Segment Leader at Dow, Korea
The semiconductor industry needs to support devices with faster operating speeds, greater densities and higher temperatures in smaller, thinner and less expensive packages. Choices for semiconductor packaging materials typically include metal, glass, plastic and ceramic; however, there are also other types of durable and functional materials to consider. For example, adhesives, coatings and encapsulants are used for thermal management, die attachment and environmental sealing applications, and for protection against shock and vibration. Yet, some chemistries may be unable to meet the increasingly challenging requirements faced by device designers, especially for electronics, telecommunications and automotive applications.
To meet these growing challenges, and to support greater production efficiency and lower energy usage, the semiconductor industry can leverage a range of advanced silicone solutions. Dependable materials such as silicone die-attach films, silicone hotmelt products and next-generation silicone-organic hybrids all provide greater performance, durability, uniformity and processability than traditional organics such as epoxies. Advanced silicone materials also provide excellent high-temperature resistance, greater temperature stability, broader and more durable adhesion and reduced risk of ionic contamination. In addition, silicones support automated production, can use energy-efficient curing methods and are available in formulations that support corporate sustainability initiatives, a consideration for investors who evaluate environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance.
Across today’s increasingly competitive and expanding electronics industry, the high heat associated with 5G and its greater power densities is a growing concern. For semiconductor manufacturers, the use of integrated packages also presents heat-related challenges. There are a number of causes for semiconductor device stress, but heat is especially problematic because high temperatures can cause electronics to fail prematurely or perform unreliably. Heat can also cause secondary stresses that degrade device performance over time or result in sudden failure. In semiconductor packages with larger chips, active device switching can produce localized hotspots that change the stress profile across the entire chip. Thinner chips can warp, and stress related problems such as die cracking, underfill material delamination and package warping may occur.
Today’s integrated circuit (IC) designs support multi-function chips in both side-by-side (2D) and stacked (3D) arrangements. With 3D ICs, stacked dies need a longer path to dissipate heat; however, as the top die disperses its heat, some of this heat moves to the die below, which also requires heat dissipation. This heat transfer imparts stresses to the bottom die that can result in cracking within the entire package. Advanced silicones can relieve these temperature-induced stresses and are also a great choice for devices, such as hybrid ICs, that use materials with very different coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) – the rate at which a material expands when heated and contracts when cooled.
Click here to read the full article in Semiconductor Digest magazine.
