Wafer Bond Monitoring Using Video Analysis for Real-Time Defect Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wafer bonding processes often detect bonding defects only after completion, leading to significant time and cost expenditures in mitigating improper bonding, and potential scrapping of wafers.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a real-time monitoring system that uses video data acquisition and machine learning techniques to analyze bonding wave propagation, allowing for immediate detection of defects during the bonding process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If real-time monitoring is implemented during wafer bonding, then bonding defects can be detected immediately and remediation can begin, but the system complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical monitoring systems with optical measurement techniques. Optical sensors and light-based methods are used to detect bonding wave propagation and identify defects, substituting mechanical contact and complex instrumentation with non-contact optical fields that simplify the physical apparatus while maintaining detection capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses optical copying and imaging methods to create visual representations of the bonding process. By capturing optical images of the bonding wave propagation and creating optical copies of the bonding interface, the system can analyze bonding quality without direct physical intervention, reducing system complexity while enabling real-time defect detection.
2Loss of time
If bonding process is monitored in real-time, then defective bonding can be stopped immediately, but the measurement and detection difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes optical absorption characteristics where different materials absorb light differently during bonding. By monitoring changes in light absorption and transmission as the bonding wave propagates, the system can detect bonding defects through optical signal variations. This color/optical property-based detection method simplifies the measurement of complex bonding wave propagation by converting it into detectable optical signal changes.
3Productivity
If traditional post-bonding inspection is used, then fewer resources are needed for monitoring, but significant time and cost are lost due to late defect detection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements real-time feedback control by continuously monitoring bonding wave propagation during the bonding process. The optical measurement system provides immediate feedback about bonding quality, allowing the system to detect defects as they occur and trigger remediation actions during the bonding process itself, rather than waiting for post-bonding inspection. This closed-loop feedback eliminates the time delay between defect occurrence and detection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary detection of bonding defects during the bonding process itself, before the bonding is complete. By detecting bonding wave propagation issues and identifying defects in real-time during bonding, the system can take preliminary remediation actions before the bonding process finishes, preventing defective wafers from completing the bonding cycle and reducing scrap.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are provided for monitoring wafer bonding and for detecting or determining defects in a wafer bond formed between two semiconductor wafers. A wafer bonding system includes a camera configured to monitor bonding between two semiconductor wafers. Wafer bonding defect detection circuitry receives video data from the camera, and detects a bonding defect based on the received video data.