The processing technology and electronic packaging of CVD diamond: a case study for GaAs/CVD diamond plastic packages

The demand for increased performance, increased reliability, and low cost from commercial off-the-shelf electronics technologies has increased the viability assessment efforts for a plethora of new materials targeting the electronics packaging industry. Over the last decade. a widening acceptance of CVD diamond (CVDD) as an engineered material has been due, in part, to its demonstrated performance advantages in monolithic, discrete, hybrid, and module scale electronic packaging applications. Realizing this advantage at palatable costs however requires integrating electronic packaging requirements and designs with the unique properties and processing requirements of CVDD. In this light, this case study examines pertinent CVDD properties and processing, CVDD-enhanced SOIC and QFP package assembly, and the subsequent performance/reliability results for diamond-enhanced, plastic-packaged, GaAs MESFET and PHEMT MMICs. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.