Hybrid Systems-in-Foil - Combining Thin Chips with Large-Area Electronics

The role of printed electronics and related technologies in the development of smart connected products

“…Nonetheless, due to their bulky nature, conventional IC chips cannot be integrated into flexible circuits [58]. Hence, when seamless integration of IC chips and mechanical flexibility of the non-printable components are demanded, IC thinning is required [59]. This process, also known as die thinning (or simply dicing), involves the dicing of the chip channels after the wafer has been attached to a dicing tape for supporting the chips.…”

“…This process, also known as die thinning (or simply dicing), involves the dicing of the chip channels after the wafer has been attached to a dicing tape for supporting the chips. Thicknesses below 50 µm are achievable, deeming the thinned IC chips (also known as ultra-thin chips) compatible with flexible substrates, as represented in figure 6 [11,59,60].…”

“…In many cases, for large-scale industrial production, the integration of rigid components by PnP is conducted in a parallel production line to R2R printing, sometimes leading to damage or contamination of the substrates. Moreover, this demands that the production facilities are equipped with both R2R and PnP technologies, which increases production costs [11,59]. As a result, R2R-capable PnP machines have emerged and are already commercially available [61].…”

“…To help with the accurate alignment of components over conductively wired foils, some systems use image recognition tools that assure the perfect positioning between parts and substrate [61]. Since thinned chips are extremely fragile, their mounting process might demand extra concerns, thus, they are usually embedded in packaging film or foil (system in a foil, SiF), which protects them from being damaged during manipulation [59,60,62].…”