Component Shielding Structures With Magnetic Shielding
20170290207 · 2017-10-05
Inventors
- James B. Smith (Los Gatos, CA, US)
- Daniel W. Jarvis (Sunnyvale, CA, US)
- David A. PAKULA (San Francisco, CA, US)
- Gregory N. Stephens (Sunnyvale, CA, US)
- Nicholas G. L. Merz (San Francisco, CA, US)
- Shayan Malek (San Jose, CA, US)
- Sina BIGDELI (Saratoga, CA, US)
Cpc classification
H01L23/552
ELECTRICITY
H01L2224/16225
ELECTRICITY
H01L2924/16152
ELECTRICITY
H05K9/0088
ELECTRICITY
H05K9/0024
ELECTRICITY
H05K1/18
ELECTRICITY
International classification
H05K9/00
ELECTRICITY
H05K1/18
ELECTRICITY
Abstract
Electrical components may be shielded using a shielding can or other shielding structure that covers the electrical components. The electrical components and the shielding structure may be mounted on a substrate such as a printed circuit board using solder or other conductive material. The shielding structure may have one or more shielding layers. The shielding layers may include high conductivity material for providing shielding for radio-frequency electromagnetic interference and magnetic material for blocking magnetic flux. Shielding structures may be formed from materials such as ferritic stainless steel, coatings that enhance solderability, corrosion resistance, and conductivity, magnetic materials printed or otherwise formed on metal layers, and other shielding structures.
Claims
1. Apparatus, comprising: a substrate; at least one electrical component mounted on the substrate; and a shielding can attached to the substrate that covers and shields the electrical component, wherein the shielding can includes a plurality of layers of material including a layer of magnetic shielding material.
2. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein the layer of magnetic shielding material has a relative permeability of at least 500.
3. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein the layer of magnetic shielding material has a relative permeability of at least 1000.
4. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein the plurality of layers includes a radio-frequency electromagnetic interference shielding layer.
5. The apparatus defined in claim 4 wherein the radio-frequency electromagnetic interference shielding layer is a metal layer.
6. The apparatus defined in claim 5 wherein the metal layer has a resistivity of less than 3×10.sup.−8 ohm-m.
7. The apparatus defined in claim 6 wherein the layer of magnetic shielding material is a printed layer of magnetic material on the metal layer.
8. The apparatus defined in claim 6 wherein the metal layer is a cold-rolled cladding layer on the layer of magnetic shielding material.
9. The apparatus defined in claim 8 wherein the layer of magnetic shielding material comprises a layer of stainless steel.
10. The apparatus defined in claim 9 wherein the stainless steel comprises a stainless steel selected form the group consisting of: 430 stainless steel and 444 stainless steel.
11. The apparatus defined in claim 6 wherein the layer of magnetic shielding material and the metal layer are stamped together and form walls for the shielding can.
12. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein the plurality of layers of material include first and second cladding layers on opposing sides of the layer of magnetic shielding material.
13. The apparatus defined in claim 12 wherein the layer of magnetic shielding material comprises stainless steel.
14. The apparatus defined in claim 12 wherein the first and second cladding layers comprise a material selected from the group consisting of: nickel, gold, silver, and copper-nickel.
15. The apparatus defined in claim 12 wherein the first and second cladding layers are larger than the layer of magnetic shielding material so that edge portions of the first and second cladding layers are joined together without any intervening portions of the magnetic shielding material.
16. A metal shielding can, comprising: a top wall; and at least one sidewall coupled to the top wall, wherein the top wall and sidewall are formed from coated stainless steel.
17. The metal shielding can defined in claim 16 wherein the coated stainless steel comprises a coating selected from the group consisting of: nickel, copper-nickel, gold, and silver.
18. The metal shielding can defined in claim 17 wherein the coated stainless steel comprises a stainless steel selected from the group consisting of: 430 stainless steel and 444 stainless steel.
19. The metal shielding can defined in claim 16 further comprising a printed layer of magnetic material on the top wall.
20. Shielded circuitry, comprising: a support structure; electrical components soldered to the support structure; and a shielding structure that shields the electrical components and that is soldered to the support structure, wherein the shielding structure comprises a stainless steel layer.
21. The shielded circuitry defined in claim 20 wherein the stainless steel layer has a relative permeability of at least 500.
22. The shielded circuitry defined in claim 20 wherein the stainless steel comprises a stainless steel selected from the group consisting of: 430 stainless steel and 444 stainless steel.
23. The shielded circuitry defined in claim 22 wherein the shielding structure comprises a shielding can and wherein the shielding can includes cladding layers on opposing sides of the stainless steel layer.
24. The shielded circuitry defined in claim 23 wherein the cladding layers comprise a metal with more solderability than the stainless steel layer.
25. The shielded circuitry defined in claim 20 wherein the shielding structure comprises a cowling that holds the electrical components to the support structure.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009]
[0010]
[0011]
[0012]
[0013]
[0014]
[0015]
[0016]
[0017]
[0018]
[0019]
[0020]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0021] Electronic devices may be provided with electrical components such as integrated circuits, discrete electrical components such as inductors, capacitors, and resistors, and other electrical components. Shielding may be used to prevent interference between components. The shielding block radio-frequency signals and magnetic fields. Shielding structures may be formed into the shape of shielding cans and may serve as cowlings.
[0022] A cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronic device of the type that may include shielded electrical components is shown in
[0023] As shown in
[0024] Display 14 may be a touch screen display that incorporates a layer of conductive capacitive touch sensor electrodes or other touch sensor components (e.g., resistive touch sensor components, acoustic touch sensor components, force-based touch sensor components, light-based touch sensor components, etc.) or may be a display that is not touch-sensitive. Display 14 may be protected using a display cover layer such as display cover layer 16. A liquid crystal display module, organic light-emitting diode display, or other display structures (shown as display module 18 in the example of
[0025] As shown in the cross-sectional side view of electronic device 10 of
[0026] In the interior of electronic device 10, electrical components 22 may be mounted on one or more substrates such as substrate 20. Substrate 20 may be a dielectric carrier such as a molded plastic carrier, a ceramic substrate, or a printed circuit. For example, substrate 20 may be a printed circuit such as a rigid printed circuit formed from a material such as fiberglass-filled epoxy or may be a flexible printed circuit formed from a sheet of polyimide or other flexible polymer layer.
[0027] To block radio-frequency electromagnetic signal interference (EMI) and magnetic fields, electrical components 22 may be covered with shields such as shield 24. Shield 24 may have the shape of a shielding can with a top and four sides or other suitable shape, may serve as a cowling, bracket, or other part that helps to hold portions of device 10 together while shielding electrical components 22, or may be formed from other suitable shielding structures.
[0028] Shields such as shield 24 may cover one or more electrical components 22. If desired, some of the electrical components on substrate 20 may be uncovered by shielding structures (see, e.g., unshielded electrical component 22NC). Shield 24 may be coupled to metal traces (e.g., grounding traces) on substrate 20 using solder, welds, conductive adhesive, screws or other fasteners, or other conductive attachment structures. Shields 24 may be used to cover aggressor components and thereby block the emission of interfering signals and may be used to cover sensitive (victim) components and thereby prevent interference from disrupting those components.
[0029] A cross-sectional side view of an illustrative set of components 22 that have been covered by a shield such as shield 24 is shown in
[0030] Electrical components 22 may have contacts such as solder pads 22P that mate with contacts 32P on the upper surface of printed circuit 20. A soldering tool or other equipment may use solder 30 or other conductive material (e.g., conductive adhesive, etc.) to mount electrical components 22 and one or more shields such as shield 24 to pads 32P on substrate 20. After integrated circuits and other electrical components 22 have been mounted to substrate 20, components 22 may, if desired, be covered with thermally conductive material 34 such as thermal compound (thermal grease), thermally conductive foam, or other thermally conductive material. Thermally conductive material 34 may help promote heat transfer away from components 22 through shield 24 (e.g., to a heat sink, to a region with flowing air, etc.).
[0031] Shield 24 may have one or more layers of material such as layers 24L. To provide components 22 with satisfactory electromagnetic shielding, shield 24 may contain conductive materials (e.g., to block electromagnetic interference at radio frequencies) and/or magnetic materials (to block magnetic flux). As an example, metals and other materials that form shield 24 may exhibit high conductivity and high permeability. The resistivity of a high-conductivity metal of the type that may be used in shield 24 to provide shield 24 with radio-frequency shielding capabilities may be less than 2×10.sup.−8 ohm-m, less than 3×10.sup.−8 ohm-m, less than 10×10.sup.−8 ohm-m, or other suitable amount. The relative permeability of the layer(s) of magnetic material in layer 40 and/or layer 31 may be 500 or more, may be 2000 or more, may be 5000 or more, may be 10,000 or more, may be 20,000 or more, may be 80,000 or more, may be 5,000-100,000, may be 50,000-100,000, be less than 100,000, or may have any other suitable value that allows material to serve as magnetic shielding for components 22. Layers 40L may include one or more layers that primarily provide magnetic shielding, one or more layers that primarily provide radio-frequency electromagnetic shielding, one or more layers that serve both as magnetic shielding and as radio-frequency shielding, and one or more layers that provide shield 24 with other desirable attributes (solderability, corrosion resistance, heat transfer capabilities, enhanced conductivity, etc.).
[0032] Shield 24 may have any suitable shape such as a square shape, a rectangular shape, a shape with an irregular outline, a shape with multiple different heights above substrate 20, a shape with curved edges, and/or other suitable shapes). As shown in the perspective view of the illustrative shield 24 of
[0033] If desired, device 10 may have mechanical structures such as brackets, clamps, and frame structures, and other structures that help attach portions of device 10 together or that serve other mechanical functions. The materials of shield 24 such as layers 24L of
[0034] In configurations in which shield 24 is formed from a single layer of material, it may be desirable to form shield 24 from a material that has both radio-frequency and magnetic shielding capabilities while offering suitable corrosion resistance and solderability. With one illustrative arrangement, shield 24 may be formed from a stainless steel such as 444 stainless steel or 430 stainless steel (e.g., stainless steel with a relative permeability of 600-1100 or more), or other stainless steels (e.g., other 400 series stainless steels, other stainless steels with relative permeabilities of 500 or more, 600 or more, 1000 or more, etc.). Stainless steels such as these may exhibit both satisfactory conductivity (e.g., resistance less than 65×10.sup.−8 ohm-m, less than less than 2×10.sup.−8 ohm-m, less than 3×10.sup.−8 ohm-m, less than 10×10.sup.−8 ohm-m, or other suitable amount) and satisfactory magnetic permeability (e.g., a relative permeability of 500 or more, 600 or more, 1000 or more, etc.).
[0035] If desired, layers 20L may include one or more layers such as a pair of outer layers that exhibit good solderability and corrosion resistance (and, if desired, enhanced conductivity for radio-frequency shielding) and one or more inner layers such as stainless steel that can serve as radio-frequency and magnetic shielding. As an example, a layer of stainless steel (e.g., 430 stainless, 444 stainless, other stainless steel, etc.) may be incorporated into shield 24 between a pair of layers of corrosion resistant metal or metal alloy material (e.g., nickel or an alloy such as copper-nickel) using a cold rolling process.
[0036] Illustrative cold rolling equipment is shown in
[0037] As part of a cold rolling process, rollers 56 may compress layers 24L-1, 24L-2, and 24L-3 together to from combined layers 24L of shield 24. After compression (and, if desired, annealing), layers 24L-1 and 24L-3 (e.g., layers of gold, copper-nickel, nickel, silver, or other materials) serve as cladding layers on opposing sides of layer 24L-2 (e.g., a magnetic shielding material layer). If desired, stamping, laser cutting, machining, and/or other cutting and shaping techniques may be used to form cold-rolled layers 24L of
[0038] As shown in
[0039] If desired, magnetic materials or other shielding materials may be added onto a shield structure using printing (e.g., screen printing, pad printing, ink-jet printing, etc.) or other techniques. As an example, particles of magnetic material in a curable liquid resin (e.g., a curable liquid polymer) may be printed onto the upper surface of a shield can and cured (e.g., by application of heat to cure a thermally curable resin, by application of ultraviolet light to cure an ultraviolet-light-cured resin, etc.).
[0040]
[0041] In the configuration of
[0042] In the arrangement of
[0043] In the arrangement of
[0044]
[0045]
[0046] Shaped layer 24LB may be processed using deposition equipment such as deposition tool 70 to form shield 24. Tool 70 may deposit optional additional layer(s) of material such as layer 24LA on one or both sides of layer 24LB using printing (e.g., printing of magnetic material on central region 24LA-1 and/or side regions 24LA-2), using electrochemical deposition (plating), using physical vapor deposition, or using other deposition techniques. The additional layer(s) 24A may be corrosion resistance layers (e.g., nickel, copper-nickel etc.), may be layers of gold, silver, or other high conductivity and/or corrosion resistance materials, and or may be other materials (e.g., magnetic materials). Configurations in which layer 24LB is formed from multiple cold-rolled layers (see, e.g.,
[0047] After forming shield 24, equipment 72 may be used to mount shield 24 on substrate 20 to shield electrical components 22 and to assemble substrate 20 with other structures in housing 12 to form device 10. Equipment 72 may include surface mount technology (SMT) soldering equipment and other equipment for attaching shield 24 and components 22 to substrate 20, computer-controlled equipment for assembling display cover layer 16 and display module 18 in housing 12, and other equipment for assembling device 10.
[0048] The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.