Advanced packaging (3D and chiplets)

Advanced packaging steps that use front-end-like fine processing at the wafer level, such as forming TSVs and fine redistribution layers, sit between the front end and back end. What are they called?

  1. AMiddle end (mid-end)
  2. BUpstream process
  3. CFinal process
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Answer: A. Middle end (mid-end)

In advanced packaging, TSV drilling and filling, fine redistribution wiring, bump formation, thinning and more are done on whole wafers with tools and techniques close to those of the front end. Because they fit neither the traditional front end (circuit formation) nor the back end (assembly and test), they are sometimes called the middle end.

  • A. Correct. These are the steps between the front end and back end.
  • B. Upstream process is a term used in software development and the like for requirements definition and design.
  • C. Final process is not a common category.
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More Advanced packaging (3D and chiplets) questions

  1. Which TSMC 2.5D packaging technology is widely used to place AI GPUs and HBM side by side on a silicon interposer and connect them?
  2. Which TSMC fan-out wafer-level packaging technology became widely known when it was adopted for a smartphone processor in 2016?
  3. Which is a challenge of wafer-on-wafer (W2W) bonding, which bonds entire wafers together?
  4. In 2.5D packaging, what is the main advantage of using an interposer made of redistribution layers (RDL) of organic dielectric and copper wiring instead of a silicon interposer?
  5. Through the HBM3 generation, which is the data bus width per HBM stack?