Stamp-and-stick room-temperature bonding technique for microdevices

Multilayer MEMS and microfluidic designs using diverse materials demand separate fabrication of device components followed by assembly to make the final device. Structural and moving components, labile bio-molecules, fluids and temperature-sensitive materials place special restrictions on the bonding processes that can be used for assembly of MEMS devices. We describe a room temperature "stamp and stick (SAS)" transfer bonding technique for silicon, glass and nitride surfaces using a UV curable adhesive. Alternatively, poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) can also be used as the adhesive; this is particularly useful for bonding PDMS devices. A thin layer of adhesive is first spun on a flat wafer. This adhesive layer is then selectively transferred to the device chip from the wafer using a stamping process. The device chip can then be aligned and bonded to other chips/wafers. This bonding process is conformal and works even on surfaces with uneven topography. This aspect is especially relevant to microfluidics, where good sealing can be difficult to obtain with channels on uneven surfaces. Burst pressure tests suggest that wafer bonds using the UV curable adhesive could withstand pressures of 700 kPa (7 atmospheres); those with PDMS could withstand 200 to 700 kPa (2-7 atmospheres) depending on the geometry and configuration of the device.