(Invited) Adhesive Wafer Bonding, Applications and Trends

Wafer bonding with intermediate polymer adhesives is an important fabrication technique for advanced microelectronics, micro- and nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS / NEMS) and packaging applications. The main advantages of adhesive wafer bonding include the insensitivity to surface topography, the low bonding temperatures (between room temperature and 450{degree sign}C, depending on the polymer adhesive), the compatibility with standard CMOS integrated circuit wafers and the ability to join different types of materials. While adhesive wafer bonding is a comparably simple, robust and low-cost process, concerns need to be considered such as the permeability of polymers for gasses and moisture, limited temperature stability and limited data about long-term stability of many polymers in demanding environments. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art of adhesive wafer bonding technologies, applications and future trends.