Packaging is sometimes an afterthought in the semiconductor industry, but never at Texas Instruments. At TI, we consider the package to be an integral part of the IC product. We work throughout the silicon development process to validate packaging before any product is released.

In our history of packaging R&D innovation, TI was among the first to develop software models for the mechanical, thermal and electrical characteristics of packages. Today, we extend that leadership to new areas, drawing on data about the metal, dielectrics, film depositions, and other thin-film materials on the chip to more accurately model the interface between the package and the chip. This information allows us to develop packages that provide the full performance entitlement of the silicon to our customers, reduce soft errors related to packaging, and last for the life of the system.

Performance is one part of the packaging story, but just as important is the availability of inexpensive, space saving packages. TI is among the leaders in the industry in providing fine-pitch package solutions for the high-performance DSPs and ASICs used in wireless and other portable systems. We offer some of the most densely connected ball-grid array (BGA) packages available today, featuring high volume production of state-of-the-art 0.5-mm ball pitch and development of 0.4mm pitch products.

Another key TI strategy is the development of a comprehensive technology to bring flip-chip packaging to all our high-performance DSPs and ASICs. When this technology has been fully developed, TI will be among the few companies able to offer its products for high-performance flip-chip mounting in packages that are affordable for mass-market systems.

TI has also developed the capability to stack devices by running vias to connect piggybacked memory chips. For wireless customers this capability gives them the freedom to buy commodity memory from other sources. Adding this capability to TI's embedded memory options also gives our customers maximum flexibility in space-saving solutions for their system development.

Other packaging innovations and areas we are working on include the introduction of quad flat no-head packages (QFNs), wafer-scale packaging, the development of low-stress polymer compounds, and the adaptation of more resilient materials to withstand drop tests and other types of mechanical and handling punishment inflicted on mobile systems. With an eye to the environment, TI has developed no-lead (non-Pb) packages in all our lead frame based package families. We are also working to bring out no-lead BGAs throughout the whole range of our offerings.