Appeal No. 2006-2218
Application No. 10/029,649
BACKGROUND
Appellant’s invention is directed to a method of bonding
semiconductor substrates or wafers with a bonding material that
includes an oxide affinity material. According to Appellant,
instead of the conventional ways of removing the unwanted native
oxide, which is formed on the exposed surface of the wafer, a
reducing agent included in the bonding material removes the
native oxide from the interface (Specification, 3). An
understanding of the invention can be derived from a reading of
exemplary independent claim 1, which is reproduced below:
1. An electrical device comprising:
first and second substrates having respective first and
second integrated circuits, wherein at least one of the first
substrate or the second substrate has a semiconductor layer
thereon; and
a bond structure bonding the first substrate to the second
substrate, the bond structure including an alloy:
bonded to the semiconductor layer;
composed of noble metal alloyed with an oxide affinity
material having an affinity for oxygen higher than that of
the material of which the semiconductor layer is composed
such that the alloy is sufficient to remove a native oxide
from an interface surface between the bond structure and the
first substrate; and
configured to form an electrical connection between the
first integrated circuit and the second integrated circuit.
2
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