This invention relates to mounting and electrically connecting integrated circuit chips on a chip carrier substrate and, more particularly, to an arrangement for providing such mounting and electrical connecting by means of a separable assembly.
It is conventional to mount integrated circuit chips on a chip carrier substrate and to make electrical signal connections between pads on the chip and pads on the substrate by means of metallurgical bonding. Common bonding techniques include solder bumps and reflowing, wire bonding using thermocompression bonding, thermosonic bonding, tape automated bonding, etc. There are a number of disadvantages with such metallurgical bonding, mostly due to electromagnetic properties which introduce unwanted self-inductance, cross-talk, propagation delay and increased noise sensitivity. In addition, such metallurgical bonding severely limits the ability to replace chips on the carrier.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an arrangement whereby an integrated circuit chip can be separably mounted on a carrier substrate and electrically connected thereto without the use of metallurgical bonds.