Philips Semiconductors

Product Specification Rev.3.0 December 2002

Bumped Wafer Specification

SL2 ICS 20

8

9 HINTS FOR LABEL IC ENCAPSULATION

9.1 Protection against Visible Light

As a result of the ultra low power design of the I•CODE SLI Label IC some analogue circuits on the chip are

light sensitive. This means that common sun light can impact the operation of the label if the chip is not

protected against visible light radiation.

Measurements have shown that a radiation of Emax = 60 W/m

2 (spectrum: 400 to 1000 nm) causes a reduced

operating range of the plain chip.

Measurements of direct sunlight in summer deliver values up to 260 W/m

2.

To ensure proper operation an expected minimum radiation reduction factor of approx. 9 (2 x 260/60 = 8.7)

must be provided by the encapsulation. That means special care has to be taken to ensure a sufficient light

protection of the I•CODE SLI Label IC (e.g. non translucent encapsulation or underfiller, ...) according to

application requirements.

9.2 Protection against UV Light

An EEPROM memory, as it is also used in the I•CODE SLI Label IC, has some principle sensitivity to UV

light (applies to EEPROM-technology in general).

Thus strong UV exposure in the production of inlets/labels has to be avoided. UV protection has to be

ensured using appropriate assembly methods.

9.3 Resistance to X-Rays

X-ray exposure on comparable Philips ICs (with even smaller feature size) caused neither a long term

influence on the behaviour of the ICs nor on the data retention of the EEPROMs.