Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has developed a fully automated 8-inch wafer bonding machine that is capable of producing 3-dimensionally integrated LSI (large–scale integration) circuits at room temperature. The machine represents the world’s first commercialization of a system enabling 3-D integration of circuits on 8-inch wafers at room temperature. Efficient bonding of metallic material has been achieved through the adoption of a method of radiating a high-energy-level atom beam. The new machine and its technology will significantly contribute to efforts to further enhance the capacity and performance of LSIs, which are currently faced with limitations in miniaturization.
The new system is equipped with a cassette that can house 20 8-inch wafers and can perform wafer conveying and alignment for bonding automatically. The machine is also capable of preliminarily setting of bonding conditions for each wafer individually, to accommodate production of various types in small lots. Today, 3-D LSIs are seen as a promising breakthrough technology to support ongoing miniaturization and functional enhancement of electronic hardware through applications for various devices, including memories and image censors.