JP2006074243A - Method of manufacturing camera module - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of manufacturing a camera module which can collectively load a sensor chip and a lens holder to a plurality of molded objects. <P>SOLUTION: The camera module 2 includes lenses 4-1, 4-2 and a sensor chip 8 mounted at the molded object 6, and a processor chip 12 molded by the molding object 6. A resin mold 20 in which a plurality of molded objects 6 are molded in a connecting state is prepared, and the sensor chip 8 and a lens holder 4-4 are simultaneously mounted at the parts corresponding to the molded objects 6 of the resin mold 20. Then, the resin mold 20 is cut, and the molded object 6 is divided into pieces. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a camera module, and more particularly to a method of manufacturing a camera module in which a sensor chip and an imaging lens are integrated.

  In recent years, cellular phones and handy personal computers (portable personal computers) incorporating small cameras have been developed. For example, a mobile phone equipped with a small camera can capture a caller's video with a built-in small camera, capture it as image data, and transmit the image data to the other party. Such a small camera is generally composed of a CMOS sensor and a lens. That is, an optical image is formed on the CMOS sensor by the lens, and an electrical signal corresponding to the image is generated by the CMOS sensor.

  Mobile phones and handy personal computers are being further miniaturized, and miniaturization is also required for the small cameras used in them. In order to satisfy such a demand for miniaturization of a camera, a camera module formed by integrating a lens and a CMOS sensor has been developed.

  According to the conventional method of manufacturing a camera module, a small camera is obtained by performing a series of processes including a molding process, an LF etching process, a PKG dicing process, a PKG mounting process, a sensor chip mounting process, a cleaning process, a lens mounting process, and a test process. As a camera module.

In the molding step, a molded body that becomes the main body of the camera module is formed by molding the semiconductor chip on a substrate (referred to as a lead frame (LF)) on which the semiconductor chip is mounted. At this time, in order to increase manufacturing efficiency, it is common to integrally form a plurality of molded bodies. In the LF etching process, the lead frame is removed by etching while leaving only a portion functioning as an external terminal. Thereby, a protruding terminal is formed on the bottom surface of the molded body. Thereafter, in a package (PKG) dicing process, a plurality of molded molded bodies connected together are diced into individual pieces. Next, in the PKG mounting process, the individual molded body is mounted on a flexible substrate, and the sensor chip is mounted on each molded body in the sensor chip mounting process. Thereafter, the molded body on which the sensor chip is mounted is washed, and the lens portion is mounted on the molded body in the lens mounting process. Finally, the camera module is tested to complete the camera module manufacturing.
JP 2003-131112 A JP 2002-185826 A JP 2002-185827 A

  As described above, according to the conventional method for manufacturing a camera module, PKG dicing is performed immediately after LF etching, and the molded body is singulated. For this reason, in the process from the sensor chip mounting process to the lens mounting process, it is performed in a state where the individual molded body (PKG unit) is mounted on the flexible substrate. That is, the process of mounting the sensor chip and the lens holder is performed in a state of being integrated with the flexible substrate in a state in which each of the molded molds is mounted and fixed on the flexible substrate. Therefore, the process of mounting the sensor chip and the lens holder is performed separately for each of the individual molded parts. For this reason, there is a problem that a plurality of molded products cannot be mounted together with a sensor chip or a lens holder, and the manufacturing process is inefficient.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a camera module in which a sensor chip and a lens holder can be collectively mounted on a plurality of molded bodies.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a camera module having a lens attached to a molded body, an imaging element, and a semiconductor element molded in the molded body, Prepare a resin molded body molded in a state where a plurality of the molded bodies are connected, and attach the components of the camera module to each of the portions of the resin molded body corresponding to the molded body. A method of manufacturing a camera module is provided in which the resin molded body is cut into individual pieces by cutting the resin molded body with the component parts attached.

  In the camera module manufacturing method described above, it is preferable that the component is at least one of a lens holder for holding the lens and the imaging device. Further, when the component parts are attached to the resin molded body, the component parts are collectively held in the resin molded body while the component parts are held in a vacuum suction device in the same arrangement as the mold molded body in the resin molded body. It is preferable to arrange on the molded body. Furthermore, when the component parts are collectively arranged in the resin molded body shape, it is preferable that each of the component parts is finely moved individually to correct the position so as to match the arrangement of the mold molded bodies. Moreover, after the said mold molding is separated into pieces, it is good also as mounting the said mold component on a board | substrate.

  According to the above-described present invention, until the component parts such as the lens holder and the imaging device are attached to the molded body, the plurality of molded bodies remain connected to each other, and the component parts are connected to the plurality of molded bodies. Can be installed together. Since the component mounting process is performed while the molded body is connected, the molded body can be easily handled, the manufacturing process becomes efficient, and the productivity is improved.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  First, an example of a camera module to which the method for manufacturing a camera module according to the present invention can be applied will be described with reference to FIG.

  The camera module 2 shown in FIG. 1 is roughly composed of a lens unit 4, a molded body 6, a sensor chip 8, and a flexible substrate 10. The lens unit 4 includes two lenses 4-1 and 4-2, a lens barrel 4-3 that holds the lenses, and a lens holder 4-4 that holds the lens barrel 4-3. The lens holder 4-4 is attached to the molded body 6. Inside the molded body 6, a processor chip 12 is molded as a semiconductor element. In the example shown in FIG. 1, a chip capacitor 14 is also molded in the molded body as an active element related to the operation of the processor chip 12.

  A through-opening is formed in the molded body, and the lens unit 4 is attached to the molded body 6 so as to cover the opening. Specifically, the lens holder 4-4 of the lens unit 4 is fixed to the molded body 6 with an adhesive. On the other hand, the electrode of the sensor chip 8 as the image pickup element has the light receiving surface directed to the lens 4-2 at a position facing the lenses 4-1 and 4-2 of the lens unit 4 through the through opening of the molded body. In the state, it is connected to a terminal formed on the bottom surface of the molded body 6. Therefore, the light that has passed through the lens passes through the through-opening and enters the light receiving surface of the sensor chip 8, and an image is formed on the light receiving surface. This image is converted into an electrical signal by the sensor chip 8, processed by the processor chip 12 to be an image signal, and output to an external circuit via the flexible substrate 10.

  A low-pass filter 16 is disposed below the lens 4-2. The flexible substrate 10 is a substrate for outputting image signals to the outside, but a semiconductor chip for image processing and other electronic circuit components 18 can also be mounted.

  The molded body 6 functions as a semiconductor device having a so-called bump chip carrier (BCC) structure. That is, a resin protrusion is formed on the bottom surface of the molded body 6 and a terminal is formed on the surface of the resin protrusion. In addition, a wiring pattern is also formed on the bottom surface of the molded body 6, and the sensor chip 8, the processor chip 12, and the flexible substrate 10 are electrically connected.

  The camera module 2 configured as described above is built in, for example, a mobile phone or a portable computer, and functions as a camera for capturing an image of surroundings and obtaining an image signal.

  Next, a method for manufacturing a camera module according to the present invention will be described. According to the method for manufacturing a camera module of the present invention, a plurality of molded bodies are formed in a connected state, and after mounting a sensor chip and a lens on each of them, the molded bodies are separated into pieces. Since the molded body is not separated immediately after the molded body is formed as in the conventional method of manufacturing a camera module, the sensor chip and the lens can be collectively mounted on a plurality of molded bodies.

  In the manufacturing process of the camera module according to the present invention, first, the processor chip 12 which is a semiconductor chip is mounted on a substrate (lead frame) as in the prior art, and the processor chip 12 is molded on the lead frame to form the molded body 6. Form. The lead frame is sized so that a plurality of molded bodies 6 can be formed, and a plurality of molded bodies 6 are formed on the lead frame in a state of being connected by a resin. After the plurality of molded bodies 6 are formed, the lead frame is removed by etching, and the bottom surface having the through opening of each molded body 6 is exposed. In addition, pattern wiring and a terminal are exposed to the bottom face of each molded body 6 by removing the lead frame.

  Subsequently, the sensor chip 8 is mounted on the resin molded body 20 formed by connecting the molded bodies 6. FIG. 2 shows a process of mounting a plurality of sensor chips 8 on the resin molded body 20 in a lump. In FIG. 2, the resin molded body 20 is formed by integrally forming 9 × 3 = 27 molded molded bodies 6 and has 27 through-openings 20a.

  In order to collectively mount the 27 sensor chips 8 on the resin molded body 20 as described above, the sensor chips 8 are aligned and held in accordance with the mounting position. The sensor chip 8 is held by the vacuum suction device 22. The 27 sensor chips 8 sucked and held by the vacuum suction device 22 are arranged in the same arrangement as that of the molded body 6, and the entire vacuum suction head 22 is placed above the resin molded body 20 as shown in FIG. The 27 sensor chips 8 are collectively mounted on the corresponding molded body 6.

  Here, the positions of the 27 sensor chips 8 need to be adjusted so as to match the predetermined positions of the corresponding molded body. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, a drive mechanism 22 b that can be moved minutely in the XY directions is provided on the suction head 22 a that individually sucks each sensor chip of the vacuum suction device 22. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the vacuum suction device 22 is provided with suction heads 22a for individually sucking each of the sensor chips 8, and each suction head 22a can be individually moved in the XY directions by a drive mechanism 22b. ing.

  When the sensor chips 8 are collectively mounted on the resin molded body 20, the position (or mark indicating the position) of each molded body 6 on the resin molded body 20 is image-recognized and image recognition is performed. Based on the position detection result, the drive mechanism 22b is driven, and the position of each suction head 22b is adjusted individually by adjusting the XY direction position. Since the resin molded body 20 is a resin mold product, the position where the sensor chip 8 is mounted may be slightly varied, and the position of each sensor chip 8 may also vary when the sensor chip 8 is sucked by the suction head 22a. There is. In order to correct variations in the mounting position of the sensor chip 8 due to such factors, a drive mechanism 22b is provided for the suction head 22a.

  When the attachment of the sensor chip 8 is completed, the lens holder 4-4 that becomes the lens unit 4 of the camera module 2 is then attached to the resin molded body 20. At this time, the 27 lens holders 4-4 are attached to the resin molded body 20 at once using the above-described vacuum suction device 22 or a similar vacuum suction device.

  According to the above manufacturing process, the sensor chip 8 and the lens holder 4-4 are collectively attached to the resin molded body 20 formed by connecting a plurality of molded bodies 6 to be the camera module 2. A plurality (27 in this example) of camera modules 2 can be processed together, and the camera module can be manufactured efficiently by simplifying the manufacturing process.

  As described above, the resin molded body 20 to which a plurality of processing is performed and the sensor chip 8 and the lens holder 4-4 are attached is sucked and fixed to the vacuum suction table 24 as shown in FIGS. Then, it is diced by a dicing saw and separated into pieces. As shown in FIG. 4, the vacuum suction table 24 has a recess or hole 24a for accommodating the lens holder 4-4 and a vacuum suction hole 24b. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. Since the lens holder 4-4 protrudes from each of the portions corresponding to the molded body 6 of the resin molded body 20 to which the sensor chip 8 and the lens holder 4-4 are attached, the lens holder 4-4 is inserted into the hole 24a. The resin molded body 20 is fixed on the vacuum suction hole 24b with the sensor chip 8 facing upward by being placed on the vacuum suction table in the accommodated state and sucked through the vacuum suction hole 24b. Is done.

  In addition, since the optical components such as the lenses 4-1 and 4-2 and the low-pass filter 16 are incorporated into the lens holder 4-4 later, it is necessary to keep the inside of the lens 4-4 clean. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, a waterproof sheet 26 made of silicon rubber or the like is provided on the upper surface of the vacuum suction table 24, and the resin molded body 20 and the vacuum are placed in a state where the resin molded body 20 is sucked by the vacuum suction table 24. It is sandwiched between the suction table 24 and sealed. Accordingly, the cooling water and dicing chips during dicing are sealed so as not to enter the hole 24a, so that water and dust do not enter the lens holder 4-4.

  In addition, although the vacuum suction table was used in the present Example, it is not restricted to this, For example, as long as the resin molding 20 can be fixed, it may be affixed with an adhesive tape, for example.

  After the resin molded body 22 is adsorbed and fixed on the vacuum suction hole 24b, the connected parts of the mold molded bodies 6 are separated by a dicing saw, so that the molded molded bodies 6 are separated. Next, optical components such as lenses 4-1 and 4-2 and a low-pass filter 16 are incorporated in each molded molded body 6, and after being mounted on a flexible substrate, a test is performed and a camera is mounted. Completed as a module.

  As described above, in the conventional camera module manufacturing method, 1) lead frame etching → 2) PKG dicing → 3) mounting PKG on flexible substrate → 4) mounting sensor chip → 5) cleaning → 6) mounting lens holder → 7) Tests were taken, but according to the camera module manufacturing method of the present invention, 1) lead frame etching → 2) sensor chip mounting → 3) cleaning → 4) lens mounting → 5) PKG dicing → 6) Mount PKG on flexible substrate → 7) Test order. That is, in the conventional manufacturing method, immediately after the lead frame is removed, the molded body is divided into pieces by dicing, and then the sensor chip and the lens holder are individually attached to each molded body. According to the manufacturing method of the camera module, after removing the lead frame by etching, in order to attach the sensor chip and the lens holder while the molded body is connected, a plurality of molded bodies are processed at once. Therefore, handling of the molded body is simple, and it becomes an efficient manufacturing process and productivity can be improved.

It is sectional drawing of the camera module to which the manufacturing method of the camera module by this invention is applied. It is a perspective view of a vacuum suction device and a resin molding in a sensor chip mounting process. It is sectional drawing along the III-III line of FIG. It is a perspective view of the vacuum suction table and resin molding in a dicing process. It is a perspective view of the resin molding of the state attracted | sucked on the vacuum suction table in the dicing process. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 5.

Explanation of symbols

2 Camera module 4 Lens part 4-1, 4-2 Lens 4-3 Lens barrel 4-4 Lens holder 6 Molded body 8 Sensor chip 10 Flexible substrate 12 Processor chip 14 Chip capacitor 16 Low pass filter 18 Electronic circuit component 20 Resin molding Body 22 Vacuum suction device 22a Suction head 22b Drive mechanism 24 Vacuum suction table 24a Hole 24b Vacuum suction hole 26 Waterproof sheet

Claims (5)

A method of manufacturing a camera module having a lens attached to a molded body, an imaging element, and a semiconductor element molded in the molded body,
Prepare a resin molded body molded in a state where a plurality of the molded bodies are connected,
The components of the camera module are collectively attached to each of the portions corresponding to the molded body of the resin molded body,
A method of manufacturing a camera module, comprising cutting the resin molded body and separating the molded body into pieces while the component parts are attached. A method of manufacturing a camera module according to claim 1,
The method of manufacturing a camera module, wherein the component is at least one of a lens holder for holding the lens and the imaging device. It is a manufacturing method of the camera module according to claim 1 or 2,
When attaching the component parts to the resin molded body, holding the component parts in a vacuum adsorption device in the same arrangement as the mold molded body in the resin molded body, the component parts are collectively bundled with the resin molded body. A method of manufacturing a camera module, characterized by being arranged above. A method of manufacturing a camera module according to claim 3,
A camera module characterized in that when the component parts are collectively arranged in the shape of the resin molded body, each of the component parts is finely moved individually to correct the position so as to match the arrangement of the molded bodies. Manufacturing method. A method for manufacturing a camera module according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A method of manufacturing a camera module, wherein the molded component is separated into individual pieces, and then the molded component is mounted on a substrate.

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