Pushing the limits of organic substrate technology

Abstract

The requirement for smaller devices with more functionality has driven substrate technology developers to implement ever increasing circuit densities and layer numbers whilst utilising decreasing substrate thicknesses and reduced substrate sizes. Organic substrates remain the most popular materials for producing advanced interconnects that allow components to communicate in an effective and economic manner. This paper describes the practical work undertaken in the design, development, simulation, manufacture and reliability assessment of SLC™ technology to meet an extremely complex requirement in which all leading-edge features were integrated. The key to finding a satisfactory conclusion to such a complex challenge lies in the ability to design and simulate candidates from which the best solution can be identified and manufactured within market price expectations. SLC™ technology has been manufactured within IBM for over a decade with applications covering the majority of market segments. The example described here is a telecommunications application with constraints such as weight, thickness, size, complexity and cost. All of these were key considerations influencing the appropriate technology selection.