A substrate bonding method and apparatus are described. The substrate bonding apparatus is used to bond a first substrate to a second substrate. The bonding apparatus includes a first bonding chuck configured to hold the first substrate on a first surface of the first bonding chuck; a second bonding chuck configured to hold the second substrate on a second surface of the second bonding chuck, the second surface facing the first surface of the first bonding chuck; a seal arranged between the first bonding chuck and the second bonding chuck and adjacent to at least one edge of the first substrate and at least one edge of the second substrate; and a process gas supply device configured to supply a process gas to a bonding space surrounded by the seal.

A method includes moving at least one of a first element and a second element to contact first regions of the first and second elements with one another while second regions of the first and second elements are not in contact with one another. The first regions directly bond to one another to form a bond interface without adhesive. The method further includes directly bonding the second regions of the first and second elements to one another without adhesive by controllably releasing one of the first element and the second element such that the bond interface and a boundary between the bond interface and the second regions not in contact with one another expands radially away from the first regions. The second regions have first vibrations within a bond initiation region bordering the boundary. The method further includes externally applying second vibrations to at least one of the first and second elements during the directly bonding. The second vibrations are in antiphase with the first vibrations in the bond initiation region.

A method for sequencing a hybrid bonding process by double linking a source of dies and a target. The method may include selecting a source of dies for bonding, selecting a target on which the dies will be bonded, linking the source to the target, linking the target to the source, forming an integrated bonding product sequence that includes a first linked bonding sequence for the source and a second linked bonding sequence for the target, determining bonding process chamber allocations and process timing for the source and the target based on the integrated bonding product sequence, and bonding a die from the source to the target using the integrated bonding product sequence.

A die bonding tool includes a bond head that secures a semiconductor die against a planar surface of the bond head, an actuator system that moves the bond head and the semiconductor die towards a surface of a target substrate, and at least one contact sensor configured to detect an initial contact between a first region of the semiconductor die and the surface of the target substrate, where in response to detecting the initial contact between the semiconductor die and the target substrate, the actuator tilts the planar surface of the bond head and the semiconductor die to bring a second region of the semiconductor die into contact with the surface of the target substrate and thereby provide improved contact between the semiconductor die and the target substrate and more effective bonding including instances where the planar surface of the bond head and the target substrate surface are not parallel.

A method of direct hybrid bonding first and second semiconductor elements of differential thickness is disclosed. The method can include patterning a plurality of first contact features on the first semiconductor element. The method can include second a plurality of second contact features on the second semiconductor element corresponding to the first contact features for direct hybrid bonding. The method can include applying a lithographic magnification correction factor to one of the first patterning and second patterning without applying the lithographic magnification correction factor to the other of the first patterning and the second patterning. In various embodiments, a differential expansion compensation structure can be disposed on at least one of the first and the second semiconductor elements. The differential expansion compensation structure can be configured to compensate for differential expansion between the first and second semiconductor elements to reduce misalignment between at least the second and fourth contact features.

A bonding tool and a bonding method are provided. The method includes attaching a semiconductor die to a bonding tool having a first surface, wherein the bonding tool comprises a bending member movably arranged in a trench of the bonding tool, and the bending member protrudes from the first surface and bends the semiconductor die; moving the semiconductor die toward a semiconductor wafer to cause a retraction of the bending member and a partial bonding at a portion of the semiconductor die and the semiconductor wafer; and causing a full bonding between the semiconductor die and the semiconductor wafer subsequent to the partial bonding.

A method is provided and includes the following steps. A first wafer is coupled to a first support of a bonding tool and a second wafer is coupled to a second support of the bonding tool. The second wafer is bonded to the first wafer with the first wafer coupled to the first support. Whether a bubble is between the bonded first and second wafers in the bonding tool is detected.

An apparatus for measuring an adhesion force, the apparatus comprising a stage configured to support a specimen, and a sensor adhered to the specimen, wherein the sensor detects the adhesion force of the specimen, the adhesion force of the specimen being a force for detaching the sensor from the specimen.

A substrate bonding apparatus that brings a part of a surface of a first substrate and a part of a surface of a second substrate into contact in a state where a temperature difference is generated therebetween, to form contact regions at the parts, and then enlarges the contact regions to bond the first substrate and the second substrate, wherein enlargement of the contact regions starts before positional misalignment between the first substrate and the second substrate exceeds a threshold, and the threshold is set such that positional misalignment after the first substrate and the second substrate are bonded does not exceed a tolerated value.

Provided are a wafer bonding apparatus for accurately detecting a bonding state of wafers in a wafer bonding process and/or in a wafer bonding system including the wafer bonding apparatus. The wafer bonding apparatus includes a first supporting plate including a first surface and vacuum grooves for vacuum-absorption of a first wafer disposed on the first surface, a second supporting plate including a second surface facing the first surface. A second wafer is on the second surface. The wafer bonding apparatus and/or the wafer bonding system include a bonding initiator at a center portion of the first supporting plate, and an area sensor on the first supporting plate and configured to detect a propagation state of bonding between the first wafer and the second wafer.