Appeal No. 96-1805
Application 08/200,432
This is an appeal from the decision of the examiner finally
rejecting claims 1 and 3 through 21. Claim 2 has been canceled.
No claims have been allowed.
The appellants' invention is directed to a method of forming
a bonded wafer such as those used in semiconductors. The subject
matter before us on appeal is illustrated by reference to claim
1, which reads as follows:
1. A method of wafer bonding for forming a bonded wafer by
bonding together wafers with sticking forces of surfaces of said
wafers, said method being carried out in cooperation with an
apparatus having a chamber with a gas inlet and a gas outlet, a
first chuck for holding a first wafer, a second chuck for holding
a second wafer and moving said second wafer to said first wafer,
said chamber including a pressure application bar for contacting
at least one of said first and said second wafers, the method
including the steps of:
setting a pressure of gas between said first and said second
wafers before starting a sticking of said wafers to be below
atmospheric pressure;
filling a space between said first and said second wafers
before the start of sticking of surfaces of said wafers with a
gas having a lower viscosity than air;
moving said second wafer to face said first wafer and
releasing said second wafer from said second chuck, and
applying pressure on said second wafer by said pressure
application bar.
THE REFERENCES
The references relied upon by the examiner to support the
final rejection are:
2
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