1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to, but is not limited to, electronic devices, and in particular, to the field of integrated circuit packaging.
2. Description of Related Art
Integrated circuits are often assembled into packages that may be mounted onto a printed circuit board. Such packages may include a substrate that has solder balls or other types of contacts that are used to couple the substrate to the circuit board. An integrated circuit, such as a die or chip (herein “die”), may be mounted onto the substrate, the die or chip being electrically coupled to the substrate by way of solder bumps or other contact types. Other components such as capacitors and resistors may also be mounted on top of the substrate. Further, the substrate will typically have routing traces, vias and the like, that electrically connects the die to the solder balls or equivalent contacts.
In some cases, a protective or a structural-supporting layer called an underfill may be placed between the die and the substrate. For example, one type of die that is currently being incorporated into integrated circuit packaging is the flip-chip. Flip-chips are chips that are inverted and connected directly to the packaging substrate (or circuit board) rather than using the more common wire bonding techniques. Typically when a flip-chip is mounted onto the packaging substrate, an underfill is inserted between the die and the substrate. The underfill is usually an epoxy material that may structurally reinforce the solder bumps that are located underneath the die and may improve the life and reliability of the package.