Method and apparatus for a stress relieved electronic module

A fabrication method and resultant electronic module (21) that facilitates relief of thermally induced stress within the module. The fabrication method includes providing a plurality of integrated circuit chips (11) having grooves in substantially planar main surfaces (13) thereof. The chips are stacked and bonded to each other using an expandable material and a flowable adhesive to form an electronic module. The bonding is such that movement of individual IC chips within the module, in a direction perpendicular to their planar surfaces, is restricted. Upon thermal expansion of the module, the expandable material and the individual chips expand at different rates. However, the expandable material flows into the grooves, relieving thermally induced stress.