<p>Surface preparation and its exposure to different processing conditions is a key step in heterogeneous integration of electronics, photonics, fluidics and/or mechanical components for More-than-Moore applications. Therefore, it is critical to understand how various processing and environmental conditions affect the surface properties of bonding substrates. In this thesis, the effects of oxygen reactive-ion etching (O<sub>2</sub> RIE) plasma followed by storage in ambient and 98% relative humidity on some key surface properties such as roughness, water contact angle, hardness, and the elemental and compositional states of three materials – silicon (Si), silicon dioxide (SiO<sub>2</sub>) and glass – are investigated to analyze their influence on bondability. Lower O<sub>2</sub> RIE plasma activation times cause low surface roughness, high surface reactivity and high hydrophilicity of Si, SiO<sub>2</sub> and glass. The decrease of hardness of Si and SiO<sub>2</sub> with increased activation time is attributed to higher surface roughness and formation of amorphous layers of Si. While contact angle and surface roughness results show correlation with bondability, the role of hardness on bondability requires further investigation. The high-resolution X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) spectra of O<sub>2</sub> RIE treated Si, SiO<sub>2</sub> and glass showed the presence of Si(-O)<sub>2</sub> resulting in highly reactive surfaces. The high surface reactivity of Si, SiO<sub>2</sub> and glass obtained from oxygen plasma activation at lower activation times can result in better bondability. Also, the ambient humidity-induced Si(-OH)<sub>x</sub> plays an important role in the hydrophilic wafer bonding of Si and SiO<sub>2</sub> which may require a low temperature heating.</p> / Master of Applied Science (MASc)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/13627 |
| Date | 04 1900 |
| Creators | Alam, Arif Ul |
| Contributors | Howlader, Matiar R, Doyle, Thomas E, Yaser M Haddara, Chih-Hung (James) Chen, Electrical and Computer Engineering |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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