A Novel Technology for Creating Sensors and Actuators in Processor Packages

In this paper, a novel technology is presented in which organic substrate manufacturing is used to create sensors and actuators directly in the CPU package. The dielectric material surrounding some interconnect traces in the substrate is removed, allowing those traces to act as sensors and actuators, while the CPU itself is used for signal processing and conditioning. To demonstrate proof of concept, ultra-thin resonant accelerometers based on this approach are designed, manufactured, and successfully tested by using them to measure orientation changes. The approach realizes smart, compact package substrates with integrated sensing and actuation functionalities, thereby enabling a wide range of applications not previously feasible in CPU packages.