US-12628701-B2 - Semiconductor memory module and computer system including the same

US12628701B2US 12628701 B2US12628701 B2US 12628701B2US-12628701-B2

Abstract

A semiconductor memory module includes a module substrate, a plurality of semiconductor devices, and a plurality of external terminals. The module substrate has opposite first and second surfaces. The semiconductor devices are mounted on a first region of at least one of the first and second surfaces in the module substrate. The external terminals are arranged in a second region of at least one of the first and second surfaces of the module substrate. A distance between the first surface and the second surface in the first region is shorter than a distance between the first surface and the second surface in the second region.

Inventors

In Seok JANG
Nam Hyeon CHOI
Min Ho Park
Hyun bae Lee

Assignees

SK Hynix Inc.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20230721
Priority Date: 20221219

Claims (18)

1 . A semiconductor memory module comprising: a module substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposite to each other; a plurality of semiconductor devices mounted on a first region of at least one of the first and second surfaces in the module substrate; and a plurality of external terminals arranged in a second region of at least one of the first and second surfaces, the second region positioned at one side edge of the module substrate, wherein a width of the module substrate corresponding to the first region is smaller than a width of the module substrate corresponding to distance between the first surface and the second surface in the first region is shorter than a distance between the first surface and the second surface in the second region.
2 . The semiconductor memory module of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of semiconductor devices comprises at least one memory component, and the memory component comprises at least one memory chip and a molding layer arranged on a side surface of the at least one memory chip to expose an uppermost memory chip.
3 . The semiconductor memory module of claim 1 , further comprising a heat dissipation plate attached to at least one of the first and second surfaces of the module substrate.
4 . The semiconductor memory module of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of semiconductor devices comprises a plurality of memory components including at least one semiconductor chip and at least one driving component including at least one semiconductor chip, and at least one temperature sensor to detect temperatures of the semiconductor devices.
5 . The semiconductor memory module of claim 4 , wherein the memory components and the driving component comprise a molding layer configured to surround side surfaces of the at least one semiconductor chip.
6 . The semiconductor memory module of claim 1 , wherein a semiconductor chip positioned at an uppermost portion of the semiconductor device is exposed, further comprising a heat dissipation plate that directly contacts the exposed semiconductor chip positioned at the uppermost portion of the semiconductor device.
7 . A semiconductor memory module comprising: a module substrate including a package mounting region and a connecting region positioned at one side edge of the module substrate, wherein a thickness of the module substrate in the package mounting region is smaller than a thickness of the module substrate in the connecting region; a plurality of semiconductor packages mounted on the package mounting region of the module substrate; and a heat dissipation plate attached to the plurality of semiconductor packages.
8 . The semiconductor memory module of claim 7 , further comprising: a plurality of first external terminals arranged on the connecting region of the module substrate.
9 . The semiconductor memory module of claim 8 , wherein the module substrate includes a first surface, a second surface facing the first surface, and a plurality of circuit patterns formed inside the module substrate to generate a plurality of conductive paths between the first surface and second surface, and wherein a shortest conductive path in the package mounting region is shorter than a shortest conductive path in the connecting region.
10 . The semiconductor memory module of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of semiconductor packages are mounted on the first surface and second surface of the package mounting region, respectively, and the heat dissipation plate is configured to cover the semiconductor packages mounted on at least one of the first and second surfaces of the module substrate.
11 . The semiconductor memory module of claim 7 , wherein each of the semiconductor packages comprises: a package substrate; a plurality of semiconductor chips disposed on the package substrate; and a molding layer formed on the package substrate to surround side surfaces of the plurality of semiconductor chips, wherein the molding layer is configured to expose an upper surface of a semiconductor chip positioned at an uppermost portion among the plurality of semiconductor chips, and the heat dissipation plate is directly contacted to the exposed upper surface of the semiconductor chip.
12 . The semiconductor memory module of claim 11 , wherein the semiconductor chip positioned at the uppermost portion includes a memory chip.
13 . A computer system comprising: a central processing unit (CPU) mounted on a main board; a plurality of module connectors installed at the CPU; and a thin semiconductor memory module including a module substrate, a plurality of semiconductor devices mounted on a first region of the module substrate, and a plurality of external terminals arranged at a second region of the module substrate, wherein the plurality of external terminals are connected to each of the plurality of module connectors, and wherein a thickness of the first region of the module substrate is thinner than a thickness of the second region of the module substrate.
14 . The computer system of claim 13 , wherein each of the plurality of semiconductor devices comprises: a package substrate mounted on the module substrate; at least one semiconductor chip bonded to the package substrate; and a molding layer formed on the package substrate to surround side surfaces of the semiconductor chip, the molding layer configured to expose an upper surface of the at least one semiconductor chip.
15 . The computer system of claim 14 , wherein each of the thin semiconductor memory modules further comprises a heat dissipation plate configured to physically contact the semiconductor devices on a same plane.
16 . The computer system of claim 14 , wherein the module substrate has a first surface and a second surface, and the plurality of semiconductor devices are mounted on at least one of the first and second surfaces of the module substrate.
17 . The computer system of claim 16 , wherein each of the thin semiconductor memory modules further comprises: a first heat dissipation plate configured to physically contact the semiconductor devices mounted on the first surface of the module substrate, and a second heat dissipation plate configured to physically contact the plurality of semiconductor devices mounted on the second surface of the module substrate.
18 . The computer system of claim 13 , wherein a gap between the thin semiconductor memory modules on the module connectors is greater than a half of a width of the thin semiconductor memory modules.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATION The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) to Korean application number 10-2022-0178395, filed on Dec. 19, 2022, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field Various embodiments generally relate to a semiconductor memory module and a computer system including the same, and more particularly, to a semiconductor memory module having a thin thickness and a computer system including the semiconductor memory module. 2. Related Art A semiconductor memory module including a semiconductor memory device may be applied to various electronic products. The semiconductor memory modules applied to the various electronic products may include a printed circuit board (PCB) and a plurality of semiconductor devices or semiconductor memory devices mounted on at least one surface of the PCB. However, when a computer system on which the semiconductor memory module may be mounted may be driven, the semiconductor devices in the semiconductor memory module may be simultaneously driven to generate high heat. The heat of the semiconductor devices may deteriorate performance of the semiconductor memory module. Thus, a modern semiconductor memory module may include a heat dissipation plate configured to effectively dissipate the heat. The heat dissipation plate may improve the performance of the semiconductor memory module. In contrast, the heat dissipation plate may also increase a thickness of the semiconductor memory module. SUMMARY An embodiment is directed to a semiconductor memory module having a thin thickness. An embodiment is also directed to a computer system including the above-mentioned semiconductor memory module. According to an embodiment, a semiconductor memory module may include a module substrate, a plurality of semiconductor devices, and a plurality of external terminals. The module substrate may have opposite first and second surfaces. The semiconductor devices may be mounted on a first region of at least one of the first and second surfaces in the module substrate. The external terminals may be arranged in a second region of at least one of the first and second surfaces of the module substrate. A distance between the first surface and the second surface in the first region may be shorter than a distance between the first surface and the second surface in the second region. In an embodiment, each of the semiconductor devices may include a plurality of memory components including at least one memory chip. At least one of the memory components may be arranged at a side of the memory chip to expose an uppermost memory chip. In an embodiment, each of the semiconductor devices may include a plurality of memory components, at least one driving component and at least one temperature sensor. Each of the memory components may include at least one semiconductor chip. The driving component may include at least one semiconductor chip. The temperature sensor may detect temperatures of the memory components and the driving component. At least one of the memory components and the driving component may include an exposed uppermost semiconductor chip. The semiconductor memory module may further include a heat dissipation plate configured to contact uppermost semiconductor chips of the exposed memory component and uppermost semiconductor chips of the exposed driving component. According to an embodiment, a semiconductor memory module may include a module substrate, a plurality of semiconductor packages and a heat dissipation plate. The module substrate may have first and second surfaces. A plurality of circuit patterns may be arranged between the first surface and the second surface. A plurality of vertical conductive paths having different lengths may be formed between the first surface and the second surface. The semiconductor packages may be mounted on a first region of at least one of the first and second surfaces in the module substrate. Each of the semiconductor packages may include an exposed semiconductor chip. The heat dissipation plate may be attached to at least one of the first and second surfaces of the module substrate. The heat dissipation plate may physically contact the exposed semiconductor chips of the semiconductor packages. In an embodiment, the semiconductor memory module may further include a plurality of first external terminals and a plurality of second external terminals. The first external terminals may be arranged in one edge region on the first surface of the module substrate. The second external terminals may correspond to the first external terminals. The second external terminals may be arranged on one edge region on the second surface of the module substrate. The shortest length among a plurality of vertical conductive paths may be shorter than a distance between the first external terminal and the second external terminal. In an embodiment, the module s