Defect Formation at Hydrophilic Silicon Bonding Interfaces

Abstract

The energetic and kinetic processes of bonding interface defect formation, growth and dissolution are studied for the standard silicon hydrophilic bonding case. Defects are shown to occur when the hydrogen pressure exceeds the interface strength, forming gas bubbles. The further growth of these defects can be modeled using standard diffusion provided adequate boundary conditions are used. Size dependence of defect dissolution at higher temperature can be modeled using non reversible crack formation energies.