MEMS Package Design and Technology

Abstract

The chapter describes the main challenges of package design and how technology bricks are set together and linked to fabricate effective sensor packages. From the overview of existing design and technologies, the description moves to the peculiarities of different sensor families, listing the main features of the involved package.

The first part of the chapter introduces the new challenges that the packaging for sensor added to the standard encapsulation technologies used for microelectronics. In fact, the need of “sensing” breaks up and collides with one of the major features of the package that is the protection of the circuitry. On this basis, the most used structures for the various sensor families are presented to highlight the peculiarities needed to design an as correct as possible “sensing port.”

Material and processes are then listed and described in a face-to-face comparison, where possible, with focus to provide the reader with an easy-to-handle guide for what and how the packaging technology can serve the design of peculiar sensor family. Standard processes and material are mostly commented for which changes or peculiarities could be needed for sensor packaging, while innovative material and techniques are introduced focusing on their actual or potential use in MEMS arena.

The final part is dedicated to new frontiers on sensor packaging where on one side is visible the need of integrating more and more complex system function in the package; on other side, the integration of “front-end” processes on the packaging can be mandatory to reduce the size or to be able to effectively integrate advanced micromachined structure in package-like structures.