Integrated circuits are put into protective packages to allow easy handling and assembly onto printed circuit boards and to protect the devices from damage. A very large number of different types of package exist. Some package types have standardized dimensions and tolerances, and are registered with trade industry associations such as JEDEC and Pro Electron. Other types are proprietary designations that may be made by only one or two manufacturers. Integrated circuit packaging is the last assembly process before testing and shipping devices to customers.

Occasionally specially-processed integrated circuit dies are prepared for direct connections to a substrate without an intermediate header or carrier. In flip chip systems the IC is connected by solder bumps to a substrate. In beam-lead technology, the metallized pads that would be used for wire bonding connections in a conventional chip are thickened and extended to allow external connections to the circuit. Assemblies using "bare" chips have additional packaging or filling with epoxy to protect the devices from moisture.

Through-hole technology uses holes drilled through the printed circuit board (PCB) for mounting the components. The component has leads that are soldered to pads on the PCB to electrically and mechanically connect them to the PCB.

Chip on board is a packaging technique that directly connects a die to a PCB, without an interposer or lead frame.

A chip carrier is a rectangular package with contacts on all four edges. Leaded chip carriers have metal leads wrapped around the edge of the package, in the shape of a letter J. Leadless chip carriers have metal pads on the edges. Chip carrier packages may be made of ceramic or plastic and are usually secured to a printed circuit board by soldering, though sockets can be used for testing.

A small outline integrated circuit (SOIC) is a surface-mounted integrated circuit (IC) package which occupies an area about 30–50% less than an equivalent dual in-line package (DIP), with a typical thickness being 70% less. They are generally available in the same pin-outs as their counterpart DIP ICs.

According to IPC's standard J-STD-012, Implementation of Flip Chip and Chip Scale Technology, in order to qualify as chip scale, the package must have an area no greater than 1.2 times that of the die and it must be a single-die, direct surface mountable package. Another criterion that is often applied to qualify these packages as CSPs is their ball pitch should be no more than 1 mm. Chip-scale package

Ball grid array (BGA) uses the underside of the package to place pads with balls of solder in grid pattern as connections to PCB.^[1][3]

• MELF: Metal electrode leadless face (usually for resistors and diodes)
• SOD: Small-outline diode.
• SOT: Small-outline transistor (also SOT-23, SOT-223, SOT-323).
• TO-XX: wide range of small pin count packages often used for discrete parts like transistors or diodes.
  • TO-3: Panel-mount with leads
  • TO-5: Metal can package with radial leads
  • TO-18: Metal can package with radial leads
  • TO-39
  • TO-46
  • TO-66: Similar shape to the TO-3 but smaller
  • TO-92: Plastic-encapsulated package with three leads
  • TO-99: Metal can package with eight radial leads
  • TO-100
  • TO-126: Plastic-encapsulated package with three leads and a hole for mounting on a heat sink
  • TO-220: Through-hole plastic package with a (usually) metal heat sink tab and three leads
  • TO-226^[24]
  • TO-247:^[25] Plastic-encapsulated package with three leads and a hole for mounting on a heat sink
  • TO-251:^[25] Also called IPAK: SMT package similar to the DPAK but with longer leads for SMT or TH mounting
  • TO-252:^[25] (also called SOT428, DPAK):^[25] SMT package similar to the DPAK but smaller
  • TO-262:^[25] Also called I2PAK: SMT package similar to the D2PAK but with longer leads for SMT or TH mounting
  • TO-263:^[25] Also called D2PAK: SMT package similar to the TO-220 without the extended tab and mounting hole
  • TO-274:^[25] Also called Super-247: SMT package similar to the TO-247 without the mounting hole

All measurements below are given in mm. To convert mm to mils, divide mm by 0.0254 (i.e., 2.54 mm / 0.0254 = 100 mil).

C

Clearance between package body and PCB.

H

Height of package from pin tip to top of package.

T

Thickness of pin.

L

Length of package body only.

L_W

Pin width.

L_L

Pin length from package to pin tip.

P

Pin pitch (distance between conductors to the PCB).

W_B

Width of the package body only.

W_L

Length from pin tip to pin tip on the opposite side.

A variety of techniques for interconnecting several chips within a single package have been proposed and researched:

• SiP (system in package)
• PoP (package on package)
• 3D-SICs, Monolithic 3D ICs, and other three-dimensional integrated circuits
• Multi-chip module
• WSI (wafer-scale integration)
• Proximity communication^[31]

Surface-mount components are usually smaller than their counterparts with leads, and are designed to be handled by machines rather than by humans. The electronics industry has standardized package shapes and sizes (the leading standardisation body is JEDEC).

The codes given in the chart below usually tell the length and width of the components in tenths of millimeters or hundredths of inches. For example, a metric 2520 component is 2.5 mm by 2.0 mm which corresponds roughly to 0.10 inches by 0.08 inches (hence, imperial size is 1008). Exceptions occur for imperial in the two smallest rectangular passive sizes. The metric codes still represent the dimensions in mm, even though the imperial size codes are no longer aligned. Problematically, some manufacturers are developing metric 0201 components with dimensions of 0.25 mm × 0.125 mm (0.0098 in × 0.0049 in),^[32] but the imperial 01005 name is already being used for the 0.4 mm × 0.2 mm (0.0157 in × 0.0079 in) package. These increasingly small sizes, especially 0201 and 01005, can sometimes be a challenge from a manufacturability or reliability perspective.^[33]

• Surface-mount technology
• Three-dimensional integrated circuit
• Interposer
• IPC (electronics)
• List of chip carriers
• List of electronics package dimensions
• Redistribution layer
• Small-outline transistor
• Wafer-level packaging