Moiré-Based Alignment Using Centrosymmetric Grating Marks for High-Precision Wafer Bonding

Micromachines (Basel). 2019 May 22;10(5):339. doi: 10.3390/mi10050339.

Abstract

High-precision aligned wafer bonding is essential to heterogeneous integration, with the device dimension reduced continuously. To get the alignment more accurately and conveniently, we propose a moiré-based alignment method using centrosymmetric grating marks. This method enables both coarse and fine alignment steps without requiring additional conventional cross-and-box alignment marks. Combined with an aligned wafer bonding system, alignment accuracy better than 300 nm (3σ) was achieved after bonding. Furthermore, the working principle of the moiré-based alignment for the backside alignment system was proposed to overcome the difficulty in bonding of opaque wafers. We believe this higher alignment accuracy is feasible to satisfy more demanding requirements in wafer-level stacking technologies.

Keywords: alignment accuracy; alignment mark; centrosymmetric grating; measurement range; moiré fringe; wafer bonding.