Chip scale packages might be thinner, but their profile is growing
Freescale has launched the latest – and smallest – member of its Kinetis range of ARM based microcontrollers. The Cortex-M0+ based Kinetis KL02 takes up just 2 x 2mm of pcb real estate.
One of the packaging options is responding to growing demand from customers – particularly from the consumer world – for thinner components that can fit into ever smaller spaces. So in its chip scale package option, the KL02 is just 0.4mm high.
But here's an interesting thing. Geoff Lees, senior vice president and general manager of Freescale's microcontroller business, said customer demand is such that 40% of all Kinetis shipments are now in chip scale packages.
And, according to conversations I had at the recent Embedded World exhibition in Nuremberg, it's becoming apparent that many other companies are either ready to meet similar demands or will be shortly.
While they might be thinner, chip scale packages are certainly getting a higher profile.
