IMAPS - International Microelectronics And Packaging Society

Advancing Microelectronics • Volume 29, No. 6 • November/December, 2002

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Top 10 Developments in Ceramic Interconnect Technology

The latest advances and challenges — “The Top Ten Developments in Ceramic Interconnect Technology” — were recognized at a recent press event hosted by the Ceramic Interconnect Initiative (CII) at IMAPS 2002,the 35th International Symposium on Microelectronics in Denver, Colorado.

Nominations for the “Top Ten” were invited well in advance of the show, and from those nominations received, were chosen the winning top ten developments in ceramic interconnect technology. This was a global field including some very fine work that was evaluated by the CII Steering Committee, itself a globally recognized group of experts in ceramic interconnect technology.

The competition and the press roundtable were hosted by Mike Ehlert, a pioneer in the industry who has been particularly instrumental in the development of Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramics (LTCC). Mr. Ehlert was elected chair of the CII in September 2001 replacing its founder Dr. Samuel J. Horowitz. He has been active in the industry since 1968 with a broad range of experience in the electronic ceramic field with expertise in the fabrication of high alumina components, various classical ceramics, HTCC and LTCC and has been a major contributor to the development of the ceramic technology roadmap, which has had a positive impact on the industry.

In announcing the winners, Ehlert said, “These selections represent the spectrum of electronic ceramic applications from single chip RF power devices to conventional ceramic modules to integrated RF modules for Bluetooth to a pioneering new materials system. They are emblematic of the range of applications developing within the industry.”

The “Top 10” winning companies and their technologies are listed as follows:

1. Heraeus Incorporated. Heraeus came in #1 with its HL2000 zero shrink low temperature co-fire ceramic (LTCC) tape system that incorporates the company’s proprietary HeraLockTM (patent pending) zero-shrink materials technology, providing a means to significantly increase the flexibility in using LTCC technology for production of microelectronic substrates, packages, and components. HeraLockTM LTCC technology enables the fabrication of large panel LTCC substrates, which result in higher throughput and assembly yield at a lower cost than conventional free sintered or constrained LTCC technology. Additionally, this technology enables the formation of precise cavities on both sides of a LTCC device, and facilitates embedding of components such as capacitors, resistors, inductors, transformers, optical fiber, and channels.

2. Cerel (Ceramic Technologies Ltd.). Cerel took 2nd place for their “Implementation of Embedded Passive Components in Multilayer Ceramic Modules Using Electrophoretic Deposition.” This is a unique proprietary technology for deposition of ceramic materials (EPD, Electrophoretic Deposition). Cerel’s technology allows embedding passive components, currently surface mounted, into a small ceramic substrate for MCMs. The new packaging modules have improved electrical properties, reduced size, wider bandwidth and low power consumption, together with excellent material properties, low cost and reduced time to market. Cerel’s EPD technology is a unique and promising technology that has significant potential advantages over competitive technologies in the area of embedded passive components. Cerel focuses on the ‘hot’ niche of RF wireless applications.

3. CAD-Design Software. This company’s “Hybrid Designer”has been nominatedfor the honor of being included in the Ceramic Interconnect Initiative’s “Top 10 Ceramic Accomplishments for 2002.” CAD-Design Software produces Electronic Design Automation layout software that utilizes very advanced 2D and 3D graphics capabilities for the RF/Microwave PCB, Flex, Hybrid/MCM, and IC packaging industries. EPD, also known as Electronics Package Designer, is the core design engine in all CAD-Design Software’s design suites. Each suite is tailored for specific technologies and industries. The result is faster, more accurate designs than are possible with other “Design Automation” tools.

4. Midcom-ESL. This collaboration won for its creative use of Ceramic technology in making low profile/high performance analog transformers in ferrite-based ceramics. Based upon a highly automatable process similar to that used on multilayer capacitors, and utilizing a ferrite LTCC material set developed jointly with Electro-Science Laboratories Inc., Midcom, Inc. recently announced the commercialization of an entirely new technology for building transformers that will replace many wire wound magnetics. The technology reportedly represents an important simplification of transformer magnetics. The ceramic transformer is packaged in a surface mountable leadless chip carrier and does not contain open cavities, wires, tape, clips or other fastening devices typical of the older transformer technologies.

5. Kyocera. Fifth place went to Kyocera for a Copper Conductor Multilayer ceramic materials system that resolves the conductor loss issue, “AO600 Material System,” a low resistance routing pattern alumina multilayer package to enable the use of a low-resistance copper type conductor for routing pattern on alumina ceramics. The product has the advantages of a copper type conductor, which is of low resistance and excels in high frequency properties, as well as the advantages of alumina ceramics with their outstanding strength and heat dissipation, so it can increase the degree of freedom in circuit board designing.

6. NEC. Sixth place went to NEC for its 60 GHz LTCC Substrate “LTCC Substrate for High Frequencies WirelessCommunication Systems,” for use of LTCC ceramic to make an integrated high frequency communication module. NEC has developed a new module employing LTCC technology. This device operates at 60GHz and NEC achieves greater than 1Gbps in wireless data communications. This module is easily mass-produced at low cost. The substrates feature a high degree of flatness and precise positioning of the electrodes, making GaAs chip in MCMs by flip-chip bonding possible. A module with MMICs mounted delivers sufficient performance at 60 GHz for application in indoor wireless communication systems.

7. Satcon. Seventh place went to Satcon for “Thin Film Wideband Termination” for strategic use of ceramic materials properties with good design to create a high power density RF termination. The high power wide band termination is a precision matching element with wide application in radar, telecommunications, commercial electronic circuits, and military systems. The SatCon termination has ultra-wide band performance in a compact, high power configuration. This innovative design is based on SatCon’s thin film resistor technology on Aluminum Nitride.

There was no 8th place due to a three-way tie for 9th place among Phillips, National Semiconductor and Motorola for their creative use of LTCC as the mainstream approach in making BlueTooth™ radios.

9. Phillips. Phillips tied with its BGB100 TrueBlue Blue Tooth Module in LTCC.” TrueBlue (BGB100) 0dBm radio module is a cost-effective, plug-and-play, fully integrated radio module for use in cellular and multimedia Bluetooth applications. The module adds to an existing Bluetooth product portfolio, that includes the world’s first commercially available Bluetooth chipset, plus a range of baseband controllers and 20 dBm RF power amplifiers.

9. National Semiconductor. National Semiconductor’s “LMX9814 Blue Tooth Module in LTCC” tied in 9th place for its creative use of LTCC as the mainstream approach in making BlueTooth™ radios. The LMX9814 Bluetooth Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) Module is a highly integrated radio and baseband system that represents today’s leading-edge Bluetooth wireless technologies. Due to its exceptionally small size (10.1 x 14.0 x 1.9 mm), low power consumption and ability to function from a wide range of externally available system clocks, the WPAN Module is ideally suited for rapid development in portable products. With metal can shielding and radio front-end filtering, the LMX9814 also offers effective immunity to close proximity radio noise.

9. Motorola. The “Motorola BT MMM7400 Bluetooth Module in LTCC” is a compact Bluetooth RF transceiver module designed to help reduce size, overall system cost, and total parts count. Using LTCC technology enables multiple layers to be stacked in a thin ceramic substrate, with a significant portion of complementary matching design components embedded between the layers. Many of the passives that are normally implemented as surface mount chip components are built as distributed elements, and are embedded within the substrate layers, thereby reducing the number of discrete passives in the package by 55 percent. The few remaining passives, along with the transceiver IC, are mounted on top of the LTCC module substrate. In addition, functional partitioning achieves optimized module size and performance at an attractive cost.

10. Plextek. Plextek (England) was recognized for its “Plextek 21.4 GHz DRO in LTCC,” its Dielectric Resonance Oscillator because of its use of ceramic properties to achieve a high performance, high frequency product.

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