Stress isolated integrated circuit and method for making

Abstract

A stress-isolated integrated circuit includes a semiconductor die (24) having first and second surfaces (28, 32) and a semi-circumferential trench (44) formed into the first surface of the die to define a stress-isolated region (48). At least some of the active IC components are located in the stress-isolated region. A cavity (46) is formed into the second surface of the die, the cavity being sized so that the trench opens into the cavity to create a cantilevered stress-isolated region extending from the remainder of the die. The second surface of the die is secured to a lead frame (36), the lead frame having bond wires (42) secured to bond pads (26) on the die. A molding compound (54) encapsulates the die, the cap, the bond wires and a portion of the lead frame to create a molded IC device (20). The invention helps to improve performance characteristics and component variables of analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits by isolating critical portions of the integrated circuits from detrimental packaging and molding stresses.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.