Intel patent outlines embedding MicroLEDs directly into CPU package to light up wording or work as an 'extra asethic component'

Intel has been granted a patent that describes embedding MicroLEDs directly into a CPU package, according to a filing published after more than four years of review. The patent does not limit the purpose of the lights, and Intel leaves the technology open to several uses. The company specifically describes implementing MicroLEDs in a processor rather than a generic chip.

According to the patent, the processor can run the micro LEDs so they visually signal that certain functions are being carried out, or simply for aesthetic effects. In one portion of the filing, Intel describes the LEDs lighting up wording across a central processing unit, which suggests a readout located directly on the CPU. The patent also states the LEDs can produce different colors depending on how the design is implemented, leaving room for both a diagnostic-style display and a more decorative, RGB-like look.

The primary drawing shows a glass substrate in the middle, sandwiched between two layers of package substrate. A semiconductor die sits partly inside the glass substrate, with only its back surface exposed, though the patent notes the die can be fully embedded in other implementations. The LEDs connect directly to the semiconductor die or through nanowires, and through-glass vias deliver power and signal to the die through the glass substrate.

Intel says the package is built with two layers of silicon nitride, formed on the package substrate surface and then attached to the glass substrate. The company has worked on glass substrates for more than three years and claims they offer ten times better interconnect density than organic substrates.

The main drawing depicts only a single IC, which the patent says is shown for clarity. A finished product using the technology would have an array or arrays of micro LEDs on one or more IC packages, which leaves open the possibility of multiple LED-based functions built into a processor.

Patents are not products, and Intel filed this one over four years ago before it was published. Whether MicroLEDs will actually appear embedded in a processor remains an open question. Even so, the filing shows Intel has laid the groundwork for that kind of design in the future.

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