Various chip stacks and methods and structures of interconnecting the same are disclosed. In one aspect, an apparatus is provided that includes a first semiconductor chip that has a first glass layer and plural first groups of plural conductor pads in the first glass layer. Each of the plural first groups of conductor pads is configured to bumplessly connect to a corresponding second group of plural conductor pads of a second semiconductor chip to make up a first interconnect of a plurality interconnects that connect the first semiconductor chip to the second semiconductor chip. The first glass layer is configured to bond to a second glass layer of the second semiconductor chip.

A semiconductor structure includes a base and a re-distribution layer. The re-distribution layer is disposed on the base and includes a bond pad and a probe pad, the bond pad and the probe pad are disposed adjacent to each other, and a recess is formed in the re-distribution layer and is disposed between the bond pad and the probe pad.

A semiconductor package structure includes a first die, a second die disposed on the first die, and a bonding pad structure. The first die includes a semiconductor substrate, an interconnect structure disposed on the first semiconductor substrate, a passivation layer disposed on the interconnect structure, and a test pad disposed on the passivation layer. The test pad includes a contact region that extends through the passivation layer and electrically contacts the interconnect structure, and a bonding recess that overlaps with the contact region in a vertical direction perpendicular to a plane of the first semiconductor substrate. The bonding pad structure electrically connects the first die and the second die and directly contacts at least a portion of the bonding recess.

Disclosed are integrated circuit structures with interconnects of small size, also referred to micro-bumps. As pitches of micro-bumps become smaller, their sizes also become small. This makes it difficult to probe the integrated circuit structure to verify their operations. To enable probing, test pads of larger pitches are provided. The test pads, usually formed of metal, may be protected with solder caps.

A non-volatile memory device includes a first chip including a first substrate and a circuit element, and a second chip stacked on the first chip. The second chip includes a second substrate including a first cell region and a second cell region, gate electrodes stacked on the second cell region of the second substrate, wherein the gate electrodes are between the second substrate and the first chip, an upper insulating layer configured to cover the second substrate, dummy pads and input/output pads on the upper insulating layer, a cover layer on the upper insulating layer to cover the dummy pads, wherein the cover layer is configured to expose the input/output pads to an outside, and dummy contact plugs on one side of the second substrate, wherein the dummy contact plugs are configured to penetrate the upper insulating layer and electrically connect the dummy pads and the circuit element.

A semiconductor memory device includes first and second memory chips, each including a region of a core circuit, a first area adjacent to a first side of the region in a first direction, a second area adjacent to a second side of the region in a second direction, a third area adjacent to the first area in the first direction and to the second area in the second direction, a first pad in the first area, a second pad in the second area, and third pad in the third area. In each memory chip, a first bonding wire connects the first and third pads. In addition, a second bonding wire connects the second pads of the first and second memory chips. The second memory chip is stacked on the first memory chip to expose the first, second, and third areas of the first memory chip in a third direction.

An integrated circuit structure includes a metal pad, a passivation layer including a portion over the metal pad, a first polymer layer over the passivation layer, and a first Post-Passivation Interconnect (PPI) extending into to the first polymer layer. The first PPI is electrically connected to the metal pad. A dummy metal pad is located in the first polymer layer. A second polymer layer is overlying the first polymer layer, the dummy metal pad, and the first PPI. An Under-Bump-Metallurgy (UBM) extends into the second polymer layer to electrically couple to the dummy metal pad.

A three-dimensional (3D) integrated circuit (IC) is provided. In some embodiments, the 3D IC comprises a first IC die comprising a first substrate, a first interconnect structure disposed over the first substrate, and a first through substrate via(TSV) disposed through the first substrate. The 3D IC further comprises a second IC die comprising a second substrate, a second interconnect structure disposed over the second substrate, and a second TSV disposed through the second substrate. The 3D IC further comprises a bonding structure arranged between back sides of the first IC die and the second IC die opposite to corresponding interconnect structures and bonding the first IC die and the second IC die. The bonding structure comprises conductive features disposed between and electrically connecting the first TSV and the second TSV.

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.

An integrated circuit component includes a semiconductor substrate, conductive pads, a passivation layer and conductive vias. The semiconductor substrate has an active surface. The conductive pads are located on the active surface of the semiconductor substrate and electrically connected to the semiconductor substrate, and the conductive pads each have a contact region and a testing region, where in each of the conductive pads, an edge of the contact region is in contact with an edge of the testing region. The passivation layer is located on the semiconductor substrate, where the conductive pads are located between the semiconductor substrate and the passivation layer, and the testing regions and the contact regions of the conductive pads are exposed by the passivation layer. The conductive vias are respectively located on the contact regions of the conductive pads.