SIDEWALL PROTECTED IMAGE SENSOR PACKAGE
A method includes disposing a sheet of glass on a front side of a semiconductor substrate that includes at least one image sensor die, attaching the sheet of glass to the at least one image sensor die by a bead of adhesive material disposed on an edge of the at least one image sensor die, and sawing the semiconductor substrate from a back side to form a trench along a side of the at least one image sensor die. The trench extends through a thickness of the semiconductor substrate and through a part of a thickness of the sheet of glass. The method further includes filling the trench with a molding material to form a layer of molding material on a sidewall of the at least one image sensor die, and singulating the semiconductor substrate to isolate an individual image sensor package enclosing the at least one image sensor die.
1 . A package comprising:
an assembly of an image sensor die and a glass cover attached to the image sensor die, the glass cover being disposed above an optically active area on a front side of the image sensor die; and
a layer of molding material disposed on a sidewall of the assembly of the image sensor die and the glass cover, the layer of molding material hermetically sealing the assembly of the image sensor die and the glass cover.
2 . The package of claim 1 , wherein the glass cover has a width that is a same as a width of the image sensor die.
3 . The package of claim 1 , wherein a width of the package including the layer of molding material disposed on the sidewall of the assembly is no greater than 120% of a width of the image sensor die.
4 . The package of claim 1 , wherein the glass cover includes:
a first layer of glass attached to the image sensor die, the first layer of glass having a width that is a same as a width of the image sensor die; and
a second layer of glass disposed above the first layer of glass, the second layer of glass having a width greater than the width of the image sensor die.
5 . The package of claim 4 , wherein the layer of molding material is disposed on a portion of the sidewall of the assembly that is below the second layer of glass.
6 . The package of claim 1 , wherein an edge portion of a top surface of the glass cover is coated with a light blocking material.
7 . The package of claim 1 , further comprising:
a signal redistribution layer disposed on a back side of the image sensor die; and
a through-semiconductor via (TSV) providing electrical connections between the front side of the image sensor die and the back side of the image sensor die.
8 . The package of claim 7 , further comprising:
external input/output pads and solder bumps for electrical connections to the image sensor die in the package, the external input/output pads being disposed on the signal redistribution layer that is disposed on a back side of the image sensor die.
9 . The package of claim 7 , further comprising, a layer of molding material is disposed on the signal redistribution layer that is disposed on the back side of the image sensor die, the layer of molding material hermetically sealing a back side of the assembly of the image sensor die and the glass cover.
10 . The package of claim 9 , wherein the signal redistribution layer disposed on the back side of the image sensor die is a first signal redistribution layer and the package further includes a second signal redistribution layer disposed on a bottom of the layer of molding material that is disposed on the first signal redistribution layer.
11 . The package of claim 10 , further comprising:
a through-mold via (TMV) that electrically connects the first signal redistribution layer on the back side of image sensor die and the second signal redistribution layer disposed on the bottom of the layer of molding material.
12 . The package of claim 10 , further comprising:
external input/output pads and solder bumps for electrical connections to the image sensor die in the package, the external input/output pads and solder bumps being disposed on the second signal redistribution layer that is disposed on a bottom of the layer of molding material.
13 . A package comprising:
an image sensor die;
a glass cover disposed above the image sensor die, at least a top layer of the glass cover having a width greater than a width of the image sensor die, the glass cover being attached to the image sensor die by a bead of adhesive material placed on an edge of the image sensor die; and
a layer of molding material disposed on a sidewall of the image sensor die, the layer of molding material hermetically sealing the image sensor die and the glass cover.
14 . The package of claim 13 , wherein the layer of molding material disposed on the sidewall of the image sensor die extends along a side of a bottom layer of the glass cover, the bottom layer having a smaller width than the width of the top layer of the glass cover.
15 . The package of claim 13 , further comprising:
a signal redistribution layer disposed on a back side of the image sensor die; and
a through-semiconductor via (TSV) providing electrical connections between a front side of the image sensor die and the back side of the image sensor die.
16 . The package of claim 15 , further comprising:
a layer of molding material disposed on the signal redistribution layer that is disposed on the back side of the image sensor die, the layer of molding material hermetically sealing the back side of the image sensor die.
17 . The package of claim 15 , further comprising:
external input/output pads and solder bumps for electrical connections to the image sensor die in the package, the external input/output pads being disposed on the layer of molding material that is disposed on the signal redistribution layer.
18 . A method comprising:
disposing at least one assembly of an image sensor die and a glass cover on a carrier;
disposing a layer of a molding material on at least a sidewall of the at least one assembly placed with a top surface of the glass cover down on the carrier to form a molded packages structure on the carrier;
removing the carrier; and
singulating the molded packages structure to isolate an individual hermitically sealed image sensor package.
19 . The method of claim 18 further comprising:
disposing a layer of the molding material on a bottom side of the at least one assembly of the image sensor die and the glass cover; and
forming structures in or on the molded packages structure for making external electrical package connections to the at least one assembly of the image sensor die and the glass cover, the structures including at least one of a through-mold via (TMV), a redistribution layer, and a solder bump.
20 . A method, comprising:
disposing a sheet of glass on a front side of a semiconductor substrate, the semiconductor substrate including at least one image sensor die;
attaching the sheet of glass to the at least one image sensor die by a bead of adhesive material disposed on an edge of the at least one image sensor die;
sawing the semiconductor substrate from a back side to form a trench along a side of the at least one image sensor die, the trench extending through a thickness of the semiconductor substrate and at most only through a part of a thickness of the sheet of glass;
filling the trench with a molding material to form a layer of molding material on a sidewall of the at least one image sensor die; and
singulating the semiconductor substrate to isolate an individual image sensor package enclosing the at least one image sensor die.
21 . The method of claim 20 further comprising:
before singulating the semiconductor substrate, disposing a layer of the molding material on a bottom side of the at least one image sensor die in the semiconductor substrate; and
forming structures in or on the layer of the molding material disposed on the bottom side of the at least one image sensor die for making external electrical package connections to the at least one image sensor die, the structures including at least one of a through-mold via (TMV), a redistribution layer, and a solder bump.