Hybrid integrated circuit

Last updated
An (orange-epoxy) encapsulated hybrid circuit on a printed circuit board (PCB). Hybridcircuit.jpg
An (orange-epoxy) encapsulated hybrid circuit on a printed circuit board (PCB).

A hybrid integrated circuit (HIC), hybrid microcircuit, hybrid circuit or simply hybrid is a miniaturized electronic circuit constructed of individual devices, such as semiconductor devices (e.g. transistors, diodes or monolithic ICs) and passive components (e.g. resistors, inductors, transformers, and capacitors), bonded to a substrate or printed circuit board (PCB). [1] A PCB having components on a Printed wiring board (PWB) is not considered a true hybrid circuit according to the definition of MIL-PRF-38534.

Contents

Overview

"Integrated circuit" as the term is currently used refers to a monolithic IC which differs notably from a HIC in that a HIC is fabricated by inter-connecting a number of components on a substrate whereas an IC's (monolithic) components are fabricated in a series of steps entirely on a single wafer which is then diced into chips. [2] Some hybrid circuits may contain monolithic ICs, particularly Multi-chip module (MCM) hybrid circuits.

A hybrid operational amplifier on a ceramic substrate with laser trimmed thick film resistors LH033CG Buffer Amplifier.jpg
A hybrid operational amplifier on a ceramic substrate with laser trimmed thick film resistors

Hybrid circuits could be encapsulated in epoxy, as shown in the photo, or in military and space applications, a lid was soldered onto the package. A hybrid circuit serves as a component on a PCB in the same way as a monolithic integrated circuit; the difference between the two types of devices is in how they are constructed and manufactured. The advantage of hybrid circuits is that components which cannot be included in a monolithic IC can be used, e.g., capacitors of large value, wound components, crystals, inductors. [3] In military and space applications, numerous integrated circuits, transistors and diodes, in their die form, would be placed on either a ceramic or beryllium substrate. Either gold or aluminum wire would be bonded from the pads of the IC, transistor, or diode to the substrate.

Thick film technology is often used as the interconnecting medium for hybrid integrated circuits. The use of screen printed thick film interconnect provides advantages of versatility over thin film although feature sizes may be larger and deposited resistors wider in tolerance. Multi-layer thick film is a technique for further improvements in integration using a screen printed insulating dielectric to ensure connections between layers are made only where required. One key advantage for the circuit designer is complete freedom in the choice of resistor value in thick film technology. Planar resistors are also screen printed and included in the thick film interconnect design. The composition and dimensions of resistors can be selected to provide the desired values. The final resistor value is determined by design and can be adjusted by laser trimming. Once the hybrid circuit is fully populated with components, fine tuning prior to final test may be achieved by active laser trimming.

A hybrid PCB on a ceramic substrate with laser trimmed thick film components CeramicThickFilmHybridPCB.jpg
A hybrid PCB on a ceramic substrate with laser trimmed thick film components
DEC J-11 microprocessor using a hybrid PCB KL DEC J11.jpg
DEC J-11 microprocessor using a hybrid PCB

Thin film technology was also employed in the 1960s. Ultra Electronics manufactured circuits using a silica glass substrate. A film of tantalum was deposited by sputtering followed by a layer of gold by evaporation. The gold layer was first etched following the application of a photoresist to form solder compatible connection pads. Resistive networks were formed, also by a photoresist and etching process. These were trimmed to a high precision by selective adonization of the film. Capacitors and semiconductors were in the form of LID (Leadless Inverted Devices) soldered to the surface by selectively heating the substrate from the underside. Completed circuits were potted in a diallyl phthalate resin. Several customized passive networks were made using these techniques as were some amplifiers and other specialized circuits. It is believed that some passive networks were used in the engine control units manufactured by Ultra Electronics for Concorde.

Some modern hybrid circuit technologies, such as LTCC-substrate hybrids, allow for embedding of components within the layers of a multi-layer substrate in addition to components placed on the surface of the substrate. This technology produces a circuit that is, to some degree, three-dimensional.

Steps in manufacturing Solid Logic Technology hybrid wafers used in the IBM System/360 and other IBM computers of the mid-1960s. The process starts with a blank ceramic wafer 1/2 inch square. Circuits are laid down first, followed by resistive material. The circuits are metalized and the resistors trimmed to the desired value. Then discrete transistors and diodes are added and the package encapsulated. Display at the Computer History Museum. IBM SLT wafers.agr.JPG
Steps in manufacturing Solid Logic Technology hybrid wafers used in the IBM System/360 and other IBM computers of the mid-1960s. The process starts with a blank ceramic wafer 1/2 inch square. Circuits are laid down first, followed by resistive material. The circuits are metalized and the resistors trimmed to the desired value. Then discrete transistors and diodes are added and the package encapsulated. Display at the Computer History Museum.

Hybrid ICs are especially suitable for analog signals. They were used in some early digital computers but were replaced therein by monolithic ICs which offered higher performance. [4] [5] [6]

Other electronic hybrids

In the early days of telephones, separate modules containing transformers and resistors were called hybrids or hybrid coils; they have been replaced by semiconductor integrated circuits.

In the early days of transistors the term hybrid circuit was used to describe circuits with both transistors and vacuum tubes; e.g., an audio amplifier with transistors used for voltage amplification followed by a vacuum tube power output stage, as suitable power transistors were not available. This usage, and the devices, are obsolete, however amplifiers that use a tube preamplifier stage coupled with a solid state output stage are still in production, and are called hybrid amplifiers in reference to this.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Integrated circuit</span> Electronic circuit formed on a small, flat piece of semiconductor material

An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip, computer chip, or simply chip, is a small electronic device made up of multiple interconnected electronic components such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors. These components are etched onto a small piece of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Integrated circuits are used in a wide range of electronic devices, including computers, smartphones, and televisions, to perform various functions such as processing and storing information. They have greatly impacted the field of electronics by enabling device miniaturization and enhanced functionality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dual in-line package</span> Type of electronic component package

In microelectronics, a dual in-line package is an electronic component package with a rectangular housing and two parallel rows of electrical connecting pins. The package may be through-hole mounted to a printed circuit board (PCB) or inserted in a socket. The dual-inline format was invented by Don Forbes, Rex Rice and Bryant Rogers at Fairchild R&D in 1964, when the restricted number of leads available on circular transistor-style packages became a limitation in the use of integrated circuits. Increasingly complex circuits required more signal and power supply leads ; eventually microprocessors and similar complex devices required more leads than could be put on a DIP package, leading to development of higher-density chip carriers. Furthermore, square and rectangular packages made it easier to route printed-circuit traces beneath the packages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Printed circuit board</span> Board to support and connect electronic components

A printed circuit board (PCB), also called printed wiring board (PWB), is a medium used to connect or "wire" components to one another in a circuit. It takes the form of a laminated sandwich structure of conductive and insulating layers: each of the conductive layers is designed with a pattern of traces, planes and other features etched from one or more sheet layers of copper laminated onto or between sheet layers of a non-conductive substrate. Electrical components may be fixed to conductive pads on the outer layers, generally by means of soldering, which both electrically connects and mechanically fastens the components to the board. Another manufacturing process adds vias, drilled holes that allow electrical interconnections between conductive layers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flip chip</span> Technique that flips a microchip upside down to connect it

Flip chip, also known as controlled collapse chip connection or its abbreviation, C4, is a method for interconnecting dies such as semiconductor devices, IC chips, integrated passive devices and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), to external circuitry with solder bumps that have been deposited onto the chip pads. The technique was developed by General Electric's Light Military Electronics Department, Utica, New York. The solder bumps are deposited on the chip pads on the top side of the wafer during the final wafer processing step. In order to mount the chip to external circuitry, it is flipped over so that its top side faces down, and aligned so that its pads align with matching pads on the external circuit, and then the solder is reflowed to complete the interconnect. This is in contrast to wire bonding, in which the chip is mounted upright and fine wires are welded onto the chip pads and lead frame contacts to interconnect the chip pads to external circuitry.

In computer engineering, a logic family is one of two related concepts:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mixed-signal integrated circuit</span> Integrated circuit

A mixed-signal integrated circuit is any integrated circuit that has both analog circuits and digital circuits on a single semiconductor die. Their usage has grown dramatically with the increased use of cell phones, telecommunications, portable electronics, and automobiles with electronics and digital sensors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solid Logic Technology</span> IBM hybrid circuit technology introduced in 1964

Solid Logic Technology (SLT) was IBM's method for hybrid packaging of electronic circuitry introduced in 1964 with the IBM System/360 series of computers. It was also used in the 1130, announced in 1965. IBM chose to design custom hybrid circuits using discrete, flip chip-mounted, glass-encapsulated transistors and diodes, with silk-screened resistors on a ceramic substrate, forming an SLT module. The circuits were either encapsulated in plastic or covered with a metal lid. Several of these SLT modules were then mounted on a small multi-layer printed circuit board to make an SLT card. Each SLT card had a socket on one edge that plugged into pins on the computer's backplane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DIY audio</span>

DIY Audio, do it yourself audio. Rather than buying a piece of possibly expensive audio equipment, such as a high-end audio amplifier or speaker, the person practicing DIY Audio will make it themselves. Alternatively, a DIYer may take an existing manufactured item of vintage era and update or modify it. The benefits of doing so include the satisfaction of creating something enjoyable, the possibility that the equipment made or updated is of higher quality than commercially available products and the pleasure of creating a custom-made device for which no exact equivalent is marketed. Other motivations for DIY audio can include getting audio components at a lower cost, the entertainment of using the item, and being able to ensure quality of workmanship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electronic component</span> Discrete device in an electronic system

An electronic component is any basic discrete electronic device or physical entity part of an electronic system used to affect electrons or their associated fields. Electronic components are mostly industrial products, available in a singular form and are not to be confused with electrical elements, which are conceptual abstractions representing idealized electronic components and elements. A datasheet for an electronic component is a technical document that provides detailed information about the component's specifications, characteristics, and performance. Discrete circuits are made of individual electronic components that only perform one function each as packaged, which are known as discrete components, although strictly the term discrete component refers to such a component with semiconductor material such as individual transistors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multi-chip module</span> Electronic assembly containing multiple integrated circuits that behaves as a unit

A multi-chip module (MCM) is generically an electronic assembly where multiple integrated circuits, semiconductor dies and/or other discrete components are integrated, usually onto a unifying substrate, so that in use it can be treated as if it were a larger IC. Other terms for MCM packaging include "heterogeneous integration" or "hybrid integrated circuit". The advantage of using MCM packaging is it allows a manufacturer to use multiple components for modularity and/or to improve yields over a conventional monolithic IC approach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Integrated circuit design</span> Engineering process for electronic hardware

Integrated circuit design, semiconductor design, chip design or IC design, is a sub-field of electronics engineering, encompassing the particular logic and circuit design techniques required to design integrated circuits, or ICs. ICs consist of miniaturized electronic components built into an electrical network on a monolithic semiconductor substrate by photolithography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">System in a package</span> Electronic component

A system in a package (SiP) or system-in-package is a number of integrated circuits (ICs) enclosed in one chip carrier package or encompassing an IC package substrate that may include passive components and perform the functions of an entire system. The ICs may be stacked using package on package, placed side by side, and/or embedded in the substrate. The SiP performs all or most of the functions of an electronic system, and is typically used when designing components for mobile phones, digital music players, etc. Dies containing integrated circuits may be stacked vertically on the package substrate. They are internally connected by fine wires that are bonded to the package substrate. Alternatively, with a flip chip technology, solder bumps are used to join stacked chips together and to the package substrate, or even both techniques can be used in a single package. SiPs are like systems on a chip (SoCs) but less tightly integrated and not on a single semiconductor die.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electronic circuit</span> Electrical circuit with active components

An electronic circuit is composed of individual electronic components, such as resistors, transistors, capacitors, inductors and diodes, connected by conductive wires or traces through which electric current can flow. It is a type of electrical circuit. For a circuit to be referred to as electronic, rather than electrical, generally at least one active component must be present. The combination of components and wires allows various simple and complex operations to be performed: signals can be amplified, computations can be performed, and data can be moved from one place to another.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Integrated passive devices</span>

Integrated passive devices (IPDs), also known as integrated passive components (IPCs) or embedded passive components (EPC), are electronic components where resistors (R), capacitors (C), inductors (L)/coils/chokes, microstriplines, impedance matching elements, baluns or any combinations of them are integrated in the same package or on the same substrate. Sometimes integrated passives can also be called as embedded passives, and still the difference between integrated and embedded passives is technically unclear. In both cases passives are realized in between dielectric layers or on the same substrate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thick-film technology</span>

Thick-film technology is used to produce electronic devices/modules such as surface mount devices modules, hybrid integrated circuits, heating elements, integrated passive devices and sensors. Main manufacturing technique is screen printing (stenciling), which in addition to use in manufacturing electronic devices can also be used for various graphic reproduction targets. It became one of the key manufacturing/miniaturisation techniques of electronic devices/modules during 1950s. Typical film thickness – manufactured with thick film manufacturing processes for electronic devices – is 0.0001 to 0.1 mm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Failure of electronic components</span> Ways electronic components fail and prevention measures

Electronic components have a wide range of failure modes. These can be classified in various ways, such as by time or cause. Failures can be caused by excess temperature, excess current or voltage, ionizing radiation, mechanical shock, stress or impact, and many other causes. In semiconductor devices, problems in the device package may cause failures due to contamination, mechanical stress of the device, or open or short circuits.

The first planar monolithic integrated circuit (IC) chip was demonstrated in 1960. The idea of integrating electronic circuits into a single device was born when the German physicist and engineer Werner Jacobi developed and patented the first known integrated transistor amplifier in 1949 and the British radio engineer Geoffrey Dummer proposed to integrate a variety of standard electronic components in a monolithic semiconductor crystal in 1952. A year later, Harwick Johnson filed a patent for a prototype IC. Between 1953 and 1957, Sidney Darlington and Yasuo Tarui proposed similar chip designs where several transistors could share a common active area, but there was no electrical isolation to separate them from each other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Co-fired ceramic</span> Integrated circuit package made out of fired ceramic material

Co-fired ceramic devices are monolithic, ceramic microelectronic devices where the entire ceramic support structure and any conductive, resistive, and dielectric materials are fired in a kiln at the same time. Typical devices include capacitors, inductors, resistors, transformers, and hybrid circuits. The technology is also used for robust assembly and packaging of electronic components multi-layer packaging in the electronics industry, such as military electronics, MEMS, microprocessor and RF applications.

Glossary of microelectronics manufacturing terms

References

  1. "Tell me... Just what is a Hybrid Integrated Circuit?". ES Components. September 7, 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  2. "Difference between Monolithic ICs and Hybrid ICs (integrated circuits)". Polytechnic Hub. March 2, 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  3. William Greig, Integrated Circuit Packaging, Assembly and Interconnections, Springer Science & Business Media, 2007, ISBN   0387339132, p.62-64
  4. Pugh, Emerson W.; Johnson, Lyle R.; Palmer, John H. (1991). IBM's 360 and Early 370 Systems. MIT Press. ISBN   978-0-262-16123-7.
  5. "Definition of hybrid microcircuit".
  6. Saxena, Arjun N. (2009). Invention of Integrated Circuits: Untold Important Facts. World Scientific. ISBN   978-981-281-446-3.