In our previous works, the piezoresistive sensors have been demonstrated to be accurate and efficient tools for stress measurements in microelectronic packaging. In this study, we first designed test chips with piezoresistive stress sensors, temperature sensors as well as heats, and the test wafers were next manufactured through commercialized IC processes. Piezoresistive sensors on silicon strips, which were cut directly from silicon wafers at a specific angle, were then calibrated, and highly consistent piezoresistive coefficients were extracted at various wafer sites so that both normal and shear stress on the test chips can be measured. Finally, we packaged the test chips into 100-pin PQFP structures with different batches and measured internal stresses on the test chips inside the packaging. After measuring packaging induced stresses as well as thermal stresses on several batches of PQFPs, it was found that the normal stress diversities were obvious from different batches of the packaging structure, and the shearing stresses were approximately zero in all of the PQFPs at different chip site.

This paper presents the realization of a flexible thermoelectric (TE) generator as a textile fabric that converts human body heat into electrical energy for portable, low-power microelectronic products. In this study, an organic non-toxic conductive coating was used to dip rayon wipes into conductive TE fabrics so that the textile took advantage of the TE currents which were parallel to the temperature gradient. To this end, a dyed conductive cloth was first sewn into a TE unit. The TE unit was then sewn into an array to create a temperature difference between the human body and the environment for TE power harvesting. The prototype of the TE fabric consisted of 48 TE units connected by conductive wire over an area of 275 × 205 mm2, and the TE units were sewn on a T-shirt at the chest area. After fabrication and property tests, a Seebeck coefficient of approximately 20 μV/K was measured from the TE unit, and 0.979 mV voltage was obtained from the T-shirt with TE textile fabric. Since the voltage was generated at a low temperature gradient environment, the proposed energy solution in actual fabric applications is suitable for future portable microelectronic power devices.

Stress measurements in microelectronic packaging through piezoresistive sensors take the advantage of both in-situ and nondestructive. In this study, test chips with both p-type and n-type piezoresistive stress sensors, as well as a heat source, were first designed, then manufactured by a commercialized foundry so that the uniformity of the test chips was expected. Both temperature and stress calibrations were next performed through a special designed MQFP (Metal Quad Flat Package) and four-point bending (4PB) structure, respectively. Measurements of stresses which are produced due to both manufacturing process and thermal effects on the test chips were finally executed, and approximately linear relationships were observed between stress and temperature as well as stress and input power. It is concluded that n-type piezoresistive stress sensors are able to extract stress in microelectronic packaging with good accuracy.

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In this work, a simple assembled structure was designed and fabricated so that the calibration procedures on piezoresistive stress sensors for microelectronic packaging can be simpler, more accurate, and more efficient. After comparing with the previous work results, validity of the aforementioned new structure has been demonstrated through experimental data. Since many accessory experimental facilities employed in traditional calibrations become unnecessary, the new methodology takes great advantage on piezoresistive coefficient extractions, especially for calibration at temperature other than room temperature.