Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 17
Claim 1
Independent Claim
168 words
A method of forming solder bumps on an electronic structure comprising the steps of: providing a mold made by a sheet of a mold material having a thickness greater than that of the solder bumps to be formed, said mold material having sufficient optical transparency so as to allow the inspection of a solder material subsequently filled into mold cavities formed in said material, and a coefficient of thermal expansion substantially similar to that of a substrate that the mold will be mated to, forming a multiplicity of mold cavities in said sheet of mold material, filling said multiplicity of mold cavities with a solder material, cooling said mold to a temperature sufficient to solidify said solder material in said multiplicity of mold cavities, positioning said mold juxtaposed to and aligning with said electronic structure with said multiplicity of mold cavities facing said structure, and heating said mold and said electronic structure together to a temperature sufficiently high such that said solder material transfers onto said electronic structure.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
168 words
A method of forming solder bumps on an electronic structure comprising the steps of: providing a mold made by a sheet of a mold material having a thickness greater than that of the solder bumps to be formed, said mold material having sufficient optical transparency so as to allow the inspection of a solder material subsequently filled into mold cavities formed in said material, and a coefficient of thermal expansion substantially similar to that of a substrate that the mold will be mated to, forming a multiplicity of mold cavities in said sheet of mold material, filling said multiplicity of mold cavities with a solder material, cooling said mold to a temperature sufficient to solidify said solder material in said multiplicity of mold cavities, positioning said mold juxtaposed to and aligning with said electronic structure with said multiplicity of mold cavities facing said structure, and heating said mold and said electronic structure together to a temperature sufficiently high such that said solder material transfers onto said electronic structure.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
14 words
A method according to claim 1, wherein said electronic structure is a semiconducting wafer.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
16 words
A method according to claim 1, wherein said electronic structure is made of Si or GaAs.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method according to claim 1, wherein said coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of said mold material deviates from the CTE of said electronic structure by less than 20%.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
27 words
A method according to claim 1, wherein said multiplicity of mold cavities is equal to the number of solder bumps to be formed on said electronic device.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
33 words
A method according to claim 1, wherein said multiplicity of mold cavities are filled with said solder material by a technique wherein a differential pressure existed between the mold cavities and the ambient.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method according to claim 1, wherein said multiplicity of mold cavities are filled with said solder material by first drawing vacuum in said cavities.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method according to claim 1, wherein said multiplicity of mold cavities are filled with said solder material by an injection molding technique.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method according to claim 1, wherein said solder material is selected from the group consisting Pb/Sn, Sn/Au, SnBi, SnAg, SnSb and SnAgCu.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
14 words
A method according to claim 1, wherein said solder material contains Sn and Pb.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
27 words
A method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of providing ball limiting metallurgy (BLM) on said electronic structure as bonding pads for said solder bumps.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
17 words
A method according to claim 11, wherein said ball limiting metallurgy is a multi-layer structure comprising Cr-Cu-Au.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
28 words
A method according to claim 11, wherein said ball limiting metallurgy is provided by a technique selected from the group consisting of evaporation, electroplating and self-aligning electroless plating.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
27 words
A method according to claim 1, wherein said mold material is selected from the group consisting of a polymer, a glass, a polymer/glass laminate and a metal.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
15 words
A method according to claim 1, wherein said mold material is polyimide or polyimide/glass laminate.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
19 words
A method according to claim 1, wherein said multiplicity of mold cavities are formed by a laser ablation technique.