Ultra-Thin Microelectronics

Inventing Team: Harry Charles,Charles Banda (NSA), Shaun Francomacaro,

Allen Keeney, and John Lehtonen

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Technology• Standard microelectronic

assemblies are relatively thick and rigid (exceeding 2500 m in thickness with standard packaged chips and printed wiring boards)

• Using bare chips and flex boards the thickness can easily exceed 750 m and, although the substrate may be flexible, the chips are still rigid

• The focus of the ultra-thin microelectronic invention is to produce high density, highly flexible microelectronic assemblies with thicknesses in the 30-50 m range (nominally about 1/3 the thickness of a human hair)

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Technology• The ultra-thin microelectronics

invention addresses four key processes

– producing thin chips (integrated circuits) down to 1 m in thickness

– fabricating multilayer thin film freestanding substrates (four to six conducting layers less than 25 m overall thickness)

– connecting chips to the multilayer thin film substrate (solder reflow, nanowire interposer)

– verifying performance and reliability (performance test vehicles, thermal cycling studies, etc.)

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Technology• Demonstrated Outcomes

– thinned die on flex (single layer) reliability demonstrated units had high assembly yields and survived many thousands of stringent temperature cycles

– multilayer thin film free standing flex has been fabricated and separated from carriers (appears robust and highly flexible)

– integrated circuit RF test vehicle chip has been designed and fabricated – awaiting thinning and flex testing

– nanowire interposers have been fabricated

4 Layer substrateUltimate goal 30 m

(1/3 thickness of a human hair)

30-50 m5-20 m

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• What does it do?

– produces an integrated packaging system with an extremely low profile and physical flexibility capable of supporting digital, RF, and potentially microwave applications (inherently low weight, also)

– provides ultra-thin complex electronic circuitry that can be appliquéd to any surface (flat or curved)

• Application Areas:– 3-D packaging– smart surfaces and skins– variable emissivity surfaces– active antennas– sensors– appliqués of all types

Technology Applications

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Commercial Applications

• Cellular phones• RF ID tags• Portable electronics• Electronic clothing (“smart shirts”)• Biomedicine (“smart patch, prosthetics”)• Smart cards

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Commercial Opportunities

• Technology available for licensing– Methods of Thinning– Thin-film multilayer substrates– Module assembly– Underfill selection and reliability testing

• Cooperative development of new packaging applications

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Contact Information• For technical information contact:

Harry Charles, Inventor443-778-8050harry.charles@jhuapl.edu

Charles Banda, Inventor443-778-1897charles.banda@jhuapl.edu

• For licensing information contact:

Teresa Colella, Technology ManagerOffice of Technology TransferThe Johns Hopkins UniversityApplied Physics Laboratory11100 Johns Hopkins RoadLaurel, MD 20723443-778-3782teresa.colella@jhuapl.eduwww.jhuapl.edu/ott