Disclosed is a method of bonding two copper structures involving compressing a first copper structure with a second copper structure under a stress from 0.1 MPa to 50 MPa and under a temperature of 250 C. or less so that a bonding surface of the first copper structure is bonded to a bonding surface of the second copper structure; at least one of the bonding surface of the first copper structure and the bonding surface of the second copper structure have a layer of nanograins of copper having an average grain size of 5 nm to 500 nm, the layer of the nanograins of copper having a thickness of 10 nm to 10 m.

Representative implementations of techniques and methods include chemical mechanical polishing for hybrid bonding. The disclosed methods include depositing and patterning a dielectric layer on a substrate to form openings in the dielectric layer, depositing a barrier layer over the dielectric layer and within a first portion of the openings, and depositing a conductive structure over the barrier layer and within a second portion of the openings not occupied by the barrier layer, at least a portion of the conductive structure in the second portion of the openings coupled or contacting electrical circuitry within the substrate. Additionally, the conductive structure is polished to reveal portions of the barrier layer deposited over the dielectric layer and not in the second portion of the openings. Further, the barrier layer is polished with a selective polish to reveal a bonding surface on or at the dielectric layer.

A semiconductor device according to an embodiment includes: a bonding substrate which includes a first chip forming portion having first metal pads provided at a semiconductor substrate and a first circuit connected to the first metal pads, and a second chip forming portion having second metal pads joined to the first metal pads and a second circuit connected to the second metal pads and being bonded to the first chip forming portion; and an insulating film which is filled into a non-bonded region between the first chip forming portion and the second chip forming portion at an outer peripheral portion of the bonding substrate. At least a part of the insulating film contains at least one selected from the group consisting of silicon nitride and nitrogen-containing silicon carbide.

Embodiments of three-dimensional (3D) memory devices with 3D phase-change memory (PCM) and methods for forming and operating the 3D memory devices are disclosed. In an example, a 3D memory device includes a first semiconductor structure including a peripheral circuit, an array of 3D PCM cells, and a first bonding layer including a plurality of first bonding contacts. The 3D memory device also further includes a second semiconductor structure including an array of 3D NAND memory strings and a second bonding layer including a plurality of second bonding contacts. The 3D memory device further includes a bonding interface between the first bonding layer and the second bonding layer. The first bonding contacts are in contact with the second bonding contacts at the bonding interface.

A manufacturing method of a semiconductor apparatus includes preparing an intermediate member that includes a first member having a first substrate comprising a semiconductor element formed thereon, a second member having a second substrate, the second substrate including a part of a circuit electrically connected to the semiconductor element and having a linear expansion coefficient different from that of the first substrate, and a third member having a third substrate showing such a linear expansion coefficient that a difference between itself and the linear expansion coefficient of the first substrate is smaller than a difference between the linear expansion coefficients of the first substrate and the second substrate, and includes bonding the first member and the second member together. A first bonding electrode containing copper electrically connected to the semiconductor element and a second bonding electrode containing copper electrically connected to the circuit are bonded together.

A semiconductor device includes a first adsorption layer, a first bonding layer, a second bonding layer, and a second adsorption layer stacked on a first substrate, and a conductive pattern structure penetrating through the first adsorption layer, the first bonding layer, the second bonding layer and the second adsorption layer. The first and second bonding layers are in contact with each other, and each of the first and second adsorption layers includes a low-K dielectric material.

A method of liquid assisted binding is provided. The method includes: forming a conductive pad on the substrate; placing a micro device on the conductive pad, such that the micro device is in contact with the conductive pad in which the micro device comprises an electrode facing the conductive pad; forming a liquid layer on the micro device and the substrate after said placing, such that a part of the liquid layer penetrates between the micro device and the conductive pad, and the micro device is gripped by a capillary force produced by said part of the liquid layer; and evaporating the liquid layer such that the electrode is bound to the conductive pad and is in electrical connection with the conductive pad.

An integrated circuit memory includes a logic circuitry bonded to a memory array. For example, the logic circuitry is formed separately from the memory array, and then the logic circuitry and the memory array are bonded. The logic circuitry facilitates operations of the memory array and includes complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) logic components, such as word line drivers, bit line drivers, sense amplifiers for the memory array. In an example, instead of being bonded to a single memory array, the logic circuitry is bonded to and shared by two memory arrays. For example, the logic circuitry is between two memory arrays. Due to the bonding process, a bonding interface layer is formed. Thus, in such an example, a first bonding interface layer is between the logic circuitry and a first memory array, and a second bonding interface layer is between the logic circuitry and a second memory array.

Embodiments of bonded semiconductor structures and fabrication methods thereof are disclosed. In an example, a method for forming a semiconductor device is disclosed. A first interconnect layer including first interconnects is formed above a first substrate. A first bonding layer including first bonding contacts is formed above the first interconnect layer, such that each first interconnect is in contact with a respective first bonding contact. A second interconnect layer including second interconnects is formed above a second substrate. A second bonding layer including second bonding contacts is formed above the second interconnect layer, such that at least one second bonding contact is in contact with a respective second interconnect, and at least another second bonding contact is separated from the second interconnects. The first and second substrates are bonded in a face-to-face manner, such that each first bonding contact is in contact with one second bonding contact at a bonding interface.

First and second contacts are formed on first and second wafers from disparate first and second conductive materials, at least one of which is subject to surface oxidation when exposed to air. A layer of oxide-inhibiting material is disposed over a bonding surface of the first contact and the first and second wafers are positioned relative to one another such that a bonding surface of the second contact is in physical contact with the layer of oxide-inhibiting material. Thereafter, the first and second contacts and the layer of oxide-inhibiting material are heated to a temperature that renders the first and second contacts and the layer of oxide-inhibiting material to liquid phases such that at least the first and second contacts alloy into a eutectic bond.