Integrated circuit chip having pass-through vias therein that extend between multiple integrated circuits on the chip

[0001] The present invention relates to integrated circuit devices and packaging of integrated circuit devices and, more particularly, to integrated circuit chips and multi-chip packaging of integrated circuit chips.

[0002] High density packaging technologies have been developed to increase the degree of integration of integrated circuit devices. As illustrated by FIGS. 1-2, chip fabrication technologies have been developed to support packaging of multi-chip stacks within a single package. In particular, FIGS. 1-2 illustrate an integrated circuit wafer 11 that may be diced into a plurality of integrated circuit chips 50. Each chip 50 includes a plurality of chip pads 12 (e.g., I/O pads) on one surface of a chip 50 and rerouting conductors 21, which support rerouting of signals from corresponding chip pads 12 to an opposite surface of the chip 50. These rerouting conductors 21 pass through via holes 15, which may extend adjacent a periphery of each chip 50. The via holes 15 are provided in a spacing region S, which extends in a grid-like pattern between the chips 50. Scribe lines 51 extend in the center of this grid-like pattern S. These scribe lines 51 identify the placement of a cutting tool 29 when the wafer 11 is being diced into separate chips 50. To inhibit the likelihood of damage during a dicing step, the width of the spacing regions S may need to be relatively large. Unfortunately, the use of relatively wide spacing regions S can lead to a decrease in the number of chips within each wafer 11.

[0003] Embodiments of the present invention include an integrated circuit chip. This chip includes a semiconductor substrate and first and second distinct integrated circuit devices thereon. The first integrated circuit device extends adjacent a first side of the semiconductor substrate and has a first plurality of chip pads thereon. The second integrated circuit device extends adjacent a second side of the semiconductor substrate and has a second plurality of chip pads thereon. First and second pluralities of via holes are provided. These via holes extend through a portion of the semiconductor substrate located between the first and second integrated circuit devices. First and second pluralities of rerouting conductors are provided. The first plurality of rerouting conductors extend from corresponding ones of the first plurality of chip pads to corresponding ones of the first plurality of via holes. The second plurality of rerouting conductors extend from corresponding ones of the second plurality of chip pads to corresponding ones of the second plurality of via holes. In some of these embodiments, a first one of the first plurality of chip pads is a chip select pad and a first one of the second plurality of chip pads is a chip select pad. In addition, one of the first plurality of rerouting conductors is electrically connected to the first one of the first plurality of chip pads and the first one of the second plurality of chip pads.

[0004] Still further embodiments of the invention include a packaged integrated circuit device. This packaged integrated circuit device includes a first semiconductor chip having first and second integrated circuit devices therein and a first plurality of via holes extending through the first semiconductor chip. A second semiconductor chip is mounted on the first semiconductor chip. The second semiconductor chip has third and fourth integrated circuit devices therein and a second plurality of via holes extending through said second semiconductor chip. A first rerouting conductor is provided that extends through the first semiconductor chip. This first rerouting conductor is electrically connected to a chip select pad associated with the first integrated circuit device. A second rerouting conductor is provided that extends through said first semiconductor chip. The second rerouting conductor is electrically connected to a chip select pad associated with the second integrated circuit device.

[0012] The present invention now will be described more fully herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, the thickness of layers and regions are exaggerated for clarity. It will also be understood that when a layer is referred to as being “on” another layer or substrate, it can be directly on the other layer or substrate, or intervening layers may also be present. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

[0013] As illustrated by FIGS. 3-4, an integrated circuit wafer 210 according to embodiments of the present invention includes a plurality of integrated circuit chips 250 arranged in an array pattern. This array pattern is highlighted by a plurality of scribe lines 251, which may identify the center lines of an array of dicing streets having widths equal to the spacing S′. Each of these integrated circuit chips 250 includes at least a pair of separate integrated circuit devices. This pair of integrated circuit devices is illustrated as a left side integrated circuit device 250a and a right side integrated circuit device 250b. These devices 250a and 250b may be configured to perform equivalent or different integrated circuit functions. For example, both devices 250a and 250b may be 256 Mbit DRAM devices or one device 250a may be a DRAM device and the other device 250b may be a 1 Gbit flash memory device. Each of the devices 250a and 250b includes a plurality of chip pads 212, which receive signals from external the chip 250 or transmit signals off the chip 250. These chip pads 212 are electrically connected to circuit elements (not shown) within the devices 250a and 250b. Some of the chip pads 212 may represent input/output (I/O) pads.

[0014] A plurality of via holes 215 are also provided. These via holes 215, which are illustrated in FIG. 5 as extending vertically through the chip 250, are located in a space between the first and second devices 250a and 250b. The width of this space may be equivalent to the spacing S′. Each of the via holes 215 may be filled with a rerouting conductor 221. As illustrated by FIG. 4, many of these rerouting conductors may be electrically connected a corresponding chip pad 212. In FIG. 7, some of the chip pads 212 on separate devices may be electrically connected together by a respective rerouting conductor 221b that supports interchip communication.

[0015] As further illustrated by FIG. 4, the reference characters 215a and 215a′ represent left and right via holes within a pair of via holes. The reference character 215b represents a chip select via hole that is electrically connected by a single rerouting conductor 221 to left and right chip select pads 212a associated with the first and second devices 250a and 250b, respectively. The reference character 215c represents a filled via hole, which may operate as a pass-through via to another chip within a stack, as illustrated by FIG. 5. Techniques for forming via holes and rerouting conductors are described more fully in commonly assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 10/890,995, filed Jul. 15, 2004, published as Patent Application No. 2005/0046002, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

[0016] FIG. 5 illustrates a packaged multi-chip integrated circuit device including a package enclosure 274, a package substrate 272 and lower and upper integrated circuit chips 250_—b and 250_—t within a multi-chip stack 250′. The package substrate 272 is illustrated as including filled PCB vias 273. These filled vias transfer signals from upper conductive patterns 276 to lower conductive patterns 275 and vice versa. As illustrated, solder balls 271 may be mounted on the lower conductive patterns 275. The illustrated via holes 215 are filled with rerouting conductors 221. These rerouting conductors 221, which extend through the lower and upper integrated circuit chips 250_—b and 250_—t, include interchip connection bumps 277 (e.g., solder bumps). The illustrated pair of rerouting conductors 221 may pass separate chip select signals to a pair of integrated circuit devices in the upper integrated circuit chip 250_—t. Additional rerouting conductors (not shown in FIG. 5) may also be used to pass separate chip select signals to a pair of integrated circuit devices in the lower integrated circuit chip 250_—b. The use of four separate rerouting conductors to provide four separate chip select signals to four integrated circuit devices within two chips (e.g., 250_—b and 250_—t) can be achieved using the via hole formation illustrated by FIG. 6. In FIG. 6, the via holes 215e may be used to provide separate chip select signals to the chip pads 212a associated with the first and second integrated circuit devices 250a and 250b within one chip (e.g., lower chip 250_—b). The via holes 215f may also be used so that separate chip select signals may be routed through one chip (e.g., lower chip 250_—b) to another chip (e.g., upper chip 250_—t). Moreover, the via holes 215d may be used so that rerouting conductors 221 may be shared by a pair of adjacent devices 250a and 250b.

[0017] In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed typical preferred embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the following claims.