A sensor device for use in harsh media, comprising a silicon die comprises a lowly doped region, and a contact layer, contacting the silicon die. The contact layer comprises a refractory metal and an ohmic contact to the silicon die via a silicide of the refractory metal. A noble metal layer is provided over the contact layer such that the contact layer is completely covered by the noble metal layer. The noble metal layer comprises palladium, platinum or a metal alloy of palladium and/or platinum. The noble metal layer is patterned to form an interconnect structure and a contact connecting via the contact layer to the ohmic contact. The noble metal layer is adapted for providing a shield to prevent modulation of the lowly doped region by surface charges. The noble metal layer may advantageously protect the contact layer against harsh media in an external environment of the sensor device.

A device comprises a first chip comprising a first connection pad embedded in a first dielectric layer and a first bonding pad embedded in the first dielectric layer, wherein the first bonding pad comprises a first portion and a second portion, the second portion being in contact with the first connection pad and a second chip comprising a second bonding pad embedded in a second dielectric layer of the second chip, wherein the first chip and the second chip are face-to-face bonded together through the first bonding pad the second bonding pad.

Wafer-level packaging method and package structure are provided. In an exemplary method, first chips are bonded to the device wafer. A first encapsulation layer is formed on the device wafer, covering the first chips. The first chip includes: a chip front surface with a formed first pad, facing the device wafer; and a chip back surface opposite to the chip front surface. A first opening is formed in the first encapsulation layer to expose at least one first chip having an exposed chip back surface for receiving a loading signal. A metal layer structure is formed covering the at least one first chip, a bottom and sidewalls of the first opening, and the first encapsulation layer, followed by an alloying treatment on the chip back surface and the metal layer structure to form a back metal layer on the chip back surface.

Layer structures for making direct metal-to-metal bonds at low temperatures and shorter annealing durations in microelectronics are provided. Example bonding interface structures enable direct metal-to-metal bonding of interconnects at low annealing temperatures of 150 C. or below, and at a lower energy budget. The example structures provide a precise metal recess distance for conductive pads and vias being bonded that can be achieved in high volume manufacturing. The example structures provide a vertical stack of conductive layers under the bonding interface, with geometries and thermal expansion features designed to vertically expand the stack at lower temperatures over the precise recess distance to make the direct metal-to-metal bonds. Further enhancements, such as surface nanotexture and copper crystal plane selection, can further actuate the direct metal-to-metal bonding at lowered annealing temperatures and shorter annealing durations.

Layer structures for making direct metal-to-metal bonds at low temperatures and shorter annealing durations in microelectronics are provided. Example bonding interface structures enable direct metal-to-metal bonding of interconnects at low annealing temperatures of 150 C. or below, and at a lower energy budget. The example structures provide a precise metal recess distance for conductive pads and vias being bonded that can be achieved in high volume manufacturing. The example structures provide a vertical stack of conductive layers under the bonding interface, with geometries and thermal expansion features designed to vertically expand the stack at lower temperatures over the precise recess distance to make the direct metal-to-metal bonds. Further enhancements, such as surface nanotexture and copper crystal plane selection, can further actuate the direct metal-to-metal bonding at lowered annealing temperatures and shorter annealing durations.

A three-dimensional (3D) bonded semiconductor structure is provided in which a first bonding oxide layer of a first semiconductor structure is bonded to a second bonding oxide layer of a second semiconductor structure. Each of the first and second bonding oxide layers has a metallic bonding structure embedded therein, wherein each metallic bonding structure contains a columnar grain microstructure. Furthermore, at least one columnar grain extends across a bonding interface that is present between the metallic bonding structures. The presence of the columnar grain microstructure in the metallic bonding structures, together with at least one columnar grain microstructure extending across the bonding interface between the two bonded metallic bonding structures, can provide a 3D bonded structure having mechanical bonding strength and electrical performance enhancements.

A microelectronic device is formed by thinning a substrate of the microelectronic device from a die attach surface of the substrate, and forming a copper-containing layer on the die attach surface of the substrate. A protective metal layer is formed on the copper-containing layer. Subsequently, the copper-containing layer is attached to a package member having a package die mount area. The protective metal layer may optionally be removed prior to attaching the copper-containing layer to the package member. Alternatively, the protective metal layer may be left on the copper-containing layer when the copper-containing layer is attached to the package member. A structure formed by the method is also disclosed.

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes assigning a plurality of chip regions on an epitaxial-growth layer of a semiconductor substrate where the epitaxial-growth layer is grown on a bulk layer and forming a plurality of device structures on the plurality of chip regions, respectively, thinning the semiconductor substrate from a bottom-surface side of the bulk layer, bonding a supporting-substrate on a bottom surface of the thinned semiconductor substrate, selectively removing the supporting-substrate so that the bottom surface of the semiconductor substrate is exposed, at locations corresponding to positions of each of main current paths in the plurality of device structures, respectively, dicing the semiconductor substrate together with the supporting-substrate along dicing lanes between the plurality of the chip regions so as to form a plurality of chips.

A new architecture to fabricate high-rise fully monolithic three-dimensional Integrated-Circuits (3D-ICs) is described. It has the major advantage over all known prior arts in that it substantially reduces RC-delays and fully eliminates or very substantially reduces the large and bulky electrically conductive Through-Silicon-VIAS in a monolithic 3D integration. This enables the 3D-ICs to have faster operational speed with denser device integration.

A new architecture to fabricate high-rise fully monolithic three-dimensional Integrated-Circuits (3D-ICs) is described. It has the major advantage over all known prior arts in that it substantially reduces RC-delays and fully eliminates or very substantially reduces the large and bulky electrically conductive Through-Silicon-VIAS in a monolithic 3D integration. This enables the 3D-ICs to have faster operational speed with denser device integration.