Package cooling designs for a dual-chip electronic package with one high power chip

Dual-chip microelectronic packages (DCP) with one high power chip are being increasingly encountered in computer and other electronic systems where a common chip carrier, whether a ceramic or an organic laminate, has a central processing unit (CPU) accompanied by a memory chip. In this study, package cooling designs are developed and presented for cooling two product applications of the DCP, with one application having larger power dissipation on the CPU compared to the other. Thermal analysis was conducted to identify the encapsulation solutions for the DCP. Mechanical analysis was then conducted to identify any structural integrity concerns and include appropriate verification tests during reliability assurance testing. The encapsulation processes were optimized to ensure the reliability of the package under field operation. The reliability of the packaging structures was assured using thermal measurements, acoustic sonography, and shear and tensile strength measurements of using test vehicles and actual product DCPs.