A bonded structure is provided. The bonded structure includes a first stack structure on a substrate, a second stack structure over the first stack structure, and a bonding interface between the first stack structure and the second stack structure. The second stack includes a via structure extending in the second stack structure and towards the bonding interface, the via structure having a first width closer to the bonding interface and a second width further away from the bonding interface. The first width is greater than the second width.

A semiconductor device structure is provided. The semiconductor device structure includes an interconnection structure over a semiconductor substrate and a conductive pillar over the interconnection structure. The conductive pillar has a protruding portion extending towards the semiconductor substrate from a lower surface of the conductive pillar. The semiconductor device structure also includes an upper conductive via between the conductive pillar and the interconnection structure and a lower conductive via between the upper conductive via and the interconnection structure. The lower conductive via is electrically connected to the conductive pillar through the upper conductive via. The conductive pillar extends across opposite sidewalls of the upper conductive via and opposite sidewalls of the lower conductive via. A top view of an entirety of the second conductive via is separated from a top view of an entirety of the protruding portion.

A method includes forming a first sealing layer at a first edge region of a first wafer; and bonding the first wafer to a second wafer to form a wafer stack. At a time after the bonding, the first sealing layer is between the first edge region of the first wafer and a second edge region of the second wafer, with the first edge region and the second edge region comprising bevels. An edge trimming process is then performed on the wafer stack. After the edge trimming process, the second edge region of the second wafer is at least partially removed, and a portion of the first sealing layer is left as a part of the wafer stack. An interconnect structure is formed as a part of the second wafer. The interconnect structure includes redistribution lines electrically connected to integrated circuit devices in the second wafer.

A semiconductor device has a semiconductor substrate and first insulating layer formed over the surface of the semiconductor substrate. A dummy via is formed through the first insulating layer. A second insulating layer is formed over the first insulating layer to fill the dummy via. A first conductive layer is formed over the second insulating layer. A bump is formed over the first conductive layer adjacent to the dummy via filled with the second insulating layer. A second conductive layer is formed over a surface of the semiconductor substrate. The dummy via filled with the second insulating layer relieves stress on the second conductive layer. A plurality of dummy vias filled with the second insulating layer can be formed within a designated via formation area. A plurality of dummy vias filled with the second insulating layer can be formed in a pattern.

A method includes forming a seed layer on a substrate. The seed layer includes a first metal. The method also includes forming a first metal layer over the seed layer. The first metal layer includes a second metal. The method further includes forming a second metal layer over the first metal layer. The second metal layer includes the first metal. The method includes converting at least a portion of the first metal layer into an alloy of the first metal and the second metal. The seed layer is then etched.

One example includes a method for fabricating an integrated circuit (IC) device. The method includes fabricating a semiconductor die comprising a metal top (METTOP) structure and forming a barrier layer over the METTOP structure to cover approximately the entirety of the METTOP structure. The method also includes forming a polyimide (PI) layer over the semiconductor die and over a portion of the barrier layer to form a gap that exposes the barrier layer through the PI layer. The method further includes forming a conductive post in the gap over the barrier layer.

An integrated chip includes a first chip and a second chip bonded to the first chip. The first chip includes a first substrate, a first transistor along the first substrate, a first interconnect over the first transistor, and a first bonding pad over the first interconnect. The second chip includes a second substrate, a second transistor along the second substrate, a second interconnect under the second transistor, and a second bonding pad under the second interconnect. The second bonding pad is bonded to the first bonding pad. The first chip further includes a trench capacitor over the first interconnect and under the first bonding pad. The trench capacitor includes a bottom electrode, a top electrode, and an insulator layer between the bottom and top electrodes. The first bonding pad extends from the second bonding pad to the top electrode of the trench capacitor.

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.

An element, a bonded structure including the element, and a method of forming the same are disclosed. The bonded structure can include a first element having a first nonconductive field region and a first conductive feature at least partially defining a bonding surface of the first element. The first conductive feature includes a first portion and a second portion over the first portion with a continuous sidewall. The second portion includes different metal composition from the first portion or comprising fluorine at the surface of the first conductive feature. A second element has a second nonconductive field region and a second conductive feature which are directly bonded to the first nonconductive field region and a first conductive feature, respectively.

A manufacturing method for a semiconductor device includes: obtaining a pre-processed semiconductor structure, wherein the pre-processed semiconductor structure comprises a metal layer (103) having a first exposed surface (1032), and the first exposed surface (1032) of the metal layer has a protrusion portion (1031); arranging a protective layer (104) on the first exposed surface (1032) of the metal layer, wherein the protective layer (104) at least covers part of the metal layer (103) that excludes the protrusion portion (1031); removing the protrusion portion (1031) to form on the metal layer (103) a second exposed surface (1033) of the metal layer (103); and forming a dielectric layer (105) on an area where the first exposed surface (1032) is located, wherein the dielectric layer (105) completely covers the area where the first exposed surface (1032) is located.