RF devices with nanotube particles for enhanced performance and methods of forming the same
The present disclosure relates to a radio frequency device that includes a mold device die and a multilayer redistribution structure underneath the mold device die. The mold device die includes a device region with a back-end-of-line (BEOL) portion and a front-end-of-line (FEOL) portion over the BEOL portion, and a first mold compound with nanotube particles. The FEOL portion includes isolation sections and an active layer surrounded by the isolation sections. The nanotube particles are dispersed throughout a bottom portion of the first mold compound, and have a higher thermal conductivity than the first mold compound alone. The bottom portion of the first mold compound resides over the active layer and top surfaces of the isolation sections. The multilayer redistribution structure includes a number of bump structures, which are at a bottom of the multilayer redistribution structure and electrically coupled to the FEOL portion of the mold device die.
1 . A method comprising:
forming a precursor wafer comprising a plurality of device regions, each of which includes a back-end-of-line (BEOL) portion and a front-end-of-line (FEOL) portion, wherein:
the FEOL portion comprises a contact layer, isolation sections, and an active layer, which is surrounded by the isolation sections and does not extend vertically beyond the isolation sections;
a bottom surface of the active layer and a bottom surface of each of the isolation sections are substantially coplanar and are in contact with a top surface of the contact layer, and the BEOL portion is underneath a bottom surface of the contact layer; and
the FEOL portion is configured to provide at least one field-effect transistor (FET), wherein the active layer includes a source, a drain, and a channel of the at least one FET, while the contact layer includes a gate structure of the at least one FET, the gate structure extending horizontally underneath the channel;
removing a silicon handle substrate completely from the precursor wafer to provide an etched wafer, wherein:
the silicon handle substrate is positioned over each of a plurality of interfacial layers, which is positioned vertically over the active layer of a corresponding one of the plurality of device regions, respectively; and
each of the plurality of interfacial layers is formed of silicon germanium (SiGe), and each active layer is formed from an individual silicon epitaxial layer;
applying a barrier layer over an entire backside of the etched wafer, such that the barrier layer covers at least a top surface of the active layer of each of the plurality of device regions;
forming nanotube particles directly over the barrier layer; and
applying a first mold compound over the barrier layer to provide a mold device wafer, wherein:
the first mold compound fills gaps among the nanotube particles, and the nanotube particles are dispersed throughout a bottom portion of the first mold compound; and
the mold device wafer includes a plurality of mold device dies, each of which includes a corresponding device region, a portion of the barrier layer over the corresponding device region, and the bottom portion of the first mold compound with the nanotube particles over the portion of the barrier layer.
2 . The method of claim 1 wherein:
the nanotube particles have a thermal conductivity between 2 w/m·k and 5000 w/m·k and an electrical resistivity greater than 1E6 Ohm-cm;
the first mold compound alone has a thermal conductivity between 1 w/m·k and 20 w/m·k and an electrical resistivity greater than 1E6 Ohm-cm; and
the bottom portion of the first mold compound mixed with the nanotube particles has a higher thermal conductivity than a remaining portion of the first mold compound alone.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the bottom portion of the first mold compound mixed with the nanotube particles has a thickness between 1 μm and 100 μm.
4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the nanotube particles are boron nitride nanotube particles, aluminum nitride nanotube particles, diamond nanotube particles, or carbon nanotube particles.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the barrier layer is formed of silicon nitride with a thickness between 100 Å and 10 μm.
6 . The method of claim 1 wherein the FEOL portion is configured to further provide at least one of a diode, a capacitor, a resistor, or an inductor.
7 . The method of claim 1 wherein:
the isolation sections are formed of silicon dioxide, and extend vertically beyond the top surface of the active layer to define an opening within the isolation sections and over the top surface of the active layer; and
the barrier layer continuously extends over the top surface of the active layer and inner side surfaces of the isolation sections within the opening, and over top surfaces of the isolation sections.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the individual silicon epitaxial layer is a strained silicon epitaxial layer, in which a lattice constant of silicon is greater than 5.461 at a temperature of 300K.
9 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
bonding the precursor wafer to a temporary carrier via a bonding layer before the silicon handle substrate is removed; and
debonding the temporary carrier and cleaning the bonding layer from the mold device wafer after the first mold compound is applied.
10 . The method of claim 1 further comprising forming a multilayer redistribution structure underneath the mold device wafer, wherein:
the multilayer redistribution structure comprises a plurality of bump structures on a bottom surface of the multilayer redistribution structure and redistribution interconnections within the multilayer redistribution structure; and
each of the plurality of bump structures is electrically coupled to one active layer of a corresponding mold device die via the redistribution interconnections and connecting layers within the BEOL portion of the corresponding mold device die.
11 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
singulating the mold device wafer into a plurality of individual mold device dies;
applying a second mold compound around and over the plurality of individual mold device dies to provide a double mold device wafer, wherein:
the second mold compound encapsulates a top surface and side surfaces of each of the plurality of individual mold device dies, while a bottom surface of each of the plurality of individual mold device dies is exposed; and
a bottom surface of the double mold device wafer is a combination of the bottom surface of each of the plurality of individual mold device dies and a bottom surface of the second mold compound; and
forming a multilayer redistribution structure underneath the double mold device wafer, wherein:
the multilayer redistribution structure comprises a plurality of bump structures on a bottom surface of the multilayer redistribution structure and redistribution interconnections within the multilayer redistribution structure; and
each of the plurality of bump structures is electrically coupled to one active layer of a corresponding individual mold device die via the redistribution interconnections within the multilayer redistribution structure and connecting layers within the BEOL portion of the corresponding individual mold device die.
12 . The method of claim 1 wherein:
the plurality of interfacial layers are separate from each other, and each of the plurality of interfacial layers has a uniform concentration of germanium greater than 15.
13 . The method of claim 12 wherein the precursor wafer further comprises a plurality of individual buffer structures, wherein:
each of the plurality of individual buffer structures resides between the silicon handle substrate and a corresponding interfacial layer;
each of the plurality of individual buffer structures is formed of SiGe with a vertically graded germanium concentration;
the vertically graded germanium concentration within each of the plurality of individual buffer structures increases from the silicon handle substrate to the corresponding interfacial layer;
each of the plurality of interfacial layers is not strained by the silicon handle substrate, and has a lattice constant greater than 5.461 at a temperature of 300K; and
the individual silicon epitaxial layer used to form the active layer of the corresponding device region is grown over and strained by a corresponding interfacial layer, wherein a lattice constant of silicon in the individual silicon epitaxial layer is greater than 5.461 at a temperature of 300K.
14 . The method of claim 13 further comprising removing each of the plurality of individual buffer structures and each of the plurality of interfacial layers after removing the silicon handle substrate and before applying the barrier layer.
15 . The method of claim 14 wherein the active layer of each of the plurality of device regions is in contact with the barrier layer after the barrier layer is applied.
16 . The method of claim 14 further comprising applying a passivation layer directly over the active layer of each of the plurality of device regions after removing each of the plurality of individual buffer structures and each of the plurality of interfacial layers and before applying the barrier layer, wherein:
the passivation layer is formed of silicon dioxide; and
the barrier layer is directly over each passivation layer after the passivation layer is applied.
17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the passivation layer is applied by one of a group consisting of a plasma enhanced deposition process, an anodic oxidation process, and an ozone-based oxidation process.
18 . The method of claim 12 wherein the precursor wafer further comprises a plurality of individual buffer structures, wherein:
each of the plurality of individual buffer structures resides between a corresponding one of the plurality of interfacial layers and one active layer of the corresponding device region;
each of the plurality of individual buffer structures is formed of SiGe with a vertically graded germanium concentration;
the vertically graded germanium concentration within each of the plurality of individual buffer structures increases from the corresponding individual interfacial layer to the active layer of the corresponding device region; and
the individual silicon epitaxial layer used to form the active layer of the corresponding device region is grown over a corresponding individual buffer structure, wherein a lattice constant of silicon in the individual silicon epitaxial layer is greater than a lattice constant of silicon in the silicon handle substrate.
19 . The method of claim 1 wherein forming the precursor wafer comprises:
providing a starting wafer that includes a common silicon epitaxial layer, a common interfacial layer over the common silicon epitaxial layer, and the silicon handle substrate over the common interfacial layer, wherein the common interfacial layer is formed of SiGe with a uniform concentration of germanium greater than 15%; and
performing a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process to provide the precursor wafer, wherein:
the isolation sections extend through the common silicon epitaxial layer and the common interfacial layer, and extend into the silicon handle substrate, such that the common interfacial layer is separated into the plurality of interfacial layers individually, and the common silicon epitaxial layer is separated into the plurality of individual silicon epitaxial layers.
20 . The method of claim 19 wherein the starting wafer further includes a common buffer structure between the silicon handle substrate and the common interfacial layer, wherein:
the common buffer structure is formed of SiGe with a vertically graded germanium concentration;
the vertically graded germanium concentration within the common buffer structure increases from the silicon handle substrate to the common interfacial layer;
the common interfacial layer is not strained by the silicon handle substrate, and has a lattice constant greater than 5.461 at a temperature of 300K; and
the common silicon epitaxial layer is grown over and strained by the common interfacial layer, wherein a lattice constant of silicon in the common silicon epitaxial layer is greater than 5.461 at a temperature of 300K.
21 . The method of claim 20 wherein:
the isolation sections extend through the common silicon epitaxial layer, the common interfacial layer, the common buffer structure, and extend into the silicon handle substrate, such that the common buffer structure is separated into a plurality of individual buffer structures, the common interfacial layer is separated into the plurality of individual interfacial layers, and the common silicon epitaxial layer is separated into the plurality of individual silicon epitaxial layers; and
each of the plurality of individual buffer structures directly resides over a corresponding interfacial layer, and the silicon handle substrate resides directly over the plurality of individual buffer structures.
22 . The method of claim 19 wherein the starting wafer further includes a common buffer structure between the common interfacial layer and the common silicon epitaxial layer, wherein:
the common buffer structure is formed of SiGe with a vertically graded germanium concentration;
the vertically graded germanium concentration within the common buffer structure increases from the common interfacial layer to the common silicon epitaxial layer; and
the common silicon epitaxial layer is grown over the common buffer structure, wherein a lattice constant of silicon in the common silicon epitaxial layer is greater than a lattice constant of silicon in the silicon handle substrate.
23 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the silicon handle substrate is removed by a mechanical grinding process followed by an etching process with an etchant chemistry, which is at least one of a group consisting of tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH), potassium hydroxide (KOH), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), acetylcholine (ACH), and xenon difluoride (XeF 2 ).
24 . The method of claim 1 wherein the silicon handle substrate is removed by an etching process with an etchant chemistry, which is at least one of a group consisting of TMAH, KOH, NaOH, ACH, and XeF 2 .
25 . The method of claim 1 wherein forming nanotube particles directly over the barrier layer comprises:
applying a nanotube liquid mixture directly over the barrier layer, wherein the nanotube liquid mixture is formed from the nanotube particles dispersed in a liquid solvent material that is eligible to evaporate at a certain temperature; and
baking the nanotube liquid mixture to evaporate the liquid solvent material within the nanotube liquid mixture and to retain the nanotube particles.
26 . The method of claim 25 wherein:
the liquid solvent material is water or an alcohol-based solution; and
the nanotube particles are boron nitride nanotube particles, aluminum nitride nanotube particles, diamond nanotube particles, or carbon nanotube particles.