US4617730A — Method of fabricating a chip interposer

Claim 1

Independent Claim 162 words

A method of fabricating an interposer for connecting a plurality of semiconductor chips to a substrate, comprising, in sequence, the steps of: providing an insulating support having a thin film fine line metallization formed on its top surface before the top surface is interrupted by holes interfering with fine line photolithography, depositing a layer of masking material adhering well to the support onto the bottom side of said support, removing said masking material according to a desired pattern, so as to expose areas of the support where via holes are to be formed, etching the exposed areas of the support until reaching said metallization, whereby via holes are created through the suppport, depositing an interconnecting metallurgy on the backside of the support including the interior of said via holes, whereby an electrical connection is made between said thin film fine line metallization on the top side and the bottom side of said support, and forming a contact pad around each via hole.

Claim 2

Independent Claim 162 words

A method of fabricating an interposer for connecting a plurality of semiconductor chips to a substrate, comprising, in sequence, the steps of: providing an insulating support having a thin film fine line metallization formed on its top surface before the top surface is interrupted by holes interfering with fine line photolithography, depositing a layer of masking material adhering well to the support onto the bottom side of said support, removing said masking material according to a desired pattern, so as to expose areas of the support where via holes are to be formed, etching the exposed areas of the support until reaching said metallization, whereby via holes are created through the suppport, depositing an interconnecting metallurgy on the backside of the support including the interior of said via holes, whereby an electrical connection is made between said thin film fine line metallization on the top side and the bottom side of said support, and forming a contact pad around each via hole.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 26 words

The method of claim 1 wherein said insulating support comprises a sheet of continuous ceramic in the range of about 0.1 mm to 3 mm thickness.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 25 words

The method of claim 2 wherein said masking material is selected from the group consisting of chromium and aluminum, at least approximately 200 nm thick.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 32 words

The method of claim 3 wherein the step of delineating said masking material further includes the step of: depositing, exposing and developing a layer of photoresist material according to said desired pattern.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 23 words

The method of claim 4 wherein the step of etching chromium is effected in a chlorinated plasma atmosphere in reactive ion etch equipment.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 26 words

The method of claim 3 wherein the step of etching said masking material is effected by direct etching with an Excimer laser in a chlorine atmosphere.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 47 words

The method of claim 5 wherein the step of etching the exposed areas of the ceramic support is effected in a fluorinated plasma in reactive ion etching equipment at pressures of less than approximately 100 microns, and a power density greater than approximately 0.1 W/cm 2 .

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 47 words

The method of claim 5 wherein the step of etching the exposed areas of the ceramic support is effected in a fluorinated plasma in reactive ion etching equipment, at a pressure greater than approximately 500 microns and a power density greater than approximately 2 W/CM 2 .

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 28 words

The method of claim 5 wherein the step of etching the vias of the ceramic support is effected by laser induced chemical etching in a reactive gas ambient.

Claim 11

Independent Claim 20 words

The method of claims 7 or 8 or 9 wherein said thin film fine line metallization comprises a Cr-Cu-Cr metallurgy.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 45 words

The method of claim 10, further including the steps of: (a) testing the functionality of the interposer at each chip site; (b) dicing said interposer into a plurality of single chip interposers, each corresponding to a chip site; and (c) selecting good single chip interposers.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 83 words

The method of claim 11 further including the steps of: (a) providing a multi-layered ceramic substrate having molybdenum filled via holes, each terminated on the upper surface by a terminal pad, said terminal pads being disposed according to a grid which roughly corresponds to the grid of said contact pads of the interposer, (b) registering and bonding at least one single chip interposer to said multi-layered ceramic substrate by either soldering or brazing said contact pads to corresponding terminal pads on the substrate.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 13 words

The method of claim 12 wherein said terminal pad comprises a Mo/Ni/Au combination.

Claim 15

Independent Claim 47 words

The method of claims 1 or 5 or 6 wherein the step of removing said masking material includes the steps of: using an ultraviolet sensitive polymer film layer as a block out mask, exposing and developing said ultraviolet sensitive polymer film layer, and etching said masking material.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 17 words

The method of claim 14 wherein said pads around the via holes are ring shaped or oblong.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 46 words

The method of claim 6 wherein the step of etching the exposed areas of the support is effected in a fluorinated plasma in reactive ion etching equipment at pressures of less than approximately 100 microns, and a power density greater than approximately 0.1 W/cm 2 .

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 46 words

The method of claim 6 wherein the step of etching the exposed areas of the support is effected in a fluorinated plasma in reactive ion etching equipment at a pressure greater than approximately 500 microns and a power density greater than approximately 2 W/cm 2 .

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 28 words

The method of claim 3 wherein the step of etching the exposed areas of the support is effected by laser induced chemical etching in a reactive gas ambient.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 20 words

The method of claim 16 or 17 or 18 wherein said thin film fine line metallization is a Cr-Cu-Cr metallurgy.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 45 words

The method of claim 19 further including the steps of: (a) testing the functionality of the interposer at each chip site; (b) dicing said interposer into a plurality of single chip interposers, each corresponding to a chip site; and (c) selecting good single chip interposers.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 83 words

The method of claim 20 further including the steps of: (a) providing a multi-layered ceramic substrate having molybdenum filled via holes, each terminated on the upper surface by a terminal pad, said terminal pads being disposed according to a grid which roughly corresponds to the grid of said contact pads of the interposer, (b) registering and bonding at least one single chip interposer to said multi-layered ceramic substrate by either soldering or brazing said contact pads to corresponding terminal pads on the substrate.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 13 words

The method of claim 21 wherein said terminal pad comprises a Mo/Ni/Au combination.

Claim 24

Independent Claim 133 words

A method of fabricating an interposer for connecting a plurality of semiconductor chips to substrate comprising in sequence, the steps of: providing an insulating support having a thin film line metallization formed atop of it before the top surface thereof is interrupted by holes interfering with fine line photolithography; direct etching of via holes on the backside of said insulating supoort by projecting the desired via pattern directly with a laser in the presence of a reactive gas ambient until reaching said metallization, depositing an interconnecting metallurgy on the backside of the support, including the interior of said via holes, whereby an electrical connection is made between said thin film fine line metallization on the top side and the bottom side of said support, and forming a contact pad around each via hole.

Claim 25

Independent Claim 133 words

A method of fabricating an interposer for connecting a plurality of semiconductor chips to substrate comprising in sequence, the steps of: providing an insulating support having a thin film line metallization formed atop of it before the top surface thereof is interrupted by holes interfering with fine line photolithography; direct etching of via holes on the backside of said insulating supoort by projecting the desired via pattern directly with a laser in the presence of a reactive gas ambient until reaching said metallization, depositing an interconnecting metallurgy on the backside of the support, including the interior of said via holes, whereby an electrical connection is made between said thin film fine line metallization on the top side and the bottom side of said support, and forming a contact pad around each via hole.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 27 words

The method of claim 23 wherein said insulating support comprises a sheet of continuous ceramic in the range of about 0.1 mm thickness to 3 mm thickness.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 30 words

The method of claim 23 wherein the step of depositing includes the step of sputtering a composite layer formed by an underlying layer of chromium and overlying layer of copper.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 16 words

The method of claim 25 wherein said thin film fine line metallization comprises a Cr-Cu-Cr metallurgy.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 47 words

The method of claim 25 or 26 further including the steps of: (a) testing the functionality of the interposer at each chips site; (b) dicing said interposer into a plurality of single chip interposers each corresponding to a chip site and, (c) selecting good single chip interposers.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 84 words

The method of claim 27 further including the steps of: (a) providing a multi-layered ceramic substrate having molybdenum filled via holes each terminated on the upper surface by a terminal pad, said terminal pads being disposed according to a grid which roughly corresponds to the grid of said contact pads on said interposer; (b) registering and bonding at least one single chip interposer to said multi-layered ceramic substrate by either soldering or brazing said contact pads to their corresponding terminal pads on the substrate.

Claim 31

Dependent Claim 13 words

The method of claim 28 wherein said terminal pad comprises a Mo/Ni/Au combination.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1989-10-20	1990-04-21	1990-10-21	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1993-10-20	1994-04-21	1994-10-21	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	1997-10-20	1998-04-21	1998-10-21	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Method of fabricating a chip interposer

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