Wafer bonding using microwave heating of parylene intermediate layers

This paper describes a novel wafer bonding technique using microwave heating of parylene intermediate layers. The bonding is achieved by parylene deposition and thermal lamination using microwave heating. Variable frequency microwave heating provides uniform, selective and rapid heating for parylene intermediate layers. The advantages of this bonding technique include short bonding time, low bonding temperature, relatively high bonding strength, less void generation and low thermal stress. In addition, the intermediate layer material, parylene, is chemically stable and biocompatible. This bonding technique can be used for structured wafers also because parylene provides a conformal coating. Therefore, this is a very attractive bonding tool for many MEMS devices. The bonding strength and uniformity were evaluated using diverse tools. Fracture mechanisms and the effects of bonding parameters and an adhesion promoter were also investigated. The bonding with a structured wafer was also successfully demonstrated.