Overview of new packages, materials and processes

Despite the chaotic 1990s packaging revolution there is no rest yet. The revolution's first decade made strides in conquering space by shifting to efficient area array. Minimal packaging reintroduced CSPs and flip chips in the quest to compress enver more on to a chip. Innovators invoked the third dimension to stack chips in high-rise fashion. Flex-based packages gained stature by shedding weight and height with 25 /spl mu/m films having lines and spaces approaching microns using vacuum-deposited metal. Flex-BGAs and micro-BGAs set high-density records, yet flex-based packaging is nearly 40 years old. MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) then moved to center stage. The world's most complex machine, the Boeing 777, moved to second place when a MEMS device took the title with over 1 million parts. MEMS that can "move, breathe, see, hear and think", need new packaging. Optics then brought MOEMS (micro-opto-electro-mechanical systems) into the spotlight. The Internet giants embraced lightwaves, seeking MOEMS to catch the wave, and using micro mirrors to route light beams into cyberspace, but MOEMS demands a different package with real windows and no gates. This presentation gives an overview of these new packages, materials and process technologies.