In order to achieve highfunctionality and reliability and to minimise the number oflater redesign loops, thermal and thermo-mechanical reliability aspects should be taken into account alreadyfrom the beginning ofthe initial design phase ofnew products orfo rdeveloping ofa new technology. For this purpose, numerical studies by means offinite element (FE) analyses are very efficient to check the desiredproperties.Within the research project "Hiding Dies ", funded by the European Commission, several packages with hidden dies are under construction. A special test board with different thermal test chips (TTCs) was designed regardingpredicted thermal as well as thermo-mechanicalproperties. The authors outline their experience in supporting the design process ofpackages with buried dies. It proved to be important to combine technological knowledge, experience in FEA, and a sufficiently quick response time.
IntroductionInnovative electronic portable products can be characterised by increasing signal frequencies and the demand on higher density of functions, which requires more space, for active components as well as for passives. One way to meet these requirements is a three-dimensional integration of components. The authors follow a so-called "chip in polymer" approach, introduced by Fraunhofer IZM and TU Berlin [1]. It allows an extremely dense integration and very short interconnects, necessary for applications in the GHz-range. Thinned Si-components are embedded directly into the printed circuit boards, and the interconnects are realised by laser drilling and galvanic metallisation.The basic interconnect structure, which is neither a flip chip nor a wirebond, is shown in Fig. 1.