A composite substrate comprising a monocrystalline support substrate made of an insulating material and a monocrystalline semiconductor part disposed as a layer on the upper surface of the support substrate. An interface region having a thickness of 5 nm from the bonding interface between the support substrate and the semiconductor part towards the semiconductor part side includes a metal comprising: a metal element excluding the materials constituting the main components of the support substrate and the semiconductor part; and an inert element selected from the group consisting of Ar, Ne, Xe, and Kr. The number of atoms per unit area of the inert element is greater than that of the metal and smaller than that of the element constituting the semiconductor part.

In example implementations of a heterogeneous substrate, the heterogeneous substrate includes a first material having an air trench, a second material coupled to the first material, a dielectric mask on a first portion of the second material and an active region that is grown on a remaining portion of the second material. An air gap may be formed in the air trench by the second material coupled to the first material. Defects in the second material may be contained to an area below the dielectric mask and the active region may remain defect free.

The disclosed technology generally relates to integrating semiconductor dies and more particularly to bonding semiconductor substrates. In an aspect, a method of bonding semiconductor substrates includes providing a first substrate and a second substrate. Each of the first substrate and the second substrate comprises a dielectric bonding layer comprising one or more a silicon carbon oxide (SiCO) layer, a silicon carbon nitride (SiCN) layer or a silicon carbide (SiC) layer. The method additionally includes, prior to bonding the first and second substrates, pre-treating each of the dielectric bonding layer of the first substrate and the dielectric bonding layer of the second substrate. Pre-treating includes a first plasma activation process in a plasma comprising an inert gas, a second plasma activation process in a plasma comprising oxygen, and a wet surface treatment including a water rinsing step or an exposure to a water-containing ambient. The method additionally includes bonding the first and the second substrates by contacting the dielectric bonding layer of the first substrate and the dielectric bonding layer of the second substrate to form a substrate assembly. The method further includes post-bond annealing the assembly.

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 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 capacitor plate structure embedded therein, wherein each metallic capacitor plate structure has a columnar grain microstructure. A high-k dielectric material is present between the first and second metallic capacitor plate structures. The presence of the columnar grain microstructure in the metallic capacitor plate structures can provide an embedded capacitor that has an improved quality factor, Q.

A method for forming a direct hybrid bond and a device resulting from a direct hybrid bond including a first substrate having a first set of metallic bonding pads, preferably connected to a device or circuit, capped by a conductive barrier, and having a first non-metallic region adjacent to the metallic bonding pads on the first substrate, a second substrate having a second set of metallic bonding pads capped by a second conductive barrier, aligned with the first set of metallic bonding pads, preferably connected to a device or circuit, and having a second non-metallic region adjacent to the metallic bonding pads on the second substrate, and a contact-bonded interface between the first and second set of metallic bonding pads capped by conductive barriers formed by contact bonding of the first non-metallic region to the second non-metallic region.

A bonding between a first substrate and a second substrate, the method includes the steps of: a) providing the first substrate and the second substrate, b) forming a first bonding layer having tungsten oxide on the first substrate and a second bonding layer having tungsten oxide on the second substrate, at least one of the first bonding layer and of the second bonding layer including a third element M so as to form an MWxOy-type alloy, the atomic content of M in the composition of the alloy being between 0.5 and 20% and preferably between 1 and 10%, c) carrying out a direct bonding between the first bonding layer and the second bonding layer, and d) performing a heat treatment at a temperature greater than 250 C.

Capacitive coupling of integrated circuit die components and other conductive areas is provided. Each component to be coupled has a surface that includes at least one conductive area, such as a metal pad or plate. An ultrathin layer of dielectric is formed on at least one surface to be coupled. When the two components, e.g., one from each die, are permanently contacted together, the ultrathin layer of dielectric remains between the two surfaces, forming a capacitor or capacitive interface between the conductive areas of each respective component. The ultrathin layer of dielectric may be composed of multiple layers of various dielectrics, but in one implementation, the overall thickness is less than approximately 50 nanometers. The capacitance per unit area of the capacitive interface formed depends on the particular dielectric constants ? of the dielectric materials employed in the ultrathin layer and their respective thicknesses. Electrical and grounding connections can be made at the edge of the coupled stack.

A semiconductor device has a semiconductor layer and a substrate. The semiconductor layer constitutes at least a part of a current path, and is made of silicon carbide. The substrate has a first surface supporting the semiconductor layer, and a second surface opposite to the first surface. Further, the substrate is made of silicon carbide having a 4H type single-crystal structure. Further, the substrate has a physical property in which a ratio of a peak strength in a wavelength of around 500 nm to a peak strength in a wavelength of around 390 nm is 0.1 or smaller in photoluminescence measurement. In this way, the semiconductor device is obtained to have a low on-resistance.

A method is provided that includes operations as follows: bonding an epitaxial layer formed with a first semiconductor substrate and an ion-implanted layer that is formed between the epitaxial layer and the first semiconductor substrate, to a bonding oxide layer of a second semiconductor substrate; separating the first semiconductor substrate from the epitaxial layer, by removing the first semiconductor substrate together with a portion of the ion-implanted layer and keeping the epitaxial layer; and forming a first semiconductor device portion on the epitaxial layer, and an interconnect layer on the first semiconductor device portion.