Freescale Packages Hit 30 Million Mark

11/01/2006

AUSTIN, TX - Freescale Semiconductor announced they have shipped over 30 million high-power laterally diffused metal oxide semiconductor (LDMOS) radio frequency (RF) transistors in over-molded plastic packages. The company offers more than 280 devices with over-molded plastic packages.

The initial challenge for plastic packaging in RF applications was that the dielectric properties of plastic interacting with the transistor die created losses at higher power levels. Junction temperatures and operating frequencies could not equal those of traditional air-cavity packages. With these adverse effects minimized, over-molded plastic packages offer reliability, lower costs, faster manufacturing cycles, and equal performance compared air-cavity methods, according to the company. Freescale estimates a mean time-to-failure (MTTF) for its plastic packages at about 2,000 years, and expressed excitement at reaching 30 million pieces shipped.