Over time, this concept was enhanced to include thick-film networks of 16 to 32 resistive elements within dual-in-line packages in plastic housings with gull-wing leads for easy surface mounting. The dual-in-line package (DIP) made it possible for resistor manufacturers to integrate different types of passive components, usually chip resistors and ceramic chip capacitors.
In the early 1990s, new developments in passive component configuration were pioneered by companies in the discrete semiconductor industries who successfully used semiconductor manufacturing techniques to manipulate specific raw materials, such as tantalum nitride, chrome silicide, and nickel-chromium, to create layers of resistance. They also used ion-implantation devices to engineer silicon-oxide- and silicon-nitride capacitors; thereby creating complex integrated passive devices (IPDs). Additional silicon manipulation in thin film added transistor functions and circuit protection functions to IPDs. The new thin-film-on-silicon designs began to compete against traditional thick-film DIPs and SIPs for termination and filtering functions, especially in high-frequency applications.
While thin-film IPDs were finding their niche, chip-resistor manufacturers developed the multichip array based on thick-film technology. The multichip array was a low-cost alternative to traditional thick-film SIP products, and it lowered the placement costs on PCBs. The combination of low cost array components, coupled with the added customer savings in conversion costs, caused the array market to grow rapidly, especially in markets where volumetric efficiency was of extreme importance.
Companies that had been making arrays and networks (especially those with multilayer technology) began to realize they could use their manufacturing know-how and technology to produce advanced components and modules. The result was the complex integration of capacitors, resistors, and inductors in low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) substrates.
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