Pantronix Receives U.S. Patent on the Cavitypak, a Low Cost, Pre-molded IC Package.

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 12, 1999--

Pantronix Corp. has been awarded U.S. Patent No. 5,869,883 for a low-cost, pre-molded plastic package for integrated circuits. Named the Cavitypak, this product offers several major benefits over existing packages, including improved electrical performance, reduced electromagnetic radiation and a high degree of heat dissipation.

The Cavitypak can be employed with all industry-standard plastic package designs, including but not limited to, LSOP, PBGA, PDIP, PLCC, PPGA, PQFP, SOIC, SOJ and SSOP formats. Because of customer demand, the PDIP and PLCC designs will be the first available, beginning in the third quarter.

The package design offers a heat spreader with a surface that remains open to the exterior of the package. The Cavitypak also features a topside cavity for attaching the IC directly to the die attach "paddle" of a leadframe or to a rerouting board. The attachment is performed using standard methods, including welding, soldering, brazing and adhesive bonding.

For improved heat dissipation of the semiconductor, the package can include a thermally-conductive body of metal, ceramic or the like, which acts as a heat transfer mechanism. This heatsink extends from the leadframe die pad to the surface of the package.

Invented by Charlie Oh, Pantronix' director of product development, and Larry Mehringer, a former Pantronix employee, the package cavity provides the environment for the semiconductor to operate in an air dielectric medium. This dielectric reduces the capacitive loading and mechanical stress normally placed on the semiconductor device and enables the semiconductor to transmit optically.

Semiconductors packaged in low-cost plastic packages generally do not provide the electrical performance of an IC packaged in costly ceramic or metal enclosures that offer a cavity for the die. As semiconductors continue to grow in complexity and operational frequency response, the normal dielectric range of molded plastic packages, about 4.4, is inadequate. By displacing the plastic material surrounding and contacting the semiconductor, the Cavitypak offers a reduced dielectric constant on the order of 2.2 or less.

The sealing process employed enables a varied selection of sealing media, including plastic, metal, ceramic or optically transmissive materials.

To provide an adequate seal between metal heat transfer components, such as the heatsink, and the plastic, from which the enclosure is formed, the Cavitypak has been provided with a junction between the heatsink and the plastic encapsulant. This elongated junction provides an elongated path between the package exterior and the internal cavity which contains the semiconductor.

"The Cavitypak offers great flexibility at low cost and can accommodate ICs with levels of complexity and performance generally reserved for expensive ceramic packages," said Stanley Wang, Pantronix' president and CEO. "We anticipate that this package will find substantial use in many applications that formerly relied on ceramic or metal packages."

About Pantronix

Pantronix was founded in 1974, and has since been certified to several international quality benchmarks, including ISO-9002. Through its four divisions: the Aerospace and Military Division, the Components Manufacturing Division, the Product Development Division and the Systems Manufacturing Division, Pantronix offers a wide range of electronics design, assembly and test. With a workforce of 350 employees, the company assembles and manufactures subsystems and modules used in electronics, in addition to its role as a major integrated circuit packaging foundry.

The privately-held company is the only major independent packaging foundry in the United States that meets the stringent criteria required by the U.S. government for the assembly of parts used in mission-critical military, aerospace and defense applications. Pantronix is also a preferred supplier to many providers of medical equipment used by hospitals in fail-safe patient environments. The company is, by far, the longest established IC packaging foundry in the U.S. with its original owners and management.

In addition to offering custom, prototype and volume integrated circuit and subsystem assembly and test in Fremont, Pantronix offers leading semiconductor and original equipment manufacturers high-volume assembly and test at Amertron Inc., its affiliate in the Philippines.

The Pantronix Web site is found at www.pantronix.com.