US Patent 8143110 Methods and apparatuses to stiffen integrated circuit package

A dam stiffener for a package substrate is presented. In an embodiment, the dam stiffener comprises a thermally curable polymer, and is simultaneously cured with the underfill material to act as stiffener to the substrate. In another embodiment, a curable reservoir material can be dispensed to fill the space between the integrated circuit die and the dam stiffener, forming a thick reservoir layer, acting as an additional stiffener for the package substrate.