The future of MCMs: What is it? And what will they look like?

Historically, multichip modules (MCMs) were large substrates-ceramic, thin film, laminate or some combination-with tens of bare die mounted with flip chip, TAB, or wire bond interconnect. While this high performance market became a reality for some products, the size in terms of volume and dollar value has never reached the great expectations of the marketplace. Instead, a new type of multichip package has evolved. This package typically features a few bare ICs on a relatively inexpensive substrate. While there are many applications, such as Japanese-made notebook computers and portable products that use such packages, the volumes are limited to niche applications. The questions facing the industry at present are what the future holds for multichip modules and what these future MCMs will look like. This presentation details the recent developments in the international marketplace and examines the trends for future MCMs. Factors encouraging the growth of the market as well as barriers to growth are analyzed. One vision of the future package calls for a new definition-multiple chips, both bare and packaged, together on a daughter card.