Reliability without Hermetic Packaging Technology for Millimeter Wave Devices (RWoH)

We propose application of a room temperature plasma deposited thin film similar to a low dielectric constant organo-silicon aerogel to provide an environmental barrier for board level assemblies either alone or in concert with silicon nitride. The future of micro-electronic assemblies is to use all types of components on a high density printed wiring board. This COB will be a mixed technology assembly integrating passives, actives, MEMs and hybrid components of all types. Decades of material and process improvements in IC fabrication have greatly reduced feature sizes, increased functionality and created dramatic cost savings. Developments in electronic assembly/packaging have been far less dramatic. Most packaging technology involves packaging the individual components. However, system performance is limited with such an approach. Multi-chip modules (MCMs) combine several bare die into a common package. The operating frequencies of many of these modules are generating crosstalk problems due to the higher dielectric constant materials used as insulators on the printed wiring will use both prepackaged devices and bare die.