Fabrication of a complete mechanical device needs the assembly of the individual components formed using micromachining technique
Process and methods to assemble a device into a housing for useful,
safe and reliable interaction with its surroundings with full protections from surroundings. Wafer bonding in conjunction with micromachining allows the fabrication of 3D structures that are thicker than a single wafer Process developed for silicon bonding: 1. Bonding of hydrophobic wafers 2. Fusion bonding 3. Anodic bonding Microelectronics packaging issues Protection Electrical connection Heat transfer
MEMS packaging issues
Coupling to outside media (may or may not be necessary) Vacuum packaging Custom packaging Cost MEMS Testing Electrical functionality can be usually be tested at wafer level. However, to test other functionalities like pressure, temperature it requires complete packaging. Bonding of Hydrophobic Wafers Two hydrophobic silicon wafers bonded together when pressed at a particular temperature Spontaneous bonding of hydrophobic wafers leads to very week bonding if not annealed Bonding energy obtained with hydrophobic wafers is as low as 26 mJ/m2 During annealing of the wafers, the bonding energy raises quickly when the temperature exceeds 400oC and reaches a value of 2.5 J/m2 at 600oC Silicon Fusion Bonding Direct bonding is possible between all material if surface micro- roughness (smoothness) is smaller than few nm and radius of curvature is large enough
The process of wafer fusion bonding is the mating together of a
pair of wafers at room temperature followed by thermal annealing at temperature between 700 to 1100oC The wafers adhere at room temperature via hydrogen bridge bonds of chemisorbed water molecules that subsequently react during the annealing process to form Si O Si bonds High annealing step is necessary to increase the strength of the bond 800oC anneal results in sufficient bond strength for subsequent processes such as grinding, polishing and etching Problems of High Annealing Temperature (>800oC)
Doping profile broadening
Thermal stress Defect generation Contamination Limits use of compound semiconductor because of low dissociation temperature Limits post-metallization bonding because most of the common metal used in metallization melt above 450oC
Thus low temperature bonding method have to be developed
with reasonable bond strength Bond Quality for Different Annealing Temperature Temperature less than 450oC for post-metallization wafers
Temperature less than 800oC for wafers with diffusion dopant
layers (e.g. p+ etch stop)
Temperature greater than 1000oC for wafer bonding before
processing results in an almost complete reaction of the interface. At 1000oC annealed for 2 hrs gives sufficiently high bond strength and is not possible to separate the two bonded Si wafers without breaking silicon Structure Annealing Bond strength (Jm- Voids (% temperature (oC) 2) nonbonding)
Si/Si 450 0.5 -
Si/Si 800 0.6 0.3 Si/Si 1000 2.6 0.3 Si/Si3N4 (140 nm) 800 0.9 0.2 Si/Si3N4 (140 nm) 1000 Cleavage 0.2 Si/Si3N4 (300 nm) 1000 Cleavage 25 Critical Issues of Wafer Bonding: Presence of non-contacting areas which are called voids caused by particles, organic residues, surface defects,etc. Both the surfaces that are fusion-bonded have to be perfectly smooth and clean Required optimized processing condition such as wafer surface cleanliness, surface pretreatment (for hydrophilic /hydrophobic). Bonding of wafers covered with a thin thermal oxide/nitride results in homogeneous bonded wafers, whereas wafer with thicker oxide (or nitride) films develop voids during annealing In case of poly-Si bonding to Si, a polishing step for the two surfaces to be bonded is necessary, which produces two smooth defect free surfaces. Bonding mechanism is identical to Si-to-Si fusion bonding Anodic Bonding The term anodic bonding refers to bonding assisted by an electric field. Silicon to silicon anodic bonding is used to seal silicon together by use of a thin sputter deposited glass layer. Advantages of Anodic Bonding Process :
1. Low process temperature (~450oC)
2. Low residual stress
3. Less stringent requirements on the surface quality of the wafers
as compared to fusion bonding
4. A well-developed technology with high yield if care is taken to
achieve a good cleaning procedure and a dust free environment. Anodic Bonding of a Silicon Wafer to a Pyrex wafer Schematic Cross Section of an Anodic Bonding Apparatus
The negative electrode is connected to the top sputter-coated wafer
The voltage should be applied over a long time to allow the current to settle at the steady-state minimized level Typically 10 20 minutes time required to complete bonding process in air atmospheric pressure Anodic Bonding of a Silicon Wafer to a Pyrex wafer
Anodic bonding is possible under atmospheric conditions as
well as in vacuum. Requirements for anodic bonding process
The glass must be slightly conductive in order to be able to
build up a space charge region The temperature must stay well below the softening point The metal must not inject charge carriers into the glass The surface roughness of the wafers must be smaller than 1 m rms, and the surfaces must be clean and dust free The (native or thermally grown) oxide layer on the silicon must be thinner than 200 nm The thermal expansion coefficients of the bonded materials must match in the range of temperatures Typical Anodic Bonding Process
After surface cleaning and polishing, the top wafer is sputter-
deposited a few micron thick glass film. The top wafer is then placed on the support wafer. The two wafers are sealed together by anodic bonding at temperature less than 400oC with an electrostatic DC voltage of 1000 to 2000 V Important Effects in Anodic Bonding
A DC voltage is preferable over an AC voltage. The
electrostatic bonding pressure varies with the inverse of AC frequency. The advantage of using a point cathode (instead of an extended planar cathode) is that the electrostatic pressure develops due to the finite conductivity of the glass, starting below the cathode tip, radially propagating across the wafer. The bonding can be observed by looking through the glass Anodic Bonding is now a well developed technology. This process has a high yield if care is taken to achieve good cleaning procedures and dust free environment and if polished wafers are used