Tessera has just introduced what it claims to be the thinnest form factor wafer-level chip scale packaging (WLCSP) solution--SHELLCASE MVP for image sensors. Targeting any product housing a camera, the thin package height ~500 μm, the true die-size package has X/Y dimensions identical to the original chip.

According to the company, by 2010 mainstream consumer electronics designs will house two cameras--one dedicated to video--in an already shrinking environment. Wafer-level chip scale packaging is expected to grow from 31% of packaging in 2006 to 50% by 2011. Predictably camera phones are a major driver today, while automotive cameras are rapidly gaining in numbers.

SHELLCASE MVP addresses the demand for image sensor packaging that provides a combination of thinner package, higher yield, greater reliability and low cost. Not only do sophisticated camera phones, digital cameras, PDAs, digital scanners, fingerprint ID devices, and laptops benefit from the lower-profile solution, compliance with JEDEC Level 1 moisture sensitivity requirements deliver the technology on the doorstep of the automotive industry as well.

Tessera's unique packaging process involves a wafer encapsulated with protective glass at the initial process stage. Connections are made through silicon via (TSV) connection via making the wafer-level package compatible with today's CMOS imagers. The design produces thinner and more sophisticated devices, and high yields based on reductions in wafer spacing and contamination. The resulting image IC sensor wafers can be used by OEMs and camera module manufacturers without modification.

The SHELLCASE MVP solution is available in cavity and non-cavity formats and leaded or lead-free bump formats and is available for licensing from Tessera. For additional information go to: Tessera.

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