Thanks
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From: Dennis Fritz [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2005 11:33 PM
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Subject: [EM] This article is on integrated (thin film) components - not
embedded, but is good
Integrated Passives... Are We There Yet?
Philip Garrou, CPMT Society president, MCNC Research & Development
Institute, Research Triangle Park, N.C. -- Semiconductor International,
10/1/2005 At a Glance The use of integrated passive devices is clearly
one of the few ways to slim down the size of portable devices or add more
features or benefits.
The drive for passive integration began almost a decade ago, in 1996, when
research institutes at IZM Berlin, IMEC and the University of Arkansas
began showing that resistors, capacitors, inductors and diodes could be
fabricated into a single integrated passive device (IPD) by using thin-film
technology.
During the past nine years, this research has grown into a massive body of
work, and has now begun to become a mainstream technology for fabrication
of commercial devices for portable electronics.
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ord=1129166740?) It was clear a decade ago that these IPDs met at least
three of the four key criteria for commercialization (faster, smaller,
lighter and cheaper). The circuits were certainly smaller, lighter and of
better performance than their discrete counterparts, but would they ever be
cheaper?
Unless these solutions became price-competitive, they would not become
mainstream technology.
While IPD component price may still be higher today, IPD prices have
continued to drop as order volumes have increased. In addition, it is clear
that the assembled cost of an IPD can compare very favorably with the
discrete solution it is intended to replace. The total assembled cost
includes the price of the discrete components and placement cost, as well
as the cost of procurement and storage. The assembly cost for discrete chip
components is nearly always significantly higher than the cost of the
components themselves.
In addition to the clear assembly savings, the proliferation of chip-scale
and wafer-level packaging (WLP) technologies (where the package size is
only slightly larger than the die size) has been quickly assimilated by the
IPD manufacturing community, which is keenly aware of the significant
savings in board space that these low-profile chip scale packages can
provide circuit designers of portable devices. _Figure 1_
(http://www.reed-electronics.com/semiconductor/article/CA6260710?industryid=
3026&nid=2012#fig1) shows an example derived by Bourns, where the discrete
components needed to construct a six-channel ESD/RF filter are compared to
its chip-scale IPD counterpart.
1. Discrete vs. an integrated passive device solution for six-channel
ESD/RF filters are compared. (Source: Bourns)
The application driver is mobile communication devices. While the
mid-to-late '90s were a major growth period for mobile phones and laptops,
it has only been in the past five years or so that the premium has been
placed on added functionality, as well as the development of other mobile
consumer products, such as PDAs, digital cameras and digital music devices
(i.e., iPODs and portable GPS devices), driving IPDs to volume
manufacturing.
The ~400 components present in today's dual-band cell phones are expected
within three years to be reduced to <150 components. Knowing that 95% of
the total components are passives and that they represent ~70% of the total
board area, one must conclude that cell phone manufacturers' demand for
IPDs will continually increase through this decade. Space on a cell phone
board, or other portable device, is at a premium. The use of IPDs is
clearly one of the few ways to slim down the size of the device or add more
features or benefits.
Bourns
Many of Bourns' ESD and EMI/RFI filtering IPDs in chip-scale packages
integrate up to 20-30 components, including resistors, capacitors and
diodes. In some instances, they also include oscillator functions and
transistors. Volume usage for these devices has increased significantly
over the past few years to the point where they are now considered standard
product lines. Many of these devices are available in chip-scale and
wafer-level packages.California Micro Devices (CMD) CMD's ASIP
(application-specific passive device) technology allows for the integration
of spiral inductors, resistors, capacitors and/or ESD protection diodes
onto IPDs to provide EMI filtering, ESD protection and power management
solutions for mobile products, many in their CSP/WLP IPD format. 2.
CMD Praetorian technology includes spiral inductors. (Source: CMD)
A big seller for CMD has been its IEEE 1284 filter for parallel ports. This
device includes 25 resistors, 17 capacitors and 17 ESD protection circuits
in a 28-pin QSOP.
To provide ESD protection and EMI filtering for a cell phone's LCD
interface typically requires as many as 70-80 discrete resistors,
capacitors and diodes. CMD reports that its CM1423 EMI filter and ESD
protection array for Secure Digital interfaces offers a space savings of
90% and a cost savings of 50% vs. discrete implementation.For
high-resolution imagers and color LCDs in wireless handsets, current EMI
filter arrays do not provide effective filtering performance in the 800 MHz
to 2.7 GHz frequency range. The attenuation performance of low-pass L-C
filters developed using CMD's Praetorian technology with integrated spiral
inductors provides -30 to -45 dB attenuation over the 800 MHz to 6 GHz
frequency range, a high level of ESD protection and low parasitic
inductances within the device and between the device and the PWB (_Fig. 2_
(http://www.reed-electronics.com/semiconductor/article/CA6260710?industryid=
30
26&nid=2012#fig2) ).
STMicroelectronics
STMicroelectronics has been commercializing its IPAD (integrated passive
and active device) technology for several years, and offers a wide array of
integrated passives for mobile phone, PDA, digital camera and notebook
computer wireless functions, such as ESD protection diodes, EMI low-pass
filters, line terminations, pull-up or pull-down resistors, signal switches
and RF components.The application space is expanding A number of
applications are now available as cost-competitive thin-film IPD
devices:
* Low-pass filter - Devices such as cell phones often have data
and/or
audio ports for connection to external devices. By their nature, cell
phones generate RF noise, which can be coupled into the data/audio port.
The use of integrated passive low-pass filters attenuates the RF noise,
which could otherwise interfere with the circuitry of the cell phone.
* ESD protection - Many handheld devices have external ports, which
are potential paths for ESD to enter the handheld device and damage the
internal circuitry. Integrated passive and active devices are a very
suitable solution for this type of problem where board area is an issue.
Bourns uses a proprietary back-to-back Zener diode arrangement to provide
ESD protection.
* Low-pass filter with ESD protection - This is a combination of
low-pass filter and ESD protection fabricated into a single component.
* Line termination - System bus speeds are increasing all the time,
making line termination a more important consideration. Transmission line
effects, such as reflections, must be controlled in order to prevent data
errors.
Terminating bus lines with high-speed Schottky diodes is an effective
method to eliminate this issue.
* Voltage-controlled oscillator - Bourns has designed an 800 MHz VCO
for use in the receiver section of a cell phone. This VCO solution is
fabricated in a 1.5 $B!_ (J 1.0 mm format.
* Diplexer - Dual-band cell phones have a requirement to switch
between two transmit frequencies. Use of a diplexer assists the frequency
selection, while at the same time providing impedance matching and
band-pass filtering.
* EMI filter for LCDs - In mobile phones equipped with color LCDs,
the
connections between the graphic controller and the LCD are exposed to the
electromagnetic interferences coming from the antenna. It is necessary to
filter these frequencies to avoid disturbing the video signals. In
addition, mobile phones and PDAs must be protected from potential ESD
damage to the ASIC LCD controller.
* EMI filter and ESD protection for speakers and microphones -
EMI/RFI
IPDs have become essential for mobile phone audio circuits where antenna
radiation can cause audible interferences. In addition, most audio
amplifiers integrated in the base band or mounted as standalone devices are
sensitive to ESD when the circuit is exposed to the external headsets,
speaker ports or hands-free devices. IPDs in use in digital cameras are
shown in _Figure 3_
(http://www.reed-electronics.com/semiconductor/article/CA6260710?industryid=
3026&ni
d=2012#fig3) .
3. IPDs are available for digital camera functions. (Source:
STMicroelectronics)
Packaging foundries coming on board
A sure sign that a technology has "made it" is when it is offered by key
foundries. STATS ChipPAC licensed the SyChip integrated passives technology
a few years ago and currently offers it as its chip-scale module packaging
(CSMP) technology. Its foundry service includes fully characterized
resistor, capacitor, inductor, filter and BALUN libraries complete with
electrical models.
It features resistors to 100,000 $B&8 (J, capacitors to 1000 pF, inductors to 80
nH and compact BALUNs for RF applications. Packaging is available in LFBGA,
FLGA and QFN formats. Intarsia technology coming back?
Intarsia, a joint venture between Dow Chemical and Flextronics, started
addressing the integrated passives issue in 1997, developing its
thin-film-on-glass and thin-film-on-silicon technologies for a variety of
wireless and RF applications. Unfortunately, funds ran out, and Intarsia
closed its doors in the spring of 2001 amid the general downturn in the
wireless industry. The Intarsia film technology package and its Passport
design library are in the process of being acquired by Research Triangle
Institute (formerly the Microelectronic Center of North Carolina [MCNC]),
which intends to revive the technology and offer integrated passive
development and prototyping activities to go
along with its current bumping and 3-D through-via technologies. Next:
IPDs
for implantable medical devices?
There is every indication that progress in electronic miniaturization will
continue to fuel growth in the development of effective medical implants.
Because so much of the body's operation is electrical in nature, nervous
response, sensory input, and muscle control are all likely areas for
treatment, enhancement or replacement using miniaturized electronics.
Medical devices incorporating miniaturized electronics are causing a
rethinking of chronic illness and disability treatment. Hearing aids are
one of the first devices to take advantage of electronic miniaturization.
Current areas of implementation include neuromuscular stimulation,
artificial vision and disc replacement.
For instance, Theken Disc and Valtronic have developed an artificial disc
to replace spinal fusion. The embedded circuitry for this device has
several ICs for performing data acquisition, processing, storage, data
transmission, and power management functions and >80 surface-mount
components, mainly passives. One can easily predict that passive
integration will be a major driver for further reducing the size of such
implantable medical devices.
This article was provided by the IEEE Components, Packaging and
Manufacturing Technology (CPMT) Society. _www.cpmt.org_
(http://www.cpmt.org/)
____________________________________
Author Information Philip Garrou is program consultant for the
_Microelectronics Center of North Carolina's Research & Development
Institute
(MCNC-RDI)_ (http://www.mcnc.org/) , working on its DARPA 3-D programs. He
is
president of the IEEE Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology
(CPMT) Society, as well as a Fellow of IEEE and IMAPS. He worked 29 years
for Dow Chemical, where he most recently was director of technology and
director of new business development in Dow's Advanced Electronic Materials
business. He has a B.S. in chemistry from North Carolina State University
and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Indiana University.
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