Maskless Lithography Optimized for Heterogeneous and Chiplet Integration

ABSTRACT Moving from monolithic scaling to the second (2D) and to the third dimension (3D) is becoming increasingly important within industry. In the last years heterogeneous and chiplet integration, utilizing advanced packaging technologies, has increased in complexity as well as in variability. Higher performance, wider bandwidth and lower power consumption and space requirements drive the approach toward 3D integration, whereas the need of finer RDL line/spacing as well as smaller μ-bumps and μ-pillars critical dimension tighten integration design rules at the package and substrate level. Individual chiplet’s I/O bumps and interconnects pitch scaling nowadays moves towards 2/2μm L/S. Although the flexible re-integration of larger dies from smaller chiplets, from various technology nodes to partitioned dies has shown numerous advantages over monolithic SoC technologies with larger freedom of design, this approach shifts the complexity into the integration and with it into the lithographic patterning processes. In this work a profound evaluation of common advanced packaging high resolution, thin and thick resists for RDL & μ-bump/μ-pillar manufacturing is presented, utilizing maskless exposure to demonstrate its patterning performance. Resolution tests, focal position & exposure matrices, including resist sidewall profiles are discussed in view of the 2/2μm L/S requirements for heterogeneous integration. Furthermore, the high-speed digital processing meets the needs for design flexibility and scalability for a wide range of packaging technologies by enabling both, die- and wafer-level designs, fast tape-out changes together with sub-μm adaptability.