Compartmentalized shielding of selected components

• US 9,137,934 B2
• Filed: 07/25/2011
• Issued: 09/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/18/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qorvo US, Inc. (Qorvo, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: RF Micro Devices Incorporated (Qorvo, Inc.)
• Inventors: Morris, Thomas Scott, Madsen, Ulrik Riis, Sawyer, Brian D., Shah, Milind, Siomkos, John Robert, Crandall, Mark Alan, Carey, Dan
• Primary Examiner(s): Vo, Peter DungBa
• Assistant Examiner(s): PARVEZ, AZM A
• Application Number:
  US13/189,838
• Publication Number:
  US 20120044653A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,513 Days
• Field of Search: 298/41, 298/32, 298/29, 298/25, 295/921, 298/46, 29412-416, 438/953, 438/121, 438/127, 438/123, 438/107, 438/111, 361/728
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/15313 being a land array, e.g. LGA
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/3025 Electromagnetic shielding
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/0218 by printed shielding conductors, ground planes or power plane H05K1/0236 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2201/0715 provided by an outer layer of PCB
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2201/09972 Partitioned, e.g. portions of a PCB dedicated to different functions; Boundary lines therefore; Portions of a PCB being processed separately or differently
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 3/284 for encapsulating mounted components H05K1/185 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 9/0024 Shield cases mounted on a PCB, e.g. cans or caps or conformal shields
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49155 Manufacturing circuit on or in base

Abstract

Embodiments include devices and methods for manufacturing a module having a first shielded compartment and a second shielded compartment, wherein the first shielded compartment is electrically isolated from the second shielded compartment. Electrical conductivity is controlled in a manner in which current flow between shielded circuits is directed to reduce or eliminate energy from being coupled between one or more shielded compartments on the same module. Each module may have a plurality of individual shielded compartments, where each compartment has a dedicated ground plane. The shields for each compartment may be tied to the dedicated ground plane of the compartment. Because the dedicated ground planes are not tied together, each of the shielded compartments on the modules remains isolated from all the other shielded compartments on the modules. In some embodiments having a plurality of shielded compartments, there is at least one isolated shielded compartment depending upon the design needs of the module.

Claims

1. A module having multiple shielded compartments formed by a process comprising:

forming a module having a first circuit and a second circuit on a first surface of a substrate;

applying a dielectric material to the module to form a body of the module;

removing a portion of the body of the module to expose a portion of a metallic layer grid about a periphery of the first circuit and about a periphery of the second circuit;

applying a conductive material to the body of the module and an exposed portion of the metallic layer grid to form a first shielded compartment associated with the first circuit and a second shielded compartment associated with the second circuit; and

removing a portion of the conductive material and the metallic layer grid to electrically isolate the first shielded compartment of the module from the second shielded compartment of the module, without cutting all of the way through the substrate.

2. The module formed by the process of claim 1 further comprising roughening an exposed surface of the body prior to applying the conductive material.

3. The module formed by the process of claim 1 wherein applying the conductive material to the body of the module and the exposed portion of the metallic layer grid to form the first shielded compartment associated with the first circuit and the second shielded compartment associated with the second circuit comprises:

depositing a seed layer of conductive material on the body of the module and the exposed portion of the metallic layer grid;

generating a second layer on top of the seed layer of conductive material through an electrolytic plating process; and

generating a third layer of material on top of the second layer through a second electrolytic plating process.

4. The module formed by the process of claim 3 wherein the seed layer of conductive material is Copper (Cu).

5. The module formed by the process of claim 3 wherein depositing the seed layer of conductive material comprises using an electroless plating process.

6. The module of claim 3 wherein the third layer of material is formed from Nickel (Ni).

7. The module formed by the process of claim 1 wherein removing the portion of the conductive material and the metallic layer grid to electrically isolate the first shielded compartment from the second shielded compartment comprises sub-dicing through the body of the module and a portion of the metallic layer grid between the first shielded compartment and the second shielded compartment.

8. The module formed by the process of claim 1 wherein removing the portion of the body of the module to expose the portion of the metallic layer grid about the periphery of the first circuit and about the periphery of the second circuit includes removing a small portion of a top surface of the metallic layer grid.

9. The module formed by the process of claim 1 wherein the substrate includes a first ground plane associated with the first circuit and a second ground plane associated with the second circuit.

10. The module formed by the process of claim 9 wherein the first ground plane is electrically isolated from the second ground plane.

11. The module formed by the process of claim 9 wherein the first ground plane is electrically coupled to the first shielded compartment and the second ground plane is electrically coupled to the second shielded compartment.

12. The module formed by the process of claim 9 wherein the substrate includes a plurality of interior layers;

wherein the first ground plane is on one of the plurality of interior layers; and

wherein the second ground plane is on one of the plurality of interior layers.

13. The module formed by the process of claim 9 wherein the substrate includes a second surface opposite the first surface, and wherein the second surface includes a first plurality of pads associated with the first circuit and a second plurality of pads associated with the second circuit.

14. The module of claim 13 further comprising removing a mask from the second surface after applying the conductive material.

15. The module formed by the process of claim 1 wherein a meta-module work piece includes a plurality of modules, and the plurality of modules includes the module, the process further comprising:

singulating the meta-module work piece to separate the module from the plurality of modules.

16. The module formed by the process of claim 15 wherein removing the portion of the conductive material and the metallic layer grid to electrically isolate the first shielded compartment from the second shielded compartment comprises sub-dicing the plurality of modules such that after singulating the meta-module work piece the first shielded compartment of the module is electrically isolated from the second shielded compartment of the module.

17. A method for manufacturing an electronic module comprising:

providing a meta-module work piece for manufacturing a plurality of modules, wherein the meta-module work piece includes a top side having a metallic layer grid, wherein the metallic layer grid forms a periphery about a plurality of first electrical component areas and a plurality of second electrical component areas, and each of the first electrical component areas corresponds to a first electric circuit and each of the second electrical component areas corresponds to a second electric circuit;

mounting components for each first electric circuit and each second electric circuit onto the meta-module work piece;

applying a dielectric material to the top side of the meta-module work piece to form an over-mold body;

sub-dicing through the over-mold body of the meta-module work-piece to form a plurality of bodies and expose a portion of the metallic layer grid about the periphery of each of the plurality of bodies;

applying a conductive material to the meta-module work piece to cover each of the plurality of bodies and the exposed portions of the metallic layer grid about the periphery of each of the plurality of bodies to form a first shielded compartment and a second shielded compartment on each of the modules, wherein the first shielded compartment and the second shielded compartment of each of the modules are electrically coupled by a conductive path;

sub-dicing through the conductive material and the metallic layer grid to break the conductive path between the first shielded compartment and the second shielded compartment on each of the modules, without cutting all of the way through the substrate;

singulating the meta-module work piece to form the plurality of modules, wherein each of the modules includes the first shield compartment and the second shielded compartment.