This issue of ECS Transactions on Semiconductor Wafer Bonding will cover the state-of-the-art R&D results of the last 2 years in the field of semiconductor wafer bonding technology. Wafer Bonding is an Enabling Technology that can be used to create novel composite materials systems and devices that would otherwise be unattainable. Wafer Bonding today is rapidly expanding into new applications in such diverse fields as photonics, sensors, MEMS. X-ray optics, non-electronic microstructures, high performance CMOS platforms for high end servers, Si-Ge, strained SOI, Germanium-on-Insulator (GeOI) and Nanotechnologies.

This proceedings volume archives the contributions of the speakers who attended the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on “Science and Technology of Semiconductor-On-Insulator Structures and Devices Operating in a Harsh Environment” held at the Sanatorium Puscha Ozerna, th th Kyiv, Ukraine, from 25 to 29 April 2004. The semiconductor industry has maintained a very rapid growth during the last three decades through impressive technological achievements which have resulted in products with higher performance and lower cost per function. After many years of development semiconductor-on-insulator materials have entered volume production and will increasingly be used by the manufacturing industry. The wider use of semiconductor (especially silicon) on insulator materials will not only enable the benefits of these materials to be further demonstrated but, also, will drive down the cost of substrates which, in turn, will stimulate the development of other novel devices and applications. In itself this trend will encourage the promotion of the skills and ideas generated by researchers in the Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and their incorporation in future collaborations.

Microelectronics packaging and interconnection have experienced exciting growth stimulated by the recognition that systems, not just silicon, provide the solution to evolving applications. In order to have a high density/ performance/yield/quality/reliability, low cost, and light weight system, a more precise understanding of the system behavior is required. Mechanical and thermal phenomena are among the least understood and most complex of the many phenomena encountered in microelectronics packaging systems and are found on the critical path of neatly every design and process in the electronics industry. The last decade has witnessed an explosive growth in the research and development efforts devoted to determining the mechanical and thermal behaviors of microelectronics packaging. With the advance of very large scale integration technologies, thousands to tens of thousands of devices can be fabricated on a silicon chip. At the same time, demands to further reduce packaging signal delay and increase packaging density between communicat ing circuits have led to the use of very high power dissipation single-chip modules and multi-chip modules. The result of these developments has been a rapid growth in module level heat flux within the personal, workstation, midrange, mainframe, and super computers. Thus, thermal (temperature, stress, and strain) management is vital for microelectronics packaging designs and analyses. How to determine the temperature distribution in the elec tronics components and systems is outside the scope of this book, which focuses on the determination of stress and strain distributions in the electronics packaging.

Electronics has become the largest industry, surpassing agriCUlture, auto. and heavy metal industries. It has become the industry of choice for a country to prosper, already having given rise to the phenomenal prosperity of Japan. Korea. Singapore. Hong Kong. and Ireland among others. At the current growth rate, total worldwide semiconductor sales will reach $300B by the year 2000. The key electronic technologies responsible for the growth of the industry include semiconductors. the packaging of semiconductors for systems use in auto, telecom, computer, consumer, aerospace, and medical industries. displays. magnetic, and optical storage as well as software and system technologies. There has been a paradigm shift, however, in these technologies. from mainframe and supercomputer applications at any cost. to consumer applications at approximately one-tenth the cost and size. Personal computers are a good example. going from $500IMIP when products were first introduced in 1981, to a projected $lIMIP within 10 years. Thin. light portable. user friendly and very low-cost are. therefore. the attributes of tomorrow's computing and communications systems. Electronic packaging is defined as interconnection. powering, cool ing, and protecting semiconductor chips for reliable systems. It is a key enabling technology achieving the requirements for reducing the size and cost at the system and product level.

This critical volume provides an in-depth presentation of copper wire bonding technologies, processes and equipment, along with the economic benefits and risks. Due to the increasing cost of materials used to make electronic components, the electronics industry has been rapidly moving from high cost gold to significantly lower cost copper as a wire bonding material. However, copper wire bonding has several process and reliability concerns due to its material properties. Copper Wire Bonding book lays out the challenges involved in replacing gold with copper as a wire bond material, and includes the bonding process changes—bond force, electric flame off, current and ultrasonic energy optimization, and bonding tools and equipment changes for first and second bond formation. In addition, the bond–pad metallurgies and the use of bare and palladium-coated copper wires on aluminum are presented, and gold, nickel and palladium surface finishes are discussed. The book also discusses best practices and recommendations on the bond process, bond–pad metallurgies, and appropriate reliability tests for copper wire-bonded electronic components. In summary, this book: Introduces copper wire bonding technologies Presents copper wire bonding processes Discusses copper wire bonding metallurgies Covers recent advancements in copper wire bonding including the bonding process, equipment changes, bond–pad materials and surface finishes Covers the reliability tests and concerns Covers the current implementation of copper wire bonding in the electronics industry Features 120 figures and tables Copper Wire Bonding is an essential reference for industry professionals seeking detailed information on all facets of copper wire bonding technology.