Silicon wafers, coated with 300 nm evaporated copper, were successfully bonded at 450°C for 30 min with a postbonding anneal in N 2 for 30 min. The postbonding anneal was required for successful bonding, but the annealing temperature did not influence the bond strength from 400 to 620°C. The inclusion of a tantalum diffusion barrier for Cu did not affect the bonding strength or the bonding temperature.Copper metallization, with low electrical resistivity and high electromigration resistance, 1 is rapidly developing into the mainstream interconnect technology. Along with advances in low k dielectrics, these are two practical approaches in reducing interconnect RC delay in integrated circuits. However, new schemes, such as direct three-dimensional integration, have shown promises in significant reduction of interconnect delay and an increase in system performance. 2,3 In exploring the implementation of 3-D integrated circuits, wafer bonding is an attractive technology option.In direct 3-D integration, active device wafers are bonded together, while all active layers are electrically interconnected using high aspect ratio vias. The bonded device wafers are assumed to contain multiple aluminum metal layers and interlevel dielectrics (ILD), thus requiring low-temperature bonding below 450°C to avoid Al degradation. 4 Referring to Fig. 1, one implementation of 3-D integration is to use polymer adhesives, such as polyimide or epoxy, to bond wafers at low curing temperatures ranging from 150 to 400°C. [5][6][7] Interwafer vias are then etched through the ILD, the thinned top Si wafer, and the cured polymer layer, with an approximate depth of 20 µm. 7 Furthermore, via filling is made using oxide spacers for insulation, chemical vapor deposited (CVD) TiN for the metal liner, and CVD W for plug formation.Instead of polymers, one can also use borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG) as the bonding adhesive. 8 However, when using low melting point glasses (450°C or more) for wafer bonding, global planarity of the glass film is needed for good contact between the wafers and to eliminate void formation. Thus, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) or reflow of the glass is necessary prior to bonding. For both planarization methods, process variations are difficult to control. To alleviate processing issues such as film planarity or complex deeptrench etching procedures, a metal thermocompression bonding method has been proposed. Thin metal films from both wafers will fuse together upon applying compressive force and heat, which provide enough adhesion to bond the wafers together. 9 Figure 2 shows metal (Cu) bumps on both wafers that can serve as electrical contacts between via on the top wafer and Al interconnects on the bottom wafer. These metal bumps also function as small bond pads for wafer bonding. At the same time, dummy metal patterns can be made to increase the surface area for wafer bonding. They can also act as auxiliary structures such as ground planes or heat conduits for the Si active layers. This paper reports on Cu/Ta wafer...