Enhanced yield 3D heterogeneous integration packaging and assembly structure and method

Abstract

Provided herein is a device for providing vertical support for a substrate-to-substrate assembly including a first substrate; a spacer material that is sintered or cured in place on the first substrate or a second substrate, or both; an adhesive or electrically conductive material disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate; an adhesive or electrically conductive material disposed between the first and the second substrate; and wherein the first and second substrates are compressed and sintered or cured with the adhesive or electrically conductive material; wherein the device reduces or eliminates squeeze-out of the adhesive or electrically conductive material from one or more sintering or curing cycles.

Description

ENHANCED YIELD 3D HETEROGENEOUS INTEGRATION PACKAGING AND ASSEMBLY STRUCTURE AND METHODCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] NoneSTATEMENT OF FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH

[0002] None.TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The present invention relates in general to the field of 3d heterogeneous integration (3DHI), and more particularly to an enhanced yield 3DHI packaging and assembly structure and method.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0004] Typically, 3DHI layer assembly process squeezes out of the adhesive or metal material. The adhesive or metal material can include, but is not limited to: solder, metal, nano-metal, electrically conductive polymers or epoxy, or polymers or epoxy. Squeeze out is the phenomena where the adhesive or metal material is irregularly forced out of the desired region, negatively impacting the electrical performance by creating electrical shorts, open circuits, RF or mmWave bondlines, or RF or mmWave shielding. Squeeze out occurs through overcompression, non-uniform compression, or excessive material flow during heating.

[0005] Existing vertical mechanical support structures for layer assembly use solid polymer core or solid core solder balls. These mechanical support structures require small balls filled with solder, polymers, or epoxy. The small balls used in these applications are generally made of glass or other electrically compatible material. These small balls are easily deposited by agglomeration or dispersion and are not commercially available.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] As embodied and broadly described herein, an aspect of the present disclosure relates to a device for providing vertical support for a substrate-to-substrate assembly comprising: a first substrate; a spacer material that is sintered or cured in place on the first substrate or a second substrate, or both; an adhesive or electrically conductive material disposed between the first and the second substrate; and wherein the first and second substrates are compressed andsintered or cured with the adhesive or electrically conductive material; wherein the device reduces or eliminates squeeze-out of the adhesive or electrically conductive material from one or more sintering or curing cycles. In one aspect, the first substrate, the second substrate, or both, are selected from: a silicon substrate, and silicon-germanium-based substrate, a silicon- based integrated passive device substrate, a silicon-based laterally-diffused metal-oxide- semiconductor substrate; a gallium nitride-based substrate, a glass substrate, a ceramic substrate, or a glass-ceramic composite substrate. In another aspect, the device is a bilayer structure comprising a single first substrate and a single second substrate. In another aspect, the first substrate or the second substrate is a die, a wafer, or a panel. In another aspect, the device further comprises: an additional spacer material that is sintered or cured in place on the second substrate; an additional adhesive or electrically conductive material disposed on the second substrate; and a third substrate compressed and sintered or cured onto the additional adhesive or electrically conductive material. In another aspect, the third substrate is selected from: a silicon substrate, and silicon-germanium-based substrate, a silicon-based integrated passive device substrate, a silicon-based laterally-diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor substrate; a gallium nitride-based substrate, a glass substrate, a ceramic substrate, or a glassceramic composite substrate. In another aspect, the third substrate is a die, a wafer, or a panel. In another aspect, the spacer material comprises a metal, a micro-metal, a nano-metal, or a conductive polymer. In another aspect, the metal, micro-metal, nano-metal, or conductive polymer comprises copper or silver.

[0007] As embodied and broadly described herein, an aspect of the present disclosure relates to a method of making a device for providing vertical support for a substrate-to-substrate assembly comprising: providing a first substrate; depositing a spacer material in place on the first substrate; sintering or curing the spacer material; depositing an adhesive or electrically conductive material on the first substrate; compressing a second substrate onto the adhesive or electrically conductive material; and sintering or curing the second substrate; wherein the device reduces or eliminates squeeze-out of the adhesive or electrically conductive material from one or more sintering or curing cycles. In one aspect, the first substrate, the second substrate, or both, are selected from: a silicon substrate, and silicon-germanium-based substrate, a silicon-based integrated passive device substrate, a silicon-based laterally-diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor substrate; a gallium nitride-based substrate, a glass substrate, a ceramic substrate, or a glass-ceramic composite substrate. In another aspect, the device is a bilayer structure comprising a single first substrate and a single second substrate. In anotheraspect, the first substrate or the second substrate is a die, a wafer, or a panel. In another aspect, the method further comprises: depositing an additional spacer material on the second substrate; sintering or curing the additional spacer material; depositing an additional adhesive or electrically conductive material on the second substrate; compressing a third substrate onto the additional adhesive or electrically conductive material; and sintering or curing the third substrate. In another aspect, the third substrate is selected from: a silicon substrate, and silicon- germanium-based substrate, a silicon-based integrated passive device substrate, a silicon-based laterally-diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor substrate; a gallium nitride-based substrate, a glass substrate, a ceramic substrate, or a glass-ceramic composite substrate. In another aspect, the third substrate is a die, a wafer, or a panel. In another aspect, the spacer material comprises a metal, a micro-metal, a nano-metal, or a conductive polymer. In another aspect, the metal, micro-metal, nano-metal, or conductive polymer comprises copper or silver wherein the nanometal comprises copper or silver.

[0008] As embodied and broadly described herein, an aspect of the present disclosure relates to a 3D heterogeneous integrated system comprising: a device for providing vertical support for a sub strate-to- substrate assembly comprising: a first substrate; a spacer material that is sintered or cured in place on the first substrate or a second substrate, or both; an adhesive or electrically conductive material disposed between the first and the second substrate; and wherein the first and second substrates are compressed and sintered or cured with the adhesive or electrically conductive material; wherein the device reduces or eliminates squeeze-out of the adhesive or electrically conductive material from one or more sintering or curing cycles.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] For a more complete understanding of the features and advantages of the present invention, reference is now made to the detailed description of the invention along with the accompanying figures and in which:

[0010] FIG 1 shows a vertical -bond-line spacer structure for 3DHI applications.

[0011] FIG 2 shows another vertical -bond-line spacer structure for 3DHI applications.

[0012] FIGS. 3A and 3B show an array of dot or ball vertical spacers according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0013] FIG. 4 shows an array of print dots as vertical spacers according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0014] FIG. 5 shows two views of one of 300 individual nano-silver vertical spacers according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0015] FIG. 6 shows a flowchart for a method embodiment of the invention.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] While the making and using of various embodiments of the present invention are discussed in detail below, it should be appreciated that the present invention provides many applicable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specific embodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention and do not delimit the scope of the invention.

[0017] To facilitate the understanding of this invention, a number of terms are defined below. Terms defined herein have meanings as commonly understood by a person of ordinary skill in the areas relevant to the present invention. Terms such as “a”, “an” and “the” are not intended to refer to only a singular entity, but include the general class of which a specific example may be used for illustration. The terminology herein is used to describe specific embodiments of the invention, but their usage does not delimit the invention, except as outlined in the claims.

[0018] Without limiting the scope of the invention, it is described in connection with the creation of a vertical spacer to simplify 3DHI assembly for use in a 3DHI system, preventing unintended intended material reflow (squeeze out), or non-uniform vertical spacing across the assembled layers, increasing assembly yield and performance. The invention uses a deposited feature that can be cured or sintered creating a mechanical support structure for the subsequent assembly layer. The process requires the application of an adhesive or electrically conductive connective layer. A subsequent layer is then aligned and placed on the first layer that consists of mechanical support structure plus adhesive or electrically conductive connective elements. The subsequent layer is then compressed in the vertical direction to rest on the mechanical support structure while making physical contact and applying mechanical force on the adhesive and electrically conductive connective elements. The assembled layered structure is then processed to cure or sinter the adhesive or electrically conductive connective elements to both the top and bottom layers together. The mechanical support structures eliminate squeeze-out by providing a vertical structure through this process.

[0019] As used herein, the term ‘’’substrate” includes any material on which conductive materials, such as semiconductors, can be formed or deposited. Non-limiting examples of substrate for use with the present invention include: a silicon substrate, and silicon-germanium-based substrate, a silicon-based integrated passive device substrate, a silicon-based laterally- diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor substrate; a gallium nitride-based substrate, a glass substrate, a ceramic substrate, or a glass-ceramic composite substrate, and the like.

[0020] This invention replaces pillar bumping used in fine-feature cost-effective and adjustable methods of flip-chip die attachment and electrical interconnection, compared to copper-pillar bumping.

[0021] One method embodiment of the present invention uses, but is not limited to, a nanosilver or nano-copper conductive epoxy (among other conductive nano-metals) and other materials that can be dispensed in a liquid or as a suspension with sufficient viscosity to form a structure. These materials can be deposited by any number of tools including but not limited to stylist, inkjet, or other deposition techniques that are compatible with the materials and their associated viscosities. The structure has a known and controllable shrinkage as it is cured or sintered into a solid, resulting in a vertical assembly spacer structure. This method enables a versatile combining of two substrates, layers, or flip-chip mounting dies onto substrates.

[0022] In one embodiment, the vertical structure is produced using a method that begins with apply material to be used as a bond line spacer. This material can be nonconductive or conductive. The material is dispensed onto a first substrate in lines or dots with particular attention focused on the height of the lines or dots above the first substrate. The material is then cured or sintered onto the first substrate to establish the bond line spacing. Conductive bonding material is then dispensed on top of the cured or sintered bond line spacer nonconducting material (see FIG. 1 below), and on a receiving pad on a second substrate where the bond line spacer material is conductive (see FIG. 2 below). The first substrate and is then aligned with the second substrate and a bonding force sufficient to approach the minimum film thickness of the material is applied. The resulting assembly is cured, and an electrical connection is made between the first and second substrates with a uniform and easily adjustable bond line thickness.

[0023] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention with nonconductive material for the bond line spacer. Device 100 includes a bumped pad of the first substrate 105; a landing place on the second substrate 110; the bond line spacer 115; the bonding material 120; and a minimum bonding material thickness 125 between the bond line spacer 115 and the second substrate 110.

[0024] FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention with nonconductive material for the bond line spacer. Device 200 includes a bumped pad of the first substrate 205; a landing place on the second substrate 210; the bond line spacer 215; the bonding material 220; and a minimum bonding material thickness 225 between the bond line spacer and the second substrate.

[0025] FIGS. 1 and 2 specifically show the use of nano-silver as the vertical spacer 115, 215 and as the bonding material 120, 220 for good conductivity.

[0026] For vertical spacers smaller than 30 pm in height a non-dot or non-ball structure is required. A precision stylist deposition process has a vacuum applied at the end of the deposition to prevent deposited material from making a stringer outside of the non-dot or nonball. This vacuum is sufficient to damage a dot or ball’s structure. To prevent the distortion in the vertical spacer the vertical spacer shape may take on a non-dot or non-ball form. The structure may take on different shapes depending on the dispense method and desired vertical spacer height. The vertical spacer may take the form of cylindrical, circular, pyramidal, or triangular or other appropriate shape that is enabled by the deposition process and required for the layer-to-layer spacing.

[0027] The dispense method can range from robotic single point dispense to a stencil style application of material (e.g., a solder stencil). This enables consistent processing of a 3DHI stack-up allowing for all joints to be made in the same process with a high degree of control of the bond line to support the requirements of sensitive components like amplifiers.

[0028] In some embodiments of the present invention, a device for providing vertical support for a substrate-to-substrate assembly (e.g., device 100 or 200) includes a first substrate (e.g. first substrate 105 or 205); a spacer material (e.g., the bond line spacer 115 or 215) that is sintered or cured in place on the first substrate or a second substrate (e.g. 110 or 210), or both; an adhesive or electrically conductive material (e.g., the bonding material 120 or 220) disposed between the first and the second substrate; wherein the first and second substrates are compressed and sintered or cured with the adhesive or electrically conductive material; and wherein the device reduces or eliminates squeeze-out of the adhesive or electrically conductive material from one or more sintering or curing cycles. In one aspect, the first substrate, the second substrate, or both, are selected from: a silicon substrate, and silicon-germanium-based substrate, a silicon-based integrated passive device substrate, a silicon-based laterally-diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor substrate; a gallium nitride-based substrate, a glass substrate, aceramic substrate, or a glass-ceramic composite substrate. In another aspect, the device is a bilayer structure comprising a single first substrate and a single second substrate. In another aspect, the first substrate or the second substrate is a die, a wafer, or a panel. In another aspect, the device includes an additional spacer material that is sintered or cured in place on the second substrate; an additional adhesive or electrically conductive material disposed on the second substrate; and a third substrate compressed and sintered or cured onto the additional adhesive or electrically conductive material. In some aspects, the third substrate is is selected from: a silicon substrate, and silicon-germanium-based substrate, a silicon-based integrated passive device substrate, a silicon-based laterally-diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor substrate; a gallium nitride-based substrate, a glass substrate, a ceramic substrate, or a glass-ceramic composite substrate. In some aspects, the third substrate is a die, a wafer, or a panel. In some aspects, the spacer material comprises a metal, a micro-metal, a nano-metal, or a conductive polymer. In some aspects, the metal, micro-metal, nano-metal, or conductive polymer comprises copper or silver.

[0029] In some embodiments, a 3D heterogeneous integrated system includes a device for providing vertical support for a sub strate-to- substrate assembly (e.g., device 100 or 200) includes a first substrate (e.g. first substrate 105 or 205); a spacer material (e.g., the bond line spacer 115 or 215) that is sintered or cured in place on the first substrate or a second substrate (e.g. 110 or 210), or both; an adhesive or electrically conductive material (e.g., the bonding material 120 or 220) disposed between the first and the second substrate; wherein the first and second substrates are compressed and sintered or cured with the adhesive or electrically conductive material; and wherein the device reduces or eliminates squeeze-out of the adhesive or electrically conductive material from one or more sintering or curing cycles.

[0030] FIG. 3 A shows an array of dot or ball vertical spacers, each with a diameter of 156 pm - 160 pm and a height of 83 pm - 85 pm. The array shown has more than 300 dot or ball vertical spacers. FIG. 3B shows one of the dots or balls of FIG. 3 A.

[0031] FIG. 4 shows an array of print dots as vertical spacers. For the particular embodiment shown, a 50 pm ID pen tip was used. The target diameter was 160 pm and the dispense gap was 75 pm. The printer printed the dots at a rate of about four dots per second. The dots were sintered at 220°C for 10 minutes. The skilled artisan will recognize that the temperature may vary depending on the material used as the dot or ball, and can vary 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, or 15% from 220°C, or 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, or 15 degreesFahrenheit. In non-limiting examples the range can be 215-230, 216-225, 217-224, 218-224, 219-223.

[0032] FIG. 5 shows two views of one of 300 individual nano-silver vertical spacers deposited on a ceramic substrate (upper left, upper right). The vertical spacers were sintered at 220°C. After sintering, the vertical spacers had heights ranging from 83 pm to 85pm, with a mean height of about 84.1 pm and a standard deviation of about 0.4 pm. The lower panel of FIG. 5 shows the measured size of one of the vertical spacers.

[0033] FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of an embodiment of the method of the present invention. Method 600 includes block 605, which includes providing a first substrate. Block 610 includes depositing a spacer material in place on the first substrate. Block 615 sintering or curing the spacer material, Block 620 includes depositing an adhesive or electrically conductive material on the first substrate. Block 625 includes compressing a second substrate onto the adhesive or electrically conductive material. Block 630 includes sintering or curing the second substrate, wherein the device reduces or eliminates squeeze-out of the adhesive or electrically conductive material.

[0034] Embodiments:

[0035] Embodiment 1. A device for providing vertical support for a substrate-to- substrate assembly comprising: a first substrate; a spacer material that is sintered or cured in place on the first substrate or a second substrate, or both; an adhesive or electrically conductive material disposed between the first and the second substrate; and wherein the first and second substrates are compressed and sintered or cured with the adhesive or electrically conductive material; wherein the device reduces or eliminates squeeze-out of the adhesive or electrically conductive material from one or more sintering or curing cycles.

[0036] Embodiment 2. The device of embodiment 1, wherein the first substrate, the second substrate, or both, are selected from: a silicon substrate, and silicon-germanium-based substrate, a silicon-based integrated passive device substrate, a silicon-based laterally-diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor substrate; a gallium nitride-based substrate, a glass substrate, a ceramic substrate, or a glass-ceramic composite substrate.

[0037] Embodiment s. The device of embodiments 1 or 2, wherein the device is a bilayer structure comprising a single first substrate and a single second substrate.

[0038] Embodiment 4. The device of any one of embodiments 1 to 3, wherein the first substrate or the second substrate is a die, a wafer, or a panel.

[0039] Embodiment 5. The device any one of embodiments 1 to 4, further comprising: an additional spacer material that is sintered or cured in place on the second substrate; an additional adhesive or electrically conductive material disposed on the second substrate; and a third substrate compressed and sintered or cured onto the additional adhesive or electrically conductive material.

[0040] Embodiment 6. The device any one of embodiments 1 to 5, wherein the third substrate is selected from: a silicon substrate, and silicon-germanium-based substrate, a silicon- based integrated passive device substrate, a silicon-based laterally-diffused metal-oxide- semiconductor substrate; a gallium nitride-based substrate, a glass substrate, a ceramic substrate, or a glass-ceramic composite substrate.

[0041] Embodiment 7. The device of embodiment 5, wherein the third substrate is a die, a wafer, or a panel.

[0042] Embodiment 8. The device any one of embodiments 1 to 7, wherein the spacer material comprises a metal, a micro-metal, a nano-metal, or a conductive polymer.

[0043] Embodiment 9. The device of embodiment 8, wherein the metal, micro-metal, nano-metal, or conductive polymer comprises copper or silver.

[0044] Embodiment 10. A method of making a device for providing vertical support for a sub strate-to- substrate assembly comprising: providing a first substrate; depositing a spacer material in place on the first substrate; sintering or curing the spacer material; depositing an adhesive or electrically conductive material on the first substrate; compressing a second substrate onto the adhesive or electrically conductive material; and sintering or curing the second substrate;

[0045] wherein the device reduces or eliminates squeeze-out of the adhesive or electrically conductive material from one or more sintering or curing cycles.

[0046] Embodiment 11. The method of embodiment 10, wherein the first substrate, the second substrate, or both, are selected from: a silicon substrate, and silicon-germanium-based substrate, a silicon-based integrated passive device substrate, a silicon-based laterally-diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor substrate; a gallium nitride-based substrate, a glass substrate, a ceramic substrate, or a glass-ceramic composite substrate.

[0047] Embodiment 12. The method of embodiments 10 or 11, wherein the device is a bilayer structure comprising a single first substrate and a single second substrate.

[0048] Embodiment 13. The method any one of embodiments 10 to 12, wherein the first substrate or the second substrate is a die, a wafer, or a panel.

[0049] Embodiment 14. The method any one of embodiments 10 to 13, further comprising: depositing an additional spacer material on the second substrate; sintering or curing the additional spacer material; depositing an additional adhesive or electrically conductive material on the second substrate; compressing a third substrate onto the additional adhesive or electrically conductive material; and sintering or curing the third substrate.

[0050] Embodiment 15. The method of embodiment 14, wherein the third substrate is selected from: a silicon substrate, and silicon-germanium-based substrate, a silicon-based integrated passive device substrate, a silicon-based laterally-diffused metal-oxide- semiconductor substrate; a gallium nitride-based substrate, a glass substrate, a ceramic substrate, or a glass-ceramic composite substrate.

[0051] Embodiment 16. The method of embodiment 14, wherein the third substrate is a die, a wafer, or a panel.

[0052] Embodiment 17. The method any one of embodiments 10 to 16, wherein the spacer material comprises a metal, a micro-metal, a nano-metal, or a conductive polymer.

[0053] Embodiment 18. The method of embodiment 17, wherein the metal, micro-metal, nano-metal, or conductive polymer comprises copper or silver wherein the nano-metal comprises copper or silver.

[0054] Embodiment 19. A 3D heterogeneous integrated system comprising: a device for providing vertical support for a sub strate-to- substrate assembly comprising: a first substrate; a spacer material that is sintered or cured in place on the first substrate or a second substrate, or both; an adhesive or electrically conductive material disposed between the first and the second substrate; and wherein the first and second substrates are compressed and sintered or cured with the adhesive or electrically conductive material; wherein the device reduces or eliminates squeeze-out of the adhesive or electrically conductive material from one or more sintering or curing cycles.

[0055] While the making and using of various embodiments of the present invention are discussed herein, it should be appreciated that the present invention provides many applicableinventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specific embodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention and do not delimit the scope of the invention.

[0056] To facilitate the understanding of this invention, a number of terms are defined below. Terms defined herein have meanings as commonly understood by a person of ordinary skill in the areas relevant to the present invention. Terms such as “a”, “an” and “the” are not intended to refer to only a singular entity, but include the general class of which a specific example may be used for illustration. The terminology herein is used to describe specific embodiments of the invention, but their usage does not limit the invention, except as outlined in the claims.

[0057] The use of the word “a” or “an” when used in conjunction with the term “comprising” in the claims and / or the specification may mean “one,” but it is also consistent with the meaning of “one or more,” “at least one,” and “one or more than one.” The use of the term “or” in the claims is used to mean “and / or” unless explicitly indicated to refer to alternatives only or the alternatives are mutually exclusive, although the disclosure supports a definition that refers to only alternatives and “and / or.” Throughout this application, the term “about” is used to indicate that a value includes the inherent variation of error for the device, the method being employed to determine the value, or the variation that exists among the study subjects.

[0058] As used in this specification and claim(s), the words “comprising” (and any form of comprising, such as “comprise” and “comprises”), “having” (and any form of having, such as “have” and “has”), “including” (and any form of including, such as “includes” and “include”) or “containing” (and any form of containing, such as “contains” and “contain”) are inclusive or open-ended and do not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method steps. In embodiments of any of the compositions and methods provided herein, “comprising” may be replaced with “consisting essentially of’ or “consisting of’. As used herein, the phrase “consisting essentially of’ requires the specified integer(s) or steps as well as those that do not materially affect the character or function of the claimed invention. As used herein, the term “consisting” is used to indicate the presence of the recited integer (e.g., a feature, an element, a characteristic, a property, a method / process step or a limitation) or group of integers (e.g., feature(s), element(s), characteristic(s), property(ies), method / process steps or limitation(s)) only.

[0059] The term “or combinations thereof’ as used herein refers to all permutations and combinations of the listed items preceding the term. For example, “A, B, C, or combinationsthereof’ is intended to include at least one of: A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, or ABC, and if order is important in a particular context, also BA, CA, CB, CBA, BCA, ACB, BAC, or CAB. Continuing with this example, expressly included are combinations that contain repeats of one or more item or term, such as BB, AAA, AB, BBC, AAABCCCC, CBBAAA, CAB ABB, and so forth. The skilled artisan will understand that typically there is no limit on the number of items or terms in any combination, unless otherwise apparent from the context.

[0060] As used herein, words of approximation such as, without limitation, “about”, "substantial" or "substantially" refers to a condition that when so modified is understood to not necessarily be absolute or perfect but would be considered close enough to those of ordinary skill in the art to warrant designating the condition as being present. The extent to which the description may vary will depend on how great a change can be instituted and still have one of ordinary skill in the art recognize the modified feature as still having the required characteristics and capabilities of the unmodified feature. In general, but subject to the preceding discussion, a numerical value herein that is modified by a word of approximation such as “about” may vary from the stated value by at least ±1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12 or 15%.

[0061] All of the compositions and / or methods disclosed and claimed herein can be made and executed without undue experimentation in light of the present disclosure. While the compositions and methods of this invention have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that variations may be applied to the compositions and / or methods and in the steps or in the sequence of steps of the method described herein without departing from the concept, spirit and scope of the invention. All such similar substitutes and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and concept of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

[0062] To aid the Patent Office, and any readers of any patent issued on this application in interpreting the claims appended hereto, applicants wish to note that they do not intend any of the appended claims to invoke paragraph 6 of 35 U.S.C. § 112, U.S.C. § 112 paragraph (f), or equivalent, as it exists on the date of filing hereof unless the words “means for” or “step for” are explicitly used in the particular claim.

[0063] For each of the claims, each dependent claim can depend both from the independent claim and from each of the prior dependent claims for each and every claim so long as the prior claim provides a proper antecedent basis for a claim term or element.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A device for providing vertical support for a substrate-to-substrate assembly comprising: a first substrate; a spacer material that is sintered or cured in place on the first substrate or a second substrate, or both; an adhesive or electrically conductive material disposed between the first and the second substrate; and wherein the first and second substrates are compressed and sintered or cured with the adhesive or electrically conductive material; wherein the device reduces or eliminates squeeze-out of the adhesive or electrically conductive material from one or more sintering or curing cycles.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the first substrate, the second substrate, or both, are selected from: a silicon substrate, and silicon-germanium-based substrate, a silicon-based integrated passive device substrate, a silicon-based laterally-diffused metal-oxide- semiconductor substrate; a gallium nitride-based substrate, a glass substrate, a ceramic substrate, or a glass-ceramic composite substrate.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the device is a bilayer structure comprising a single first substrate and a single second substrate.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the first substrate or the second substrate is a die, a wafer, or a panel.

5. The device of claim 1, further comprising: an additional spacer material that is sintered or cured in place on the second substrate; an additional adhesive or electrically conductive material disposed on the second substrate; and a third substrate compressed and sintered or cured onto the additional adhesive or electrically conductive material.

6. The device of claim 5, wherein the third substrate is selected from: a siliconsubstrate, and silicon-germanium-based substrate, a silicon-based integrated passive device substrate, a silicon-based laterally-diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor substrate; a gallium nitride-based substrate, a glass substrate, a ceramic substrate, or a glass-ceramic composite substrate.

7. The device of claim 5, wherein the third substrate is a die, a wafer, or a panel.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the spacer material comprises a metal, a micrometal, a nano-metal, or a conductive polymer.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the metal, micro-metal, nano-metal, or conductive polymer comprises copper or silver.

10. A method of making a device for providing vertical support for a substrate-to- substrate assembly comprising: providing a first substrate; depositing a spacer material in place on the first substrate; sintering or curing the spacer material; depositing an adhesive or electrically conductive material on the first substrate; compressing a second substrate onto the adhesive or electrically conductive material; and sintering or curing the second substrate; wherein the device reduces or eliminates squeeze-out of the adhesive or electrically conductive material from one or more sintering or curing cycles.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first substrate, the second substrate, or both, are selected from: a silicon substrate, and silicon-germanium-based substrate, a silicon- based integrated passive device substrate, a silicon-based laterally-diffused metal-oxide- semiconductor substrate; a gallium nitride-based substrate, a glass substrate, a ceramic substrate, or a glass-ceramic composite substrate.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the device is a bilayer structure comprising a single first substrate and a single second substrate.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the first substrate or the second substrate is a die, a wafer, or a panel.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising: depositing an additional spacer material on the second substrate; sintering or curing the additional spacer material; depositing an additional adhesive or electrically conductive material on the second substrate; compressing a third substrate onto the additional adhesive or electrically conductive material; and sintering or curing the third substrate.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the third substrate is selected from: a silicon substrate, and silicon-germanium-based substrate, a silicon-based integrated passive device substrate, a silicon-based laterally-diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor substrate; a gallium nitride-based substrate, a glass substrate, a ceramic substrate, or a glass-ceramic composite substrate.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the third substrate is a die, a wafer, or a panel.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the spacer material comprises a metal, a micrometal, a nano-metal, or a conductive polymer.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the metal, micro-metal, nano-metal, or conductive polymer comprises copper or silver wherein the nano-metal comprises copper or silver.

19. A 3D heterogeneous integrated system comprising: a device for providing vertical support for a substrate-to-substrate assembly comprising: a first substrate; a spacer material that is sintered or cured in place on the first substrate or a second substrate, or both; an adhesive or electrically conductive material disposed between the first and the second substrate; and wherein the first and second substrates are compressed and sintered or cured with the adhesive or electrically conductive material;wherein the device reduces or eliminates squeeze-out of the adhesive or electrically conductive material from one or more sintering or curing cycles.

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