Integrated circuit package configurations to reduce stiffness

1. An integrated circuit (IC) package comprising:

a die having a first side and a second side disposed opposite to the first side; and

an encapsulation material encapsulating at least a portion of the die and having a first surface that is adjacent to the first side of the die and a second surface disposed opposite to the first surface;

wherein the second surface has one or more trenches formed therein that have a length as measured in a plane parallel to the second surface that is greater than a width that is measured in a plane parallel to the second surface and perpendicular to the length such that one or more cross-section areas of the IC package as measured at a trench are thinner than one or more other cross-section areas of the IC package as measured at a portion of the IC package that does not intersect with a trench.

2. The IC package of claim 1 , wherein a shape of the second surface that includes the one or more trenches reduces rigidity of the IC package.

3. The IC package of claim 2 , wherein the one or more cross-section areas of the IC package comprise a portion of the encapsulation material disposed external to a region over the die defined by a peripheral edge of the die.

4. The IC package of claim 3 , wherein the second surface slopes up from an edge of the portion of the encapsulation material such that the portion has a substantially beveled or chamfered profile.

5. The IC package of claim 3 , wherein the portion of the encapsulation material has a step profile.

6. The IC package of claim 1 , wherein the one or more trenches are between a terminating edge of the die and a corresponding terminating edge of the IC package.

7. The IC package of claim 6 , wherein the one or more trenches comprise at least four trenches that form a perimeter around the die.

8. The IC package of claim 7 , wherein the four trenches intersect at substantially right angles.

9. The IC package of claim 1 , wherein:

the die includes flip-chip interconnect structures; and

the first surface includes redistribution features that are electrically coupled with the flip-chip interconnect structures; and

the redistribution features form a fan out region of the IC package.

10. A package assembly comprising:

an integrated circuit (IC) package including:

a die having a plurality of input/output (I/O) interconnect structures, a first side and a second side disposed opposite to the first side; and

an encapsulation material encapsulating at least a portion of the die and having a first surface that is adjacent to the first side of the die and a second surface disposed opposite to the first surface;

wherein the second surface has one or more trenches formed therein that have a length as measured in a plane parallel to the second surface that is greater than a width that is measured in a plane parallel to the second surface and perpendicular to the length such that one or more cross-section areas of the IC package as measured at a trench are thinner than one or more other cross-section areas of the IC package as measured at a portion of the IC package that does not intersect with a trench; and

a package substrate including a first side having one or more lands disposed thereon; and a second side disposed opposite to the first side, the second side having one or more electrical routing features disposed thereon, the electrical routing features electrically coupled with the plurality of I/O interconnect structures.

11. The package assembly of claim 10 , wherein the IC package is a processor.

12. The package assembly of claim 11 , further comprising one or more of an antenna, a display, a touchscreen display, a touchscreen controller, a battery, an audio codec, a video codec, a power amplifier, a global positioning system (GPS) device, a compass, a Geiger counter, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a speaker, or a camera coupled with the circuit board, wherein the package assembly is part of a laptop, a netbook, a notebook, an ultrabook, a smartphone, a tablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA), an ultra mobile PC, a mobile phone, a desktop computer, a server, a printer, a scanner, a monitor, a set-top box, an entertainment control unit, a digital camera, a portable music player, or a digital video recorder.

13. The IC package of claim 1 , wherein the one or more trenches are unfilled.

14. The package assembly of claim 10 , wherein the one or more trenches are unfilled.