Integral passives for next generation of electronic packaging: applicationof epoxy/ceramic nanocomposites as integral capacitors

The consumer demand for product miniaturization with increased functionalit y and reliability is ever growing in the electronic industry. Integral pass ive is a novel emerging technology which is perceived as a possible alterna tive to discretes in fulfilling the next generation of packaging needs. Alt hough, integral passive technology has been proven to be a viable option, t here are several barriers for implementing this technology such as efficien t circuit design with increased component density, qualification of new mat erials for integral passive components and substrates, time-to-market a new product, technology transfer and product scale up toward commercialization , and most importantly cost competitiveness. Integration of passive compone nts on substrates imposes a major design and fabrication challenge and has been a subject of increasing interest in the packaging community today. In this paper, we address materials and processes for integral capacitors and their cointegration with integral resistors and inductors. Dielectric const ant values in the range of 3.5-50 with increase in filler loading up to 50 vol% are achieved in the epoxy nanocomposite system where the dielectric co nstant of the host polymer is limited to similar to3.5. The capacitors are relatively stable up to a frequency range of 120 Hz to 100 kHz. Feasibility of integration of capacitor components has been demonstrated through fabri cation of several industrial prototype circuits. Materials and process issu es for passive elements such as resistors, capacitors, and inductors and th e need for developing alternative substrate materials have also been addres sed in this pager. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.