A Novel Photosensitive Permanent Bonding Material Designed for Polymer/Metal

Hybrid Bonding Applications

Michelle Fowler*1, Mei Dong1, Alice Guerrero1, Baron Huang1, Rama Puligadda1

Brewer Science, Inc, 2401 Brewer Drive, Rolla, MO 65401, (573)364-0300, [email protected]

Keywords: Photosensitive, Hybrid Bonding, Permanent Bonding

Abstract interconnection pitches below 10 μm which enables higher

Wafer-level hybrid bonding techniques, which provide bandwidth through power and signal integrity improvement
simultaneous bonding between metal-metal and [3].
dielectric-dielectric layers, have attracted more attention Wafer-level hybrid bonding simultaneously bonds metal
in recent years for fabricating 3D integrated circuits with to metal and between dielectric and dielectric, and has been
high bandwidth and high interconnect density. However, applied to some applications, such as image sensors and non-
there are some issues for conventional hybrid bonding volatile storage, proving to be an effective way to improve
using silicon oxide as the dielectric, such as the high stress bonding quality and reliability. Generally, Cu is used as the
and low tolerance to height difference of the bonding metal for I/O pad metal conjunction and inorganic silicon
interface, which limits its applications for 3D dioxide is used as the dielectric for insulation. The biggest
heterogeneous integration. concern for the current approach is the use of inorganic silicon
In this paper, a novel negative-tone, photosensitive, dioxide which requires high-quality surface planarization to
polymeric bonding material is proposed that can be used obtain highly reliable bonding. Also, the hardness of silicon
as a dielectric enabling polymer/metal hybrid bonding. dioxide makes it difficult to tolerate height differences and
Compared to silicon oxide, the polymeric material with particles on the bonding interface, which results in lower yield
low Young’s modulus is able to absorb thermally induced due to electrical failures [4].
stress created during the bonding process and results in To solve these issues, a novel photosensitive permanent
lower bow for the bonded substrates. The key features for bonding material is introduced in this paper, which exhibits
the photosensitive permanent bonding material include 1) fine-pitch patterning capability with <10 μm L/S resolution,
low dielectric constant and dissipation factor; 2) superior excellent thermal stability for the thermal budget needed for
thermal stability up to 350°C; 3) excellent fine-pitch Cu annealing, and good bonding quality with surface
capability <10 µm; and 4) low processing and curing planarization. With all these merits, this material has the
temperatures <200°C. The photosensitive permanent potential to replace silicon dioxide in hybrid bonding and
bonding material has also demonstrated good solve the issues with current processing.
patternability with good adhesion when bonded to
another Si or glass substrate without obvious defects. The MATERIAL CHARACTERISTICS
details of the material characterization, process
optimization, reliability, and preliminary Characterization of the photosensitive permanent bonding
polymer/polymer hybrid bonding results will be presented material (PBM) was conducted using both a solution and
in this paper. cured film that was created using molds or cast onto silicon
wafers using standard processing conditions. Advantages
INTRODUCTION associated with this novel negative-tone permanent bonding
material are: high chemical resistance, photopatternability
As costs climb when moving to the next generation of L/S <10 µm, high adhesion to various substrates, and low-
silicon nodes, 2.5D and 3D IC heterogeneous integration is in temperature bonding with good thermal stability >350°C. For
the spotlight to provide an economic solution for the industry this paper, data will be presented and separated into two
which will enhance the performance of final devices through categories: product performance and product physical
scaling system-level interconnection. Heterogeneous properties.
integration in the industry exists in many formats, such as
Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate (CoWoS) and Integrated Fan- PRODUCT PERFORMANCE
Out (InFO) technologies from TSMC [1-2], Embedded Multi-
Die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB) and Foveros technologies Photosensitive Permanent Bonding Material Processing
from Intel, and I-Cube technology from Samsung. One of the Evaluation of product performance was conducted using
most promising solutions is hybrid bonding and chip stacking flat silicon wafers of 100- to 200-mm diameter. In general, the
since it offers the ability to integrate several dies with small permanent bonding material was manually coated using a

CS MANTECH Conference, May 9 -12, 2022 211

static dispense process in a spin coater with minimal air flow for <3 min in a SUSS MicroTec XBC300 debond and
and exhaust. A target film thickness of 5 µm was achieved cleaning system (Fig 1).
using a spin speed of 700-850 rpm with an acceleration of
1000-3000 rpm/s for a spin time of 30 s. The coated wafer Fig. 1. Exposure matrix on silicon substrate
was then baked using a bake plate at 60°C for 5 min (contact),
then further baked at 120°C for 8 min (contact) to remove
residual solvent from the film. Baked wafers were then photo-
exposed with broadband or i-line exposure tools using various
exposure doses (100-500 mJ/cm2). A post exposure bake was
done using a bake plate set at 120°C for 3 min followed by a
solvent develop process (for patterns only, develop was not
done for flood exposure). Bonding to a silicon carrier wafer
was done using an EVG® 510 bonder set at 150°C, 8000 N of Exposure dose <200 mJ/cm2 L/S
force for 15 min. Thermal curing post-bond was done using a
200°C bake plate for 60 min contact. With additional optimization of the develop process,
successful patterning of 10 µm vias has also been achieved
Chemical Resistance (Fig. 2).
As a permanent bonding material which will remain with
the final device over a lifetime, excellent chemical resistance Fig. 2. SEM photos of 10 µm vias
is necessary. Testing was conducted on coated wafers and
bonded pairs (silicon bonded to glass) which were prepared
using the above process (no develop process). Each sample
was then placed into a chemical bath using the desired
conditions and time (Table I). Test wafers and bonded pairs
were then visually inspected for possible film delamination,
bond line edge attack or solubility after chemical exposure.

TABLE I
Chemical resistance data for exposed films and bonded pairs Film transparency
Chemical Bath Time Film Bond line A test sample was prepared using a quartz wafer. The
Acetone 25 °C 25 min No defects No defects permanent bonding material was then coated, baked, and
Cyclohexanone 25 °C 5 min No defects No defects flood exposed to fully cure the permanent bonding material.
Ethyl Lactate 25 °C 30 min No defects No defects
Using a Cary UV-Vis Spectrophotometer, the optical
IPA 25 °C 30 min No defects No defects
PGMEA 25 °C 5 min No defects No defects transparency (% Transmittance) of a 5 µm film through the
PGME 25 °C 5 min No defects No defects visible spectrum was measured (Fig. 3.). Greater than 95%
Mesitylene 25 °C 5 min No defects No defects transmittance was obtained at 405-800 nm.
TMAH 2.38% 25 °C 10 min No defects No defects
NMP 80 °C 10 min No defects Edge attack Fig. 3. Film Transmittance
H2O2 35% 50 °C 60 min No defects Edge attack
KOH 30% 85 °C 60 min Delamination Edge attack 120
Oxalic acid 25 °C 10 min No defects No defects
Transmittance (%)

100
0.25%
Citric acid 25 °C 10 min No defects No defects 80
0.25%
60
Photolithography Performance 40
Beyond 40-µm pitches, hybrid bonding becomes an 20
attractive alternative to microbumps. A typical hybrid
0
bonding process targets CD sizes below 10 µm [5]. This 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
material has been designed to be photopatternable using Wavelength (nm)
standard photolithography processing. Using standard
processing conditions, 200-mm silicon wafers were coated
Film Total Thickness Variation (TTV)
with a 5-µm film of the permanent bonding material. An
exposure dose matrix was conducted using a resolution reticle Copper-polymer and polymer-polymer hybrid bonding
requires zero defects with co-planar bonding surfaces with
with various exposure tools. A post-exposure bake (PEB) was
minimal surface roughness. This improves the bond
then performed at 120°C for 3 min. A solvent develop was
performed on the wafers using cyclopentanone or mesitylene formation, yield and reliability which are critical to achieving

212 CS MANTECH Conference, May 9 -12, 2022

interconnect functionality [6]. Achieving a polymer film with Fig. 6. Isothermal TGA data (300°C for 2 hrs) for fully cured
low TTV allows for uniform formation of the bond. film
Using a 200-mm silicon wafer, film uniformity was 100.5

determined using the standard processing conditions as

outlined above for an unbonded wafer. This testing did not 100.0

include an edge bead removal process which can be easily

incorporated into the film casting process. Measurements
1.164% Wt% loss at 300C

Weight (%)
(0.2510mg)

99.5

were made using a FRT MicroProf® 300 metrology tool and

include both a full wafer map and multiple line scans (Fig. 4).
An average full wafer film thickness of 4.551 µm with a TTV 99.0

of 5.103 µm was obtained. In this case, the thickness variation Temperature (°C)

is a direct result of the high film edge bead. Using a 10-mm 98.5
0
75 225

20
300

40 60 80 100 120
300

140

edge exclusion, an average film thickness of 4.767 µm was Time (min)

obtained with a TTV of 0.235 µm, which is <5% of the film Weight loss (%) at temperature vs time (min) at temperature.
thickness. Further coat optimization needs to be conducted
using a fully automated dispense with improved air flow When heated at 250°C, weight loss was measured at
control in the coater. 0.41% and at 300°C a weight loss of 1.16% was obtained.
Further testing was conducted at 350°C with a measured
Fig. 4. FRT TTV measurement, full wafer line scan weight loss of 8.26%.
Thermal gravimetric analysis was also conducted to
determine the thermal decomposition temperature for fully
cured films. At 350°C in N2, a 2% weight loss was measured
and at 400°C, a weight loss of 5% was observed (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7. TGA in N2 fully cured film

Measurement location (mm) vs film thickness (µm)

Thermal Stability
Good thermal stability of the permanent bonding material
is a necessary requirement for successful implementation of a
hybrid bonding process. To strengthen the bond and form
electric contact of the interconnects, a thermal anneal process
of bonded pairs is performed at temperatures >250°C under
vacuum. Isothermal thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) was
conducted on fully cured films at various temperatures with a
hold time at temperature of 2 hours in a nitrogen atmosphere
Preliminary Hybrid Bonding Results
(Fig. 5 & 6). Weight loss for each temperature was determined
Various hybrid bonding test scenarios have been evaluated
and samples compared.
using the photosensitive permanent bonding material.
Adhesion, bond quality and bond strength for chip-to-wafer
Fig. 5. Isothermal TGA data (250°C for 2 hrs) for fully cured
(C2W), and chip-to-chip (C2C) using both silicon dioxide
film
100.4 (SiO2) to polymer (PBM) and polymer-to-polymer (PBM)
have been tested. As of the writing of this paper, copper-(Cu)
100.2 to-Cu and Cu-to-PBM hybrid bonding processes are pending
evaluation.
100.0
Preliminary testing involved processing the PBM onto flat
Weight (%)

0.4170% Wt% loss at 250C

(0.06857mg)
silicon wafers. For die shear tests, both SiO2 and PBM were
99.8
processed on silicon wafers and then diced into 2.5-mm x 2.5-
mm dummy die, underwent plasma treatment, and were then
99.6
bonded to the coated silicon wafers in a chip-to-wafer
75 225 250
Temperature (°C)
250
configuration (Fig 8). An anneal bake process was performed
at 200°C for 1 hr. Using confocal scanning acoustic
99.4
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Time (min)

microscopy (CSAM), images were generated to evaluate the

Weight loss (%) at temperature vs time (min) at temperature.
chip-to-wafer bond quality (Fig. 9). No voids or defects were
found and no difference in bond quality was observed for
wafers bonded to either PBM or SiO2 chips.

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Fig. 8. (C2W) PBM bonded to SiO2 or PBM measures of the film’s fracture toughness which minimizes
stress during multilayer build-up. Currently, further
Si (725um) characterization such as moisture absorbance and reliability
testing are on-going for this material.
SiO2 or PBM

PBM (5 µm) TABLE II

Product Properties: This data is reported as preliminary
Si (725um) results for this material and is subject to additional testing.
Dielectric Constant (Dk) 10 GHz 2.6
Fig. 9. PBM wafer (with Newton’s rings) bonded to either 108 GHz 2.6
SiO2 or PBM chips with CSAM image of bonded chip. Dissipation Factor (Df) 10 GHz 0.0016
108 GHz 0.0041
Volume Resistivity Ω-cm 6.99x1016
Young’s Modulus MPa 240.9
Tensile Strength MPa 21.37
Elongation (max) % 160.6
Glass Transition (Tg) °C 30
CTE ppm/°C 206
Optical Constants (n, k) 248 nm 1.696, 0.128
365 nm 1.576, 0.002
Using an xyztec bond tester, the peak load (force) was 633 nm 1.528, 0.0003
measured and represents the maximum amount of shear force 1310 nm 1.515, 0.0007
the bond line can handle before failure. Using a blade,
increasing force is applied to the side of the chip attempting
to induce a failure by fracture [7]. The amount of force CONCLUSIONS
required to cause a failure is known as shear strength (Fig.
10). Heterogeneous integration formats, such as Chip-on-
Wafer-on-Substrate (CoWoS) and Integrated Fan-Out (InFO)
Fig. 10. Shear strength Results technologies, Embedded Multi-Die Interconnect Bridge
(EMIB) and Foveros technologies require new
multifunctional materials which enable sub-10-µm
interconnection pitches and higher bandwidth through power
and signal integrity [1]. In this paper we have presented
preliminary results using a novel permanent photosensitive
SiO2 chips bonded PBM chips bonded
to PBM wafer to PBM wafer bonding material developed for hybrid bonding applications.
The PBM exhibits excellent performance characteristics
including <10 µm L/S pattern ability, thermal stability
<300°C, and high shear strength. Product properties also
These tests indicate a shear strength range of 30-40 MPa include low Tg, high modulus, and excellent dielectric
for SiO2 bonded to PBM and a range of 50-70 MPa for PBM performance at higher frequencies. Evaluation of film
chips bonded to PBM wafers. performance using a hybrid bonding application with copper
and film reliability under various environmental conditions is
on-going.
PRODUCT PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

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