I've often noticed on some circuit boards that there is a type of black epoxy that seems to be covering ICs. Is this black epoxy put in place to hide the IC being used to protect the design or is it a type of cheap integrated circuit?
Thanks
I saw the same inside a Dongle issued to stop software copy protection, it consisted of just a chip with the legs connected to the parallel pins.. I assumed it was to hide the type of chip, but I don't know for sure :-)
-- Danny
Hi there,
"K1G1" wrote in news:W1oGd.8806$IV5.4480@attbi_s54:
most of the time this epoxy is used to replace the IC case!
This technology is known as "Chip on Board" where the silicon chip is glued directly to the board and then bonded to the PCB connection pads just as it would be done inside the normal plastic case.
The black cover is put over the chip and its bonding wires after testing the device for correct function.
Examples for that are:
- LCD displays with integrated controller
- dongles that consist only of one chip
- cheap clocks and watches ...
Bye Michael
Is that done because they're cheapskates, or another reason?
-- Danny
glued
yes, it's cheaper it also takes less space the epoxy is to protect the chip as well as the bonding wires
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