A solid-state image pickup device capable of suppressing the generation of dark current and/or leakage current is provided. The solid-state image pickup device has a first substrate provided with a photoelectric converter on its primary face, a first wiring structure having a first bonding portion which contains a conductive material, a second substrate provided with a part of a peripheral circuit on its primary face, and a second wiring structure having a second bonding portion which contains a conductive material. In addition, the first bonding portion and the second bonding portion are bonded so that the first substrate, the first wiring structure, the second wiring structure, and the second substrate are disposed in this order. Furthermore, the conductive material of the first bonding portion and the conductive material of the second bonding portion are surrounded with diffusion preventing films.

A substrate, assembly and method for bonding and electrically interconnecting substrates are provided. According to the method, two substrates are provided, each comprising metal contact structures that are electrically isolated from each other by a bonding layer of dielectric material. Openings are produced in the bonding layer, the openings lying within the surface area of the respective contact structures, exposing the contact material of the structures at the bottom of the openings. Then a layer of conductive material is deposited, filling the openings, after which the material is planarized, removing it from the surface of the bonding layer and leaving a recessed contact patch in the openings. The substrates are then aligned, brought into contact, and bonded by applying an annealing step at a temperature suitable for causing thermal expansion of the contact structures. Deformation of the conductive material of the contact structures through creep pushes the material into the openings from the bottom up, thereby bringing the contact patches into mutual and conductive contact.

A semiconductor package includes a lower semiconductor chip having a first surface and a second surface, an upper semiconductor chip on the first surface, a first insulating layer between the first surface and the upper semiconductor chip, a second insulating layer between the first insulating layer and the upper semiconductor chip, and a connection structure penetrating the first insulating layer and the second insulating layer and being connected to the lower semiconductor chip and the upper semiconductor chip. The connection structure includes a first connecting portion and a second connecting portion, which are respectively disposed in the first insulating layer and the second insulating layer. A width of the second connecting portion is greater than a width of the first connecting portion. A thickness of the second connecting portion is greater than a thickness of the first connecting portion.

According to embodiments, a semiconductor device is provided. The semiconductor device includes an insulation layer, an electrode, and a groove. The insulation layer is provided on a surface of a substrate. The electrode is buried in the insulation layer, and a first end surface of the electrode is exposed from the insulation layer. The groove is formed around the electrode on the surface of the substrate. The groove has an outside surface of the electrode as one side surface, and the groove is opened on the surface side of the insulation layer. The first end surface of the electrode buried in the insulation layer protrudes from the surface of the insulation layer.

Devices and techniques including process steps make use of recesses in conductive interconnect structures to form reliable low temperature metallic bonds. A fill layer is deposited into the recesses prior to bonding. The fill layer is composed of noble metal (such as copper) and active metal (such as Zn). Then the fill metal layer is turned into a metal alloy after annealing. A dealloying is performed to the metal alloy to remove the active metal from the metal alloy while the noble metal remains to self-assemble into porous (nanoporous) structure metal. First conductive interconnect structures are bonded at ambient temperatures to second metallic interconnect structures using dielectric-to-dielectric direct bonding techniques, with the fill nanoporous metal layer in the recesses in one of the first and second interconnect structures. After the following batch annealing, the fill nanoporous metal layer turns into pure bulk metal same as conductive interconnect structures due to the heat expansion of conductive interconnect structures and nanoporous metal densification.

To provide a semiconductor device having a structure suitable for higher integration. This semiconductor device includes: a first semiconductor substrate; and a second semiconductor substrate. The first semiconductor substrate is provided with a first electrode including a first protruding portion and a first base portion. The first protruding portion includes a first abutting surface. The first base portion is linked to the first protruding portion and has volume greater than volume of the first protruding portion. The second semiconductor substrate is provided with a second electrode including a second protruding portion and a second base portion. The second protruding portion includes a second abutting surface that abuts the first abutting surface. The second base portion is linked to the second protruding portion and has volume greater than volume of the second protruding portion. The second semiconductor substrate is stacked on the first semiconductor substrate.

A first semiconductor die includes first semiconductor devices located over a first substrate, first interconnect-level dielectric material layers embedding first metal interconnect structures and located on the first semiconductor devices, and a first pad-level dielectric layer located on the first interconnect-level dielectric material layers and embedding first bonding pads. Each of the first bonding pads includes a first proximal horizontal surface and at least one first distal horizontal surface that is more distal from the first substrate than the first proximal horizontal surface is from the first substrate and has a lesser total area than a total area of the first proximal horizontal surface. A second semiconductor die including second bonding pads that are embedded in a second pad-level dielectric layer can be bonded to a respective distal surface of the first bonding pads.

An integrated circuit structure includes a package component, which further includes a non-porous dielectric layer having a first porosity, and a porous dielectric layer over and contacting the non-porous dielectric layer, wherein the porous dielectric layer has a second porosity higher than the first porosity. A bond pad penetrates through the non-porous dielectric layer and the porous dielectric layer. A dielectric barrier layer is overlying, and in contact with, the porous dielectric layer. The bond pad is exposed through the dielectric barrier layer. The dielectric barrier layer has a planar top surface. The bond pad has a planar top surface higher than a bottom surface of the dielectric barrier layer.

An element is disclosed. The element can include a non-conductive structure having a non-conductive bonding surface, a cavity at least partially extending through a portion of a thickness of the non-conductive structure from the non-conductive bonding surface, and a conductive pad disposed in the cavity. The cavity has a bottom side and a sidewall. The conductive pad has a bonding surface and a back side opposite the bonding surface. An average size of the grains at the bonding surface is smaller than an average size of the grains adjacent the bottom side of the cavity. The conductive pad can include a crystal structure with grains oriented along a 111 crystal plane. The element can be bonded to another element to form a bonded structure. The element and the other element can be directly bonded to one another without an intervening adhesive.

A semiconductor package and a method for manufacturing a semiconductor package are provided. The semiconductor package includes a first semiconductor device, a second semiconductor device, and an alignment material. The first semiconductor device has a first bonding layer, and the first bonding layer includes a first bond pad contacting an organic dielectric material. The second semiconductor device has a second bonding layer, and the second bonding layer includes a second bond pad contacting the organic dielectric material. The alignment material is between the first bonding layer and the second bonding layer.