Editing Integrated circuit packaging (section)

=== Mechanical and thermal ===
The [[integrated circuit]] package must resist physical breakage, keep out moisture, and also provide effective heat dissipation from the chip. Moreover, for [[RF]] applications, the package is commonly required to shield [[electromagnetic interference]], that may either degrade the circuit performance or adversely affect neighboring circuits. Finally, the package must permit interconnecting the chip to a [[Printed circuit board|PCB]].<ref name=":02"/> The materials of the package are either plastic ([[thermosetting polymer|thermoset]] or [[thermoplastic]]), metal (commonly [[Kovar]]) or ceramic. A common [[plastic]] used for this is [[epoxy]]-[[cresol]]-[[novolak]] (ECN).<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285397294 |doi=10.1016/B978-0-8155-1576-0.50006-1 |via=[[ResearchGate]]|chapter=Plastic Encapsulant Materials |title=Encapsulation Technologies for Electronic Applications |year=2009 |last1=Ardebili |first1=Haleh |last2=Pecht |first2=Michael G. |pages=47–127 |isbn=9780815515760 |s2cid=138753417 }}</ref> All three material types offer usable mechanical strength, moisture and heat resistance. Nevertheless, for higher-end devices, metallic and ceramic packages are commonly preferred due to their higher strength (which also supports higher pin-count designs), heat dissipation, [[hermetic seal|hermetic performance]], or other reasons.  Generally, ceramic packages are more expensive than similar plastic packages.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Integrated Circuit Packaging, Assembly and Interconnections|last=Greig|first=William|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|year=2007|isbn=9780387339139}}</ref>

Some packages have [[Fin (extended surface)|metallic fins]] to enhance heat transfer, but these take up space. Larger packages also allow for more interconnecting pins.<ref name=":02"/>