Granted Patent B2

US 12,751,323 · App. 18/179,126 · Granted Sep 29, 2026

Inventor: Cyprian Emeka Uzoh (San Jose, CA)

Assignee: Adeia Semiconductor Bonding Technologies Inc.

H10W90/00H10W72/0198H10W72/941H10W72/944H10W72/951H10W72/952H10W80/011H10W80/016H10W80/301H10W80/312H10W80/327H10W90/26H10W90/792

Abstract

Claims (36)

1 . A process, comprising:

providing an element having a dielectric bonding surface and a conductive feature exposed at the dielectric bonding surface, the dielectric bonding surface having a planarity suitable for direct bonding;

generating a water vapor plasma with a plasma generation apparatus by supplying water vapor to the plasma generating apparatus; and

exposing the dielectric bonding surface to products of a mixture of the water vapor plasma and a carrier gas prior to direct bonding.

2 . The process of claim 1 wherein the element comprises a first element, the dielectric bonding surface comprises a first dielectric bonding surface, and the conductive feature comprises a first conductive feature, the process further comprising:

providing a second element having a second dielectric bonding surface and a second conductive feature exposed at the second dielectric bonding surface, wherein the second dielectric bonding surface has a planarity suitable for direct bonding; and

directly bonding the first element to the second element by directly bonding the first dielectric bonding surface to the second dielectric bonding surface.

3 . The process of claim 2 , further comprising:

after directly bonding the first element to the second element, annealing the directly bonded first and second elements to form metallic bonds between the first and second conductive features.

4 . The process of claim 3 , further comprising:

before directly bonding the first element to the second element, positioning the second element over the first element such that the first dielectric bonding surface is facing the second dielectric bonding surface and the first conductive feature is aligned with the second conductive feature.

5 . The process of claim 4 , wherein the first conductive feature is recessed below the first dielectric bonding surface and the second conductive feature is recessed below the second dielectric bonding surface.

6 . The process of claim 5 , wherein, before annealing the directly bonded first and second elements, a distance between the first and second conductive features is 12 nm or less.

7 . The process of claim 6 , wherein annealing the directly bonded first and second elements comprises annealing the first and second elements at a temperature less than 200° C.

8 . The process of claim 2 , further comprising:

forming a protective layer over a back surface of the first element; and

after directly bonding the first element to the second element, singulating the directly bonded first and second elements into a plurality of bonded dies.

9 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the conductive feature comprises copper.

10 . A process, comprising:

providing a first element having a first dielectric bonding surface and a first conductive feature exposed at the first dielectric bonding surface;

supplying products of an oxygen plasma to the first element to expose the first dielectric bonding surface to the products of the oxygen plasma;

after supplying the products of the oxygen plasma to the first element, supplying products of a water vapor plasma to the first element and exposing the first dielectric bonding surface to the products of the water vapor plasma;

providing a second element having a second dielectric bonding surface and a second conductive feature exposed at the second dielectric bonding surface; and

directly hybrid bonding the first element to the second element after supplying the products of the water vapor plasma to the first element, wherein directly hybrid bonding comprises room temperature bonding the first dielectric bonding surface to the second dielectric bonding surface to form an initial bonded structure and subsequently annealing the initial bonded structure to form metallic bonds between the first and second conductive features.

11 . The process of claim 10 , wherein supplying the products of the water vapor plasma to the first element comprises supplying the products of a mixture of the water vapor plasma and a carrier gas to the first element.

12 . The process of claim 10 , wherein supplying the products of the water vapor plasma to the first element comprises supplying water vapor to a plasma generation apparatus without supplying additional reactive species to the plasma generation apparatus.

13 . A method of forming a bonded structure, the method comprising:

supplying water vapor and oxygen to a plasma generation apparatus to generate a plasma;

exposing a surface of a first element to products the plasma; and

directly bonding the surface of the first element to a bonding surface of a second element.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the surface comprises a first non-conductive field region and a first conductive feature, and wherein the bonding surface of the second element comprises a second non-conductive field region and a second conductive feature.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein directly bonding the surface of the first element to the bonding surface of the second element comprises directly hybrid bonding.

16 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

before directly bonding the surface of the first element to the bonding surface of the second element, exposing the bonding surface of the second element to products of a water vapor plasma.

17 . The method of claim 13 , wherein directly bonding the surface of the first element to the bonding surface of the second element comprises annealing the directly bonded first and second elements to form metallic bonds between conductive features on the first and second elements.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein annealing the directly bonded first and second elements comprises annealing the first and second elements at a temperature less than 200° C.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (400)