Direct, CMOS In-Line Process Flow Compatible, Sub 100 °C Cu–Cu Thermocompression Bonding Using Stress Engineering

Diffusion of atoms across the boundary between two bonding layers is the key for achieving excellent thermocompression Wafer on Wafer bonding. In this paper, we demonstrate a novel mechanism to increase the diffusion across the bonding interface and also shows the CMOS in-line process flow compatible Sub 100 °C Cu–Cu bonding which is devoid of Cu surface treatment prior to bonding. The stress in sputtered Cu thin films was engineered by adjusting the Argon in-let pressure in such a way that one film had a compressive stress while the other film had tensile stress. Due to this stress gradient, a nominal pressure (2 kN) and temperature (75 °C) was enough to achieve a good quality thermocompression bonding having a bond strength of 149 MPa and very low specific contact resistance of 1.5 × 10−8 Ω-cm2. These excellent mechanical and electrical properties are resultant of a high quality Cu–Cu bonding having grain growth between the Cu films across the boundary and extended throughout the bonded region as revealed by Cross-sectional Transmission Electron Microscopy. In addition, reliability assessment of Cu–Cu bonding with stress engineering was demonstrated using multiple current stressing and temperature cycling test, suggests excellent reliable bonding without electrical performance degradation