Packaging (microfabrication)

Packaging (microfabrication)

In electronics manufacturing, integrated circuit packaging is the final stage of semiconductor device fabrication, in which the tiny block of semiconducting material is encased in a supporting case that prevents physical damage and corrosion. The case, known as a "package", supports the electrical contacts which connect the device to a circuit board.

In the integrated circuit industry it is called simply packaging and sometimes semiconductor device assembly, or simply assembly. Sometimes it is called encapsulation or seal. The packaging stage is followed by testing of the integrated circuit.

The term is sometimes confused with electronic packaging, which is the mounting and interconnecting of integrated circuits (and other components) onto printed-circuit boards.