Bonding In Microsystem Technology

This is the first compendium on silicon/glass microsystems made by deep wet etching and the first book with a detailed description of bonding techniques used in microsystem technology. Technological results presented in the book have been tested experimentally by the author and his team, and can be utilized in day-to-day laboratory practice. Special attention has been paid to the highest level of accessibility of the book by students.

This completely revised edition of a bestselling concise introduction to microsystems technology includes the latest trends in this emerging scientific discipline. The chapters on silicium and LIGA technology are greatly expanded, whilst new topics include application aspects in medicine and health technology, lithography and electroplating.

Over half a century after the discovery of the piezoresistive effect, microsystem technology has experienced considerable developments. Expanding the opportunities of microelectronics to non-electronic systems, its number of application fields continues to increase. Microsensors are one of the most important fields, used in medical applications and micromechanics. Microfluidic systems are also a significant area, most commonly used in ink-jet printer heads. This textbook focuses on the essentials of microsystems technology, providing a knowledgeable grounding and a clear path through this well-established scientific dicipline. With a methodical, student-orientated approach, Introduction to Microsystem Technology covers the following: microsystem materials (including silicon, polymers and thin films), and the scaling effects of going micro; fabrication techniques based on different material properties, descriptions of their limitations and functional and shape elements produced by these techniques; sensors and actuators based on elements such as mechanical, fluidic, and thermal (yaw rate sensor components are described); the influence of technology parameters on microsystem properties, asking, for example, when is the function of a microsystem device robust and safe? The book presents problems at the end of each chapter so that you may test your understanding of the key concepts (full solutions for these are given on an accompanying website). Practical examples are included also, as well as case studies that enable a better understanding of the technology as a whole. With its extensive treatment on the fundamentals of microsystem technology, this book also serves as a compendium for engineers and technicians working with microsystem technology.

On September 10-13, 1990, the first international meeting on Microsystem Technologies takes place at the Berlin International Congress Center. Most of the traditional congresses deal with themes that become more and more specific, and only a small part of the scientific world is reflected. The Micro System Technologies is attempting to take the opposite direction: During the last two decades the development of microelectronics was characterized by a tremendous increase of complexity of integrated circuits. At the same time the fields of microoptics and micromechanics have been developed to an advanced state of the art by the application of thin film and semiconductor technologies. The trend of the future development is to increase the integration density by combining the microelectronic, microoptic, and micro mechanic aspects to new complex multifunctional systems, which are able to comprise sensors, actuators, analogue and digital circuits on the same chip or on multichip-modules. Microsystems will lead to extensions of the field of microelectronic applications with important technical alterations and can open new considerable markets. For the realization of economical solutions for microsystems a lot of interdisciplinary cooperation and know-how has to be developed. New materials for sensitive layers, substrates, conducting, semiconducting, or isolating thin films are the basis for the development of new technologies. The increasing complexity leads to increasing interaction among electrical and non-electrical quantities.

The focus behind this book on wafer bonding is the fast paced changes in the research and development in three-dimensional (3D) integration, temporary bonding and micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) with new functional layers. Written by authors and edited by a team from microsystems companies and industry-near research organizations, this handbook and reference presents dependable, first-hand information on bonding technologies. Part I sorts the wafer bonding technologies into four categories: Adhesive and Anodic Bonding; Direct Wafer Bonding; Metal Bonding; and Hybrid Metal/Dielectric Bonding. Part II summarizes the key wafer bonding applications developed recently, that is, 3D integration, MEMS, and temporary bonding, to give readers a taste of the significant applications of wafer bonding technologies. This book is aimed at materials scientists, semiconductor physicists, the semiconductor industry, IT engineers, electrical engineers, and libraries.

"WHAT DOES NOT NEED TO BE BIG, WILL BE SMALL", a word by an engineer at a recent conference on chips technology. This sentence is particularly true for chemistry. Microfabrication technology emerged from microelectronics into areas like mechanics and now chemistry and biology. The engineering of micron and submicron sized features on the surface of silicon, glass and polymers opens a whole new world. Micromotors smaller than human hair have been fabricated and they work fine. It is the declared goal of the authors to bring these different worlds together in this volume. Authors have been carefully chosen to guarantee for the quality of the contents. An engineer, a chemist or a biologist will find new impulses from the various chapters in this book.

Biomolecular studies are the trial of Man to understand how Nature manages information at the molecular level. The understanding of molecular informa tion handling in nature is essential for the molecular optimization in chem istry, molecular biology, molecular pharmacology and therefore - as an ex ample - for the development of specifically acting drugs. The famous recent method of technical information management is digital electronics. Over the past few years, evidence has arisen that computerized and molecular information managements have many similar and overlapping aspects. For example, both technology and nature use digitized information and both use small structures for the efficient handling of information. Furthermore, they optimize their processes in order to gain a maximum of information with a minimum of invested energy. During the last two decades, novel experimental techniques in biomolec ular sciences have paved the way for artificial biomolecular optimization. In the same time interval, the progress of micro system technology has been extended from the field of digital electronics and sensing to micro liquid hand ling, and the field of chip-supported substance handling began. It appears that the "marriage" of physical micro technology and molecular processing will be consummated soon. The contact of both fields has been realized in for ex ample DNA chips. Such connections will also become relevant in additional fields in the near future. Biomolecular investigations are the first to profit from these fast growing scientific and technical connections between micro systems and molecular sciences.

This issue of ECS Transactions on Semiconductor Wafer Bonding will cover the state-of-the-art R&D results of the last 2 years in the field of semiconductor wafer bonding technology. Wafer Bonding is an Enabling Technology that can be used to create novel composite materials systems and devices that would otherwise be unattainable. Wafer Bonding today is rapidly expanding into new applications in such diverse fields as photonics, sensors, MEMS. X-ray optics, non-electronic microstructures, high performance CMOS platforms for high end servers, Si-Ge, strained SOI, Germanium-on-Insulator (GeOI) and Nanotechnologies.

Semiconductor wafer bonding continues to evolve as a crucial technology extending new integration schemes and disseminating new product architectures in such diverse areas as high quality silicon-on-insulator (SOI) materials for electronic applications, Si-Ge strained layers, Germanium-on-Insulator (GeOI), 3D device integration, Si on quartz or glass for thin film displays, compound semiconductor-on-Si heterostructures and Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems.