RJR Polymers, a developer of high performance semiconductor packaging, announced that it has made significant advances in the development of a new generation of Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) QFN, air cavity packages that will support finer lead pitches, thinner lead frames and shorter wire bond lengths in a near hermetic, ROHS-compliant solution. Able to withstand three non-lead reflows while remaining leak tight, these new MSL III packages will support lead frames as thin as 0.008” inch (0,20 mm) and greater.

“Over the last few years or so our LCP QFN packages have offered a highly attractive solution for commercial microwave and millimeter-wave applications, but have been limited by lead pitch and package frame dimensions,” said Dave DeWire, Director of Sales and Marketing. “By developing new QFN packages with finer lead pitches and capable of supporting thinner lead frames, we believe we can now deliver the unique advantages of LCP-based QFN solutions to a much wider array of applications.”

In early testing the new QFN packages have repeatedly passed over 500 thermal cycles from -65° to +150°C with no gross leak failures. The packages have also been successfully tested with a variety of plating types including NiAu and NiPdAu finishes. As with all RJR products, the packages can easily be tailored to address the specific conditions and requirements of any customer’s assembly process.

RJR Polymer’s line of LCP QFN solutions offers a number of important advantages over traditional ceramic QFN packaging options. These air cavity packages support high frequency performance up to 38 GHz, and demonstrate a return loss (S11) of more than -15 dB and insertion loss (S21) of less than -0.5 dB in the Ku-band. At the same time the technology’s use of a solid metal die pad delivers significantly better thermal management capabilities than traditional ceramic solutions. Moreover, the technology’s low moisture absorption rate of just 0.02 percent enables the development of near-hermetic packages. Finally, the LCP process also offers a highly stable, proven platform at a relatively low cost of entry.

The new QFN packages are sampling immediately.