Manufacturers of smartphones are going to extreme lengths as they seek ways to make their devices more compact or install larger batteries. However, LG Innotek proposes something that looks beyond extreme: eliminating solder balls that attach chip substrates to motherboards, thereby making the innards of smartphones even thinner. Instead of solder balls, LG Innotek proposes using new Copper Posts.
The new packaging method developed by LG Innotek places copper columns on the substrate before solder balls are applied on top, rather than bonding the balls directly to the surface. The resulting structure reduces the spacing between solder balls by approximately 20% compared to traditional layouts, while maintaining the same electrical performance. LG claims that the new method provides smartphone designers with greater flexibility in slimming down devices and increasing available space for features like batteries.
