Fan-out wafer-level packaging

[3][4] In conventional technologies, a wafer is diced first, and then individual dies are packaged; package size is usually considerably larger than the die size.

However, the advantage of having a small package comes with a downside of limiting the number of external contacts that can be accommodated in the limited package footprint; this may become a significant limitation when complex semiconductor devices requiring a large number of contacts are considered.

It provides a smaller package footprint along with improved thermal and electrical performance compared to conventional packages, and allows having higher number of contacts without increasing the die size.

[6] High end fan-out packages are those with lines and spaces narrower than 8 microns.

[6] The first fan-out packages were developed by Infineon in the mid-2000s for use in mobile phone chips.