Sealed Substrate Bonding Device with Reducing Atmosphere
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Solution Overview
Problem
The oxidation of bond sides on metallic or metalized substrates complicates the bonding process, leading to reduced contact quality and increased throughput issues, especially at higher temperatures, which can affect alignment accuracy and is not suitable for certain MEMS and HL devices.
Innovation Solution
A sealed working space is created to reduce oxide layers on the substrates using a reducing atmosphere, with modules for pretreatment, alignment, and bonding, allowing for efficient oxide removal and bonding at lower temperatures, utilizing a central movement apparatus and separate reduction and bond modules to optimize the process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If bonding is performed at higher temperatures to improve bond strength, then bonding quality is improved, but alignment accuracy deteriorates due to thermal expansion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the temperature parameter from high to low (below 100°C) to resolve the contradiction. By performing bonding at low temperatures, thermal expansion is minimized, maintaining alignment accuracy while still achieving adequate bond strength through the reducing atmosphere that enables direct metal contact.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a reducing atmosphere (inert environment) to enable bonding at lower temperatures. The reducing atmosphere prevents oxidation of metal surfaces, allowing direct metal-to-metal contact and diffusion bonding to occur at temperatures below 100°C, thus avoiding thermal expansion issues while maintaining bond quality.
2Reliability
If bonding is performed at higher temperatures to overcome oxide layers, then bond contact quality is improved, but throughput deteriorates due to long heat-up and cooling times
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the temperature parameter from high to low (below 100°C), dramatically reducing heat-up and cooling times. This enables rapid bonding cycles while maintaining contact quality through the reducing atmosphere that prevents oxide formation and enables direct metal contact.
Solution Approach 2:
The reducing atmosphere enables bonding at low temperatures by preventing oxidation. This eliminates the need for high-temperature processing, thereby reducing cycle times and improving throughput while maintaining reliable electrical and mechanical contact quality.
3Device complexity
If substrates are exposed to atmosphere between reduction and bonding to simplify process, then device complexity is reduced, but oxidation of bond sides occurs reducing contact quality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the reduction and bonding operations into a single continuous process within the same reducing atmosphere environment. Substrates undergo reduction and then bonding without exposure to atmosphere, eliminating oxidation risks while keeping the device structure integrated and manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
The reducing atmosphere serves dual purposes: it reduces oxide layers on substrate surfaces and maintains a protective environment during the subsequent bonding process. This prevents re-oxidation of freshly reduced surfaces, ensuring high contact quality without requiring complex separate processing chambers.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables efficient and high-quality bonding at lower temperatures, minimizing oxidation and maintaining alignment accuracy, thereby improving throughput and contact quality while preventing repeated oxidation during the bonding process.
Implementation Method 1
a reduction of the bond sides and also the bonding of the substrates take place
Data Source
AI summary
A device for bonding of one bond side of a first substrate to one bond side of a second substrate, the device having one module group with a common working space which can be closed especially gastight to the environment, at least one bond module is connected in a sealed manner to the working space, and a movement apparatus for moving the first and second substrate in the working space.The module group has a reduction module which is connected, in a sealed manner to the working space for reducing the bond sides.