Semiconductor device manufacturing: process – Packaging or treatment of packaged semiconductor – Insulative housing or support
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-18
2003-09-02
Smith, Matthew (Department: 2825)
Semiconductor device manufacturing: process
Packaging or treatment of packaged semiconductor
Insulative housing or support
C438S112000, C438S116000, C438S127000, C438S464000, C438S465000, C438S113000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06613609
ABSTRACT:
This disclosure is based upon French Application No. 99/05394, filed on Apr. 28, 1999 and International Application No. PCT/FR00/1149, filed Apr. 28, 2000, which was published on Nov. 9, 2000 in a language other than English, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the manufacture of a portable electronic device, having at least one integrated circuit chip embedded in a support and electrically connected to interface elements constituted by a connection terminal block and/or an antenna.
These portable electronic devices constitute for example smart cards, with and/or without contacts, or electronic labels.
Smart cards with and/or without contacts are designed for carrying out various operations such as, for example, banking operations, telephone communications, various identification operations, or remote ticketing type operations.
Cards with contacts have metallizations exposed on the surface of the card, disposed at a precise place on the card body, defined by the usual standard ISO 7816. These metallizations are designed to come into contact with a read head of a reader with a view to electrical data transmission.
Contactless cards have an antenna making it possible to exchange information with the outside world by means of electromagnetic coupling between the card electronics and a receiver or reader. This coupling can be performed in read mode or in read/write mode, and the data transmission takes place by radiofrequency or ultrahigh frequency.
There are also hybrid cards or “combicards” which have both metallizations exposed on the surface of the card and an antenna embedded in the body of the card. This type of card can therefore exchange data with the outside world in either contact or contactless mode.
As implemented at present, the cards, with or without contacts, are portable items of small thickness and standardized dimensions. ISO standard 7810 corresponds to a standard format card, 85 mm long, 54 mm wide and 0.76 mm thick.
The majority of smart card manufacturing methods are based on assembly of the integrated circuit chip in a sub-assembly referred to as a micromodule which is inset, that is to say placed in a cavity made in the card body, using techniques known to persons skilled in the art.
A conventional method of manufacturing a micromodule with contacts is illustrated in FIG.
1
. Such a method consists of gluing an integrated circuit chip
10
by disposing its active face with its contact pads
12
upward, and gluing its opposite face on a dielectric support sheet
15
. The dielectric sheet
15
is itself disposed on a contact grid
18
such as a metal plate made of nickel-plated and gold-plated copper for example. Connection wells
16
are made in the dielectric sheet
15
in order to allow connecting wires
17
to connect the contact pads
12
of the chip
10
to the contact areas of the grid
18
.
According to certain variants, it is possible to glue the chip
10
, active face upward, directly on the contact grid
18
, and then connect it by wiring
17
.
In the case of a contactless micromodule, an antenna, deposited on the dielectric support by serigraphy or some other means, is connected to the metal grid.
In a variant embodiment, the chip can also be glued on a dielectric support and connected to defined connection areas on said support. The micromodule thus obtained can subsequently be connected by soldering or gluing to a wire antenna, etched or deposited by serigraphy.
A protection or encapsulation step next protects the chip
10
and the soldered connecting wires
17
. Use is generally made of a technique referred to as “glob top”, which designates the coating of the chip from the top. This technique consists of using a drop of resin
20
, epoxy-based for example, thermosetting or cross-linked by ultraviolet.
Generally, use is made of a three-dimensional thermal resin which requires a polymerization step under operating conditions onerous to implement. This is because time in an oven at over 90° C. for a period of possibly as much as 24 hours is necessary, which necessitates an extended method time, suitable equipment and the intervention of an operator.
It is also possible to use resins polymerizable by exposure to ultraviolet. However, such resins are generally too flexible, which leads to electrical operation and stress problems when the chip is subjected to bending forces.
Resins polymerizable by ultraviolet are therefore rarely used directly as protection according to the conventional “glob top” technique.
Deposition of the resin
20
on the chip and the connecting wires can be carried out directly on the dielectric film for chips of small dimensions.
Nevertheless, in order to limit the risks of the resin running over the edges of the circuit, it is advantageous to delimit the surface of spreading of the drop of resin by a barrier so as to obtain a reproducible protective shape.
FIG. 2
illustrates deposition of a barrier
25
on the dielectric film
15
. This barrier
25
can be made of polymer, such as epoxy, silicone or a polyester. It surrounds the chip
10
and can be deposited on the dielectric film
15
by serigraphy or by a distribution method.
This barrier
25
can also consist of a metal frame stamped and glued on the dielectric film
15
around the chip
10
.
Depending on the particular case, this barrier
25
is deposited on the support
15
in a step of the manufacturing method, or it can be delivered directly by the supplier of the dielectric support
15
.
The presence of a barrier
25
surrounding the chip
10
facilitates deposition of the protective resin
20
but does not necessarily make it possible to avoid the milling step, essential when too large a drop of resin has been deposited. This is because the drop of resin can hamper insetting of the micromodule by an overlarge excess thickness.
Milling makes it possible to optimize the height and shape of the protective resin.
However, milling constitutes a stressful operation for the connected chip.
Furthermore, this operation requires great precision in order not to damage the connection or the active face of the chip.
In addition, milling constitutes an additional step in the manufacturing method and has a non-negligible cost.
A micromodule
50
, constituted by the chip
10
transferred on to the dielectric support strip
15
and connected to a communication interface
18
, is next inset in the cavity of a previously decorated card body.
This insetting operation can be performed by deposition of a liquid glue in the cavity of the card body before transfer of the micromodule, or by deposition of a heat-activated adhesive film by hot rolling on the dielectric film
15
and by hot pressing by means of a press, the shape of which is adapted to that of the cavity of the card body.
These conventional methods of manufacturing micromodules nevertheless have many drawbacks.
On the one hand, the presence of a ring for confining the protective resin is often not sufficient to avoid milling. There results therefrom a covering of the chip which is not optimized and there is not full control over the geometry of the micromodule, in particular on the edges of the chip. Overflow of the resin can lead to the micromodule being scrapped.
It is important to have good control over the thickness of the micromodule, and therefore the height of the protective resin, in order to produce extra flat integrated circuit devices.
Furthermore, the fitting or purchase of a film with a barrier, whatever this is, and/or the milling of the resin have a non-negligible cost.
On the other hand, the use of a thermal resin, traditionally used in the conventional encapsulation technique, imposes too long a polymerization time for a continuous manufacturing method.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The aim of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art.
To that end, the present invention proposes a smart card manufacturing method making it possible to combine reliability of the finished product with simplicity and a re
Fournier Jean Pierre
Laviron Thierry
Leriche Christian
Amy Igwe U.
Burns Doane Swecker & Mathis L.L.P.
Gemplus
Smith Matthew
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