JP2008511891A - Chip with different chip contacts for different operating modes - Google Patents

Abstract

  Non-contact operation mode chip contacts (24, 25) and contact operation mode chip contacts (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33) provided on the chip (20) for the data storage medium (1) The non-contact operation mode chip contacts (24, 25) and at least some of the contact operation mode chip contacts (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33) are respectively contact heads (38). 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47), and the head height (H) of the contact head (38, 39) of the non-contact operation mode chip contact (24, 25). ) Is the contact head (40 to 47) of the contact operation mode chip contact (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33). Head height (h) greater than.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[Technical field to which the invention belongs]
The present invention relates to a chip provided for various chip cards and designed for use therein, the chip card in the first embodiment is suitable only for the non-contact operation mode, the chip in the second embodiment The card is suitable only for the contact operation mode, the chip card in the third embodiment is suitable for both the non-contact operation mode and the contact operation mode, the chip is a semiconductor body, an integrated circuit formed in the semiconductor body, A protective layer designed to protect the integrated circuit, a non-contact operation mode chip contact, and a contact operation mode chip contact, each having a contact layer under the protection layer.

  The invention further relates to a chip card comprising a chip.

[Background of the invention]
Chips of the type described in the first paragraph have various design variants available from the applicant and are therefore known. Known chips are used in various variants of chip cards, especially the first variant of chip cards that are designed and used only for non-contact mode of operation, designed only for contact mode of operation. Used for the second variant of the chip card used and the third variant of the chip card designed and used for both non-contact and contact operation modes. In known chips, the design of non-contact mode chip contacts and contact mode chip contacts is such that all these chip contacts have only one contact layer under the protective layer. For this reason, all of these chip contacts are only suitable for connection to related chip card contacts by wirebond technology, which represents an undesirable limitation. Furthermore, at least the areas of the contact layer where the bonding wires can contact must be designed to be resistant to corrosion and other adverse effects, which requires additional expenditure.

[Object and Summary of Invention]
An object of the present invention is to improve the chip and the improved data storage medium, avoiding the above-mentioned problems that arise in the chip of the type described in the first paragraph and consequently also in the chip card described in the second paragraph. Is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, the chip according to the invention has the features according to the invention so that the chip according to the invention can be characterized as follows, i.e. provided on and used in various chip cards. The chip card according to the first embodiment is suitable only for the non-contact operation mode, and the chip card according to the second embodiment is suitable only for the contact operation mode. The chip card in the form is suitable for both non-contact operation mode and contact operation mode, the chip is a semiconductor body, an integrated circuit formed in the semiconductor body, a protective layer designed to protect the integrated circuit, non- A contact operation mode chip contact and a contact operation mode chip contact, each chip contact under the protective layer; A contact layer, and the non-contact operation mode chip contact and at least some contact operation mode chip contacts each have a contact head connected to the contact layer and penetrating a hole in the protective layer. Having a predetermined head height for a region of the protective layer proximate to the contact head, wherein the head height of the contact head of the non-contact operation mode chip contact is the head of the contact head of the contact operation mode chip contact Chip larger than height.

  In order to achieve the above object, in a chip card having a chip, the chip card has a chip according to the present invention.

  Having the feature according to the invention means that both the non-contact mode chip contact and at least some of the contact mode chip contacts have contact heads, and all contact heads can be manufactured by a single manufacturing method. Very simple and cost-effective production is guaranteed. The fact that the above-mentioned chip contact is provided with a contact head is due to the fact that the contact head of the contactless operation mode chip contact has a larger head height, and the contactless operation mode chip contact and the contactless transmission of signals. Can be manufactured in a simple manner using flip-chip technology between the terminals assigned to these non-contact operating mode chip contacts of the transmission means provided and designed for stable and occupy a very small thickness This means that it can be ensured that an aging-resistant conductive connection can be provided. Furthermore, the feature according to the invention is that the contactless operation mode chip contact is connected to the terminal of the transmission means of the data storage medium by flip-flop technology, and the data storage medium is designed and used only for the contactless operation mode. If the contact operation mode chip contact not used here, it is not possible to cause the collapse effect, especially to the short circuit of the transmission means for contactless transmission of signals and data, not used here In the case of contact operation mode chip contacts provided in the contact head, the contact layer of these contact operation mode chip contacts is sufficiently protected from ambient influences and other destructive influences by the contact heads present in any case, Therefore, without any segregation protection required for this purpose, the It means that the corrosion and change other undesired to transfected layer is prevented. Furthermore, the provision according to the invention means that the chip according to the invention is designed and used for both the non-contact operation mode and the contact operation mode or the data storage medium according to the invention, which is designed and used only for the contact operation mode. In the case of being provided on any of the data storage media according to the present invention, the contact operation mode chip contact is a contact head with a small contact operation mode chip contact and a known method assigned to these non-contact operation mode chip contacts. It is suitable for constructing a wire bond connection in a simple manner between the data storage medium counter contact accessible from the outside of the data storage medium, and other As a result of its larger head height, the contact head is more To bond wires connected to the old contact head fulfill certain protection.

  In the chip according to the present invention, the head height of the contact head of the non-contact operation mode chip contact may be larger than 25 μm, and may take a value between 30 μm and 50 μm, for example. However, it has proven to be highly advantageous if the contact head height of the non-contact operating mode chip contact is in the range between 15 μm and 25 μm. Such contact heads require relatively little manufacturing time and materials for their large head height. However, such a design is not so when the non-contact operation mode chip contact is connected to the counter contact of the chip card transmission means by flip-flop technology, on the other hand, between the non-contact operation mode chip contact and the counter contact. This is particularly advantageous because there is a sufficiently large space for receiving the underfill layer, while the advantage of small thickness is obtained. Furthermore, the manufacturing tolerances of small contact heads are smaller and the reliability of electrical connections is increased as a result of increased reliability of mechanical connections.

  In the chip according to the present invention, the head height of the contact head of the contact operation mode chip contact may be larger than 10 μm, and may take a value between 12 μm and 30 μm, for example. However, it has proven very advantageous if the contact head height of the contact mode chip contact is in the range between 1 μm and 10 μm. Such contact heads require relatively little manufacturing time and materials for their large head height. However, a large difference is obtained between the larger head height of the contact head of the non-contact mode chip contact and the smaller head height of the contact mode chip contact, which is undesirable due to manufacturing tolerances. Such a design is particularly advantageous because it provides greater safety against shorting of the contact mode chip contact.

  With the chip according to the invention, it can be seen in test experiments that it is proved to be particularly advantageous when the head height of the contact head of the non-contact operating mode chip contact is 18 μm.

  It can further be seen that in the test according to the invention, it is proved in test experiments that it is particularly advantageous if the head height of the contact head of the contact mode chip contact is 5 μm.

  In the chip according to the invention, the contact head can be made of silver or palladium. However, it has proven particularly advantageous if all contact heads are made of gold by electroplating. This is particularly advantageous since means and methods known per se are used to produce the contact head of the chip according to the invention.

  The above and further aspects of the invention emerge from the following example and are described with reference to this example.

  The invention will be further described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, but the invention is not limited.

[Description of Embodiment]
1, 2 and 3 show a chip card 1 having a card body 2 manufactured by a laminating process using a plurality of films. The card body 2 may be manufactured by an injection molding process. The chip card 1 is designed and suitable for performing both the non-contact operation mode and the contact operation mode. For this reason, the chip card 1 first has a transmission coil 3 embedded in the card body 2 as non-contact transmission means for transmitting signals and data, and secondly has a contact array 4. The transmission coil 3 has four coil windings 5, 6, 7 and 8 and two terminals 9 and 19. The contact array 4 has eight card contacts 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17, and the card contacts 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 are read / write mechanisms. Since it is a counter contact, it can be accessed from outside the chip card 1, and contact transmission of signals and data is possible. The eight card contacts 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 of the contact array 4 are provided on the carrier 18 of the contact array 4, and the carrier 18 is made of an insulating material. In this case, the carrier 18 is made of a printed circuit board material. However, the carrier 18 can also be made of plastic film. Providing such a transmission coil 3 and contact array 4 on a chip card has been known for some time, and therefore no further details are given here in this respect.

  The chip card 1 further includes a chip 20 not shown in FIG. 1 but only shown in FIGS. Here, the chip 20 is shown larger than the actual compared to the contact array 4 with respect to the chip surface. Therefore, the thickness ratio shown in FIG. 3 is not realistic, but rather is chosen to be large for clarity. A chip 20 is provided and designed for use with various chip cards. In the case shown in FIGS. 1-3, the chip card 1 is designed and suitable for performing both the non-contact operation mode and the contact operation mode as described above. However, the chip 20 can also be used for a chip card suitable only for the non-contact operation mode. Further, the chip 20 can be used for a chip card suitable only for the contact operation mode.

  The chip 20 includes a semiconductor body 21. An integrated circuit 22 schematically shown in FIG. 3 is formed in the semiconductor body 21. The chip 20 further has a protective layer 23 that is designed in principle to protect the integrated circuit 22.

  In this case, the chip 20 further includes two non-contact operation mode chip contacts 24 and 25 and eight contact operation mode chip contacts 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33. Each of the ten chip contacts 24-33 has a contact layer under the protective layer 23, and only some of the contact layers can be seen as shown in FIG. 3, ie, contacts 24, 25, 27, 31. Reference numerals 34, 35, 36 and 37 are assigned to the contact layers.

  In the chip 20, each of the non-contact operation mode chip contacts 24 and 25 and each of the contact operation mode chip contacts 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33 are connected to the contact layers 34, 35, 36 and 37. It is particularly advantageous to have a design that has a contact head to be penetrated and penetrates a hole in the protective layer 23. The holes in the protective layer 23 can be seen from FIG. 3, but are not given reference numerals. The contact heads described above are given the reference numbers 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47. Each of the contact heads 38 to 47 has a predetermined head height with respect to the region of the protective layer 23 proximate to each contact head 38 to 47. For contact heads, all contact operation mode chip contacts 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 necessarily have contact heads 40-47 connected to contact layers 34, 35, 36, 37. It does not necessarily penetrate through the hole in the protective layer 23, and only some of the contact operation mode chip contacts 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 may have a contact head. When only some of the chip contacts 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 are actually provided and used for connection with the chip card contact, the contact operation mode chip contact that is not used is a contact. This is because it can be designed without a head.

  In the chip 20, the head height H of the contact heads 38 and 39 of the non-contact operation mode chip contacts 24 and 25 is particularly advantageously larger than the head height h of the contact heads 40 to 47 of the contact operation mode chip contacts 26 to 33. . In the chip 20, the larger head height H of the contact heads 38, 39 of the non-contact operation mode chip contacts 24, 25 is selected to be nominally 18 μm. The smaller head height h of the contact heads 40 to 47 of the contact operation mode chip contacts 26 to 33 is selected to be nominally 5 μm. All ten contact heads 38 to 47 are made of gold and are manufactured by electroplating. The ten contact heads 38 to 47 may be manufactured by another method, for example, a printing method. However, the contact heads 38 to 47 are advantageously formed of so-called bumps, in particular gold bumps.

  The contact heads 38 and 39 of the non-contact operation mode chip contacts 24 and 25 are connected to the coil terminals 9 and 19 by flip-flop technology, and an underfill (more detailed) is provided between the protective layer 23 and the transmission coil 3. (Not shown), and the underfill is made of a plastic material. Contact operation mode The contact heads 40 to 47 of the chip contacts 26 to 33 are connected to the card contacts 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 by wire bonding technology, respectively, with one bonding wire 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, and 55, and the coupling wires 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, and 55 are respectively connected to the holes 56, 57, and 57 in the carrier 18 of the contact array 4. It penetrates 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63.

  The advantages described in the introduction of the description can be obtained with the chip 20 and the chip card 1. If chip 20 is used in either chip card 1 with only contact array 4 and no transmission coil or chip card 1 with only transmission coil 3 and no contact array, at least some of these advantages are also obtained. It is done.

  In chip 20 and chip card 21, the fact that all ten chip contacts 24-33 each have contact heads 38-47 gives the advantage that they are further used for testing purposes for cooperation with contact heads. The test needle of the test apparatus (probe card), that is, the test needle having a rounded tip can be used in almost the same design.

1 schematically shows a data storage medium, ie a chip card, having a chip according to an embodiment of the invention from above. A portion having the chip of the chip card of FIG. 1 is shown in a larger scale than FIG. 1 from above. FIG. 3 shows a cross section taken along line III-III of FIG.

Claims (7)

  Chips provided on various chip cards and designed for use therewith, the chip card in the first embodiment is suitable only for the non-contact operation mode, and the chip card in the second embodiment is a contact operation The chip card in the third embodiment is suitable for both the non-contact operation mode and the contact operation mode. The chip includes a semiconductor body, an integrated circuit formed in the semiconductor body, and the integrated circuit. A protection layer designed to protect, a contactless operation mode chip contact and a contact operation mode chip contact, each chip contact having a contact layer under the protection layer; The contact operation mode chip contacts are connected to the contact layers, respectively. Each contact head has a predetermined head height associated with a region of the protective layer proximate to the contact head, and the contact head has a predetermined head height, and the contact head has a predetermined head height. The head height of the contact head is larger than the head height of the contact head of the contact operation mode chip contact.   The chip according to claim 1, wherein the head height of the contact head of the non-contact operation mode chip contact is in a range between 15 μm and 25 μm.   The chip according to claim 1, wherein the head height of the contact head of the contact operation mode chip contact is in a range between 1 μm and 10 μm.   The chip according to claim 2, wherein the head height of the contact head of the non-contact operation mode chip contact is 18 μm.   The chip according to claim 3, wherein the head height of the contact head of the contact operation mode chip contact is 5 μm.   6. The chip according to claim 1, wherein all the contact heads are manufactured by electroplating and are made of gold.   A chip card having a chip, wherein the chip card comprises the chip according to claim 1.

Images