Apparatus and methods for high-density chip connectivity
First Claim
1. An electronic device, comprising:
- a first chip formed by a first process, said first chip having a plurality of first conductive pads and at least one first alignment structure; and
a second chip formed by a second process, said second chip having a plurality of second conductive pads and at least one second alignment structure, the at least one first and second alignment structures being positionally aligned and at least a subset of the first and second conductive pads being in contact with one another.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Self-alignment structures, such as micro-balls and V-grooves, may be formed on chips made by different processes. The self-alignment structures may be aligned to mask layers within an accuracy of one-half the smallest feature size inside a chip. For example, the alignment structures can align an array of pads having a pitch of 0.6 microns, compared to a pitch of 100 microns available with today'"'"'s Ball Grid Array (BGA) technology. As a result, circuits in the mated chips can communicate via the pads with the same speed or clock frequency as if in a single chip. For example, clock rates between interconnected chips can be increased from 100 MHz to 4 GHz due to low capacitance of the interconnected pads. Because high-density arrays of pads can interconnect chips, chips can be made smaller, thereby reducing cost of chips by order(s) of magnitude.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. An electronic device, comprising:
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a first chip formed by a first process, said first chip having a plurality of first conductive pads and at least one first alignment structure; and a second chip formed by a second process, said second chip having a plurality of second conductive pads and at least one second alignment structure, the at least one first and second alignment structures being positionally aligned and at least a subset of the first and second conductive pads being in contact with one another. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An electronic device, comprising:
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means for communicating signals between a first chip and a second chip; and means for self-aligning the first and second chips to align and to cause said means for communicating signals between the first and second chips to be in contact with one another. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. An electronic device, comprising:
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a first chip having a plurality of first conductive pads having first top surfaces with first dimensions, and at least one first alignment structure; and a second chip having a plurality of second conductive pads having second top surfaces with substantially the same dimensions as the first top surfaces of the first conductive pads and at least one second alignment structure, the at least one first and second alignment structures being positionally aligned and at least a subset of the first and second conductive pads being in contact with one another.
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Specification