Electrical Characterization of an ALPIDE Chip TAB Bonded with Flexible PCBs

To address the increasing demand for high-level semiconductor fabrication and innovative packaging solutions, FBK developed an advanced flexible packaging technology. This technology combines cleanroom-scale manufacturing with the production of ultralight PCBs, offering versatility over a large number of chip designs and sizes. The resulting PCBs, with thicknesses of tens of microns is ideal for the packaging of thin, bendable detectors for high-energy physics, space, and commercial X-ray diffraction spectroscopy markets. A 50 μm thin, ultra-light CMOS-based particle detectors (ALPIDE) is employed as the state of the art demonstrator of the technological capabilities. Such device is extremely delicate, so the primary challenge lies in preventing any damage during its handling and integration. In this article, the troubleshooting process that enabled the identification of issues related to the device integration process is reported, allowing a precise identification down to individual defective bonds. We also present the initial characterizations of the fully assembled device's performance, which are coherent with the expected absorbed current values, demonstrating the correct functioning of the chip.