Connected ground and floating plane package design and electrical analysis

A multilayer chip carrier is described which utilizes high density thin film circuitization and polyimide dielectric in both connected ground and floating plane configurations. Processing deltas with respect to product design are also described, and the process efficiencies of the floating reference plane option are highlighted. Electrical models and simulations of both options and actual hardware measurements are presented and are compared to a non ground plane chip carrier design. Results show floating reference plane designs to exceed non-ground plane designs for simultaneous switch noise immunity and system speed. Connected ground plane designs are shown to provide the highest level of package performance. Floating plane products provide an intermediate performance level that may be desirable depending on application conditions and affordable cost