Why we need metal to metal bonding

Larger die size- the seal glass is normally screen printed. Considering the visco-elastic characteristic of the seal glass, the bond line (seal ring) gets quite wide, on the order of 100 m. Therefore the overall die size has to grow accordingly. Contaminated enclosure- The seal glass contains organic binders to enable screen printing and Pb to reduce the glass melting temperature. The organic binder may still outgas to the MEMS structures even after an organic burn out process before bonding. Pb itself is not environmentally-friendly and it can also be an unwanted particle source to the MEMS structure. These contaminants can compromise the performance and stability of the MEMS sensors.

Why we need metal to metal bonding

Non-conducting bond- Since the seal glass is not electrically conductive, it often requires a separate bond pad on top of the cap, if the cap ever has to be connected electrically.

Physical properties affecting bond process end result

Layer thickness uniformity Surface roughness Surface oxidation

Effect of Temperature
Only the bonding temperature appeared significant for the properties of the bonded interface. Neither bonding time nor bonding environment showed an effect within the experimental limits. It was seen that a minimum of 500 C bonding temperature is necessary to obtain interfacial adhesion energies of greater than 8 J/m2.
Metal Thermocompression Wafer Bonding for 3D Integration and MEMS Applications. By:- Viorel Dragoi ECS Trans. 2010, Volume 33, Issue 4, Pages 27-35

Al Oxide
The forming gas treatment of the Al surface prior to bonding did not improve bonding results, confirming the high chemical stability of aluminium oxide. It is believed that oxide layer was mechanically broken by the high pressure applied and thus metal diffusion centers were created. A pressure level of 3.40 MPa was proven to be sufficient for successful Al-Al thermocompression bonding. As far as the oxide layer is mechanically broken and stays in pieces inside the bonded metal layer it would be important to understand how this may influence the electrical or sealing properties of Al-Al bonds.

Metal Thermocompression Wafer Bonding for 3D Integration and MEMS Applications. By:- Viorel Dragoi ECS Trans. 2010, Volume 33, Issue 4, Pages 27-35

Removal of Al oxide
One of the common methods to clean both Al and Ge deposited substrates is to dip the wafers in a dilute HF BOE solution. In addition, forming gas (95% N2 + 5% H2) is used as a process and overpressure gas to avoid oxide growth inside the bonder prior to substrates coming in contact.
Al Ge Eutectic Wafer Bonding and Bond Characterization for CMOS CompatibleWafer Packaging. By:- Sumant Sood ECS Trans. 2010, Volume 33, Issue 4, Pages 93-101

Effect Of Post Annealing

Thermal anneal after bonding improved the bonding strength only at the high bonding temperature and not at the low temperature. The strength of Cu-bonded wafers increases with increases in bonding duration or bonding temperature.

Investigations of Strength of Copper-Bonded Wafers with Several Quantitative and Qualitative Tests. By:- CHEN Journal of ELECTRONIC MATERIALS, Vol. 35, No. 5, 2006