International Business Machines Corporation

Globalfoundries Inc.

John Joseph Garant

Christopher Lee Tessler

Thomas Weiss

Harry David Cox

Glen Nelson Biggs

Jeffrey A Brody

John Peter Karidis

Russell Alan Budd

Benjamin V Fasano

Donald Rene Wall

Kevin M Prettyman

Srinivasa S N Reddy

Hsichang Liu

Phillip W Palmatier

Bouwe W Leenstra

Paul G McLaughlin

Peter Alfred Gruber

Edmund Juris Sprogis

Richard Francis Indyk

Dinesh Gupta

Jonathan H Griffith

Brittany L Hedrick

Tom Wayson

Jon Alfred Casey

Charles Hampton Perry

Sarah Huffsmith Knickerbocker

Candace A Sullivan

Robert J Sullivan

Michael A Cohn

Jorge A Lubguban

Sean A Allen

Robert G Haas

Andrew H Vogel

G Gerard Gormley

Thuy L Tran-Quinn

John A Trumpetto

Charles Timothy Ryan

Vijay Sukumaran

Abubaker S Shagan

Jerry A Gorrell

Ahmed Sayeed Shah

Evelyn Barrington

Lorraine Di Piero-Simmonds

Edward J Hassdenteufel, Iii

Richard C Steger

Dale W Snowdon

A wafer handler with a removable bow compensating layer and methods of manufacture is disclosed. The method includes forming at least one layer of stressed material on a front side of a wafer handler. The method further includes forming another stressed material on a backside of the wafer handler which counter balances the at least one layer of stressed material on the front side of the wafer handler, thereby decreasing an overall bow of the wafer handler.

Wafer handler and methods of manufacture

One aspect of the disclosure relates to an integrated circuit structure. The integrated circuit structure may include a front side and back side opposing the front side, the integrated circuit structure comprising: a through-silicon-via (TSV) at least partially within a dielectric layer extending away from the front side; a first metal adjacent to the TSV and within the dielectric layer, the first metal being substantially surrounded by a first seed layer; a conductive pad over the first metal and the TSV and extending away from the front side, wherein the conductive pad provides electrical connection between the TSV and the first metal and includes a second seed layer substantially surrounding a second metal, wherein the second seed layer separates the second metal from the first metal and the TSV.

Integrated circuit structure having through-silicon via and method of forming same

A bond metal injection tool can include a fill head having a sealed chamber for containing a molten bond metal (e.g., solder) and a gas, and a nozzle for directing a flow of the molten bond metal into cavities in a major surface of a mold. A pressure control device can controllably apply pressure within the chamber to eject the bond metal from the nozzle into the cavities. The pressure control device may also controllably reduce a pressure within the chamber to inhibit the bond metal from being ejected from the nozzle, such as when the fill head is being moved onto the mold surface from a parking location or when the fill head is being moved off the mold surface onto a parking location.

Vacuum transition for solder bump mold filling

A fill head apparatus includes at least one chamber for holding a fluid. The chamber has an outlet for expelling the fluid. A vacuum device has an inlet for a suction device adjacent to the fluid outlet. A plurality of flexible and resilient sealing devices contact a top surface of a workpiece. The sealing devices are positioned on opposing sides of the chamber outlet and on opposing sides of the vacuum device inlet, such that the sealing devices create at least a partial seal around a cavity defined by the workpiece and the cavity is beneath both the chamber outlet and the vacuum outlet.

Fill head interface with combination vacuum pressure chamber

Techniques for dispensing fusible material onto a surface, wherein the fusible material is in molten form, are provided. In accordance with aspects of the invention, a dispensing assembly dispenses the fusible material and a gas environment surrounding a portion of a seal structure of the dispensing assembly is controlled to regulate an oxidation rate of the fusible material.

Dispensing assembly with a controlled gas environment

An apparatus for dispensing fusible material onto a surface, wherein the fusible material is in molten form, is provided. The apparatus comprises a dispensing assembly comprising a seal structure. The seal structure controls dispensing of the fusible material. One or more gas injectors are coupled to the dispensing assembly. Each of the one or more gas injectors is adapted to inject at least one gas to the dispensing assembly for controlling a gas environment surrounding at least a portion of the seal structure. An oxidation rate of the fusible material is controlled as a function of at least one characteristic of the at least one gas.

Dispensing assembly with an injector controlled gas environment

A method is provided for making of interconnect solder bumps on a wafer or other electronic device without depositing any significant amount of tin or other solder component from the solder onto the wafer surface which tin can cause shorts or other defects in the wafer. The method is particularly useful for well-known C4NP interconnect technology. In one aspect of the invention, a reducing gas flow rate is used to remove oxides from the solder surfaces and wafer pad surfaces and is of a sufficient determined or pre-determined flow and/or chamber or mold/wafer spacing to provide a gas velocity across the solder surfaces and wafer pad surfaces so that Sn or other contaminants do not deposit on the wafer surface during solder transfer. In another aspect, the transfer contact is performed below the melting point of the solder and subsequently heated to above the melting temperature while in transfer contact. The heated solder in contact with the wafer pads is transferred to the wafer pads.

Process for making interconnect solder Pb-free bumps free from organo-tin/tin deposits on the wafer surface

A new pressure-only molten metal valving apparatus and method is provided. This novel approach to controlling the flow of liquids eliminates the need for active, moving valve components. Using the natural surface tension properties of liquids, the gas pressure either activates liquid flow when a threshold is overcome or retains the liquid in a head, even when lifted.

Pressure-only molten metal valving apparatus and method

A screening mask having a stress-relieving area including an inner functional area having a pattern which is replicated on an underlying substrate, the inner functional area pattern having an one open area through which a paste is extruded and at least one tab, and an outer nonfunctional area distinct from the inner functional area, the outer nonfunctional area having a stress-relieving area adjacent to an edge of the screening mask that protects the at least one tab in the inner functional area from breaking.

Screening mask having a stress-relieving area

A screening mask for screening an article, the screening mask including a screening mask body having a screening side and a nonscreening side, an one opening through the mask for screening at least one feature from the screening side to the nonscreening side, and a blind opening for protecting a previously screened feature. The blind opening is blocked on the screening side and open on the nonscreening side. The screening mask is used in double pass screening so that a second feature may be formed on the article without damaging a previously formed feature.

Screening method for double pass screening

The present invention discloses a CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) process where nickel or alloys thereof, such as, Ni/Cu, Ni/Co, are deposited on metal surfaces which are capable of receiving nickel or alloys thereof, using an Iodide source, preferably an Iodide salt, such as, Ammonium Iodide or Copper Iodide, with at least one inert stand-off in contact with the receiving metal surface. This invention basically allows the CVD of nickel (Ni) on molybdenum (Mo) or tungsten (W) where the nickel source is physically isolated from the refractory metal surface to be plated using at least one inert material that is in floating contact with the refractory metal surface that needs to be coated with at least one layer of nickel or alloy thereof.

CVD of metals capable of receiving nickel or alloys thereof using inert contact

A method for minimizing formation of cracks at junctions between conductive vias and conductive lines in line-to-via connections on a substrate. The method comprises providing a transition zone connected between a base section of the line and a cap, the transition zone providing a volume of conductive paste during a conductive paste screen printing operation that is greater than the volume provided by the base section being directly connected to the cap. In particular, the transition zone volume is an effective amount to prevent necking of the conductive line into the via when the mask is misaligned to the substrate within an expected alignment tolerance. The transition zone may comprise a jogged end extending from the base section to the cap at an angle to the line, or a flared end extending from the base section. Line-to-via connection structures, patterns on a mask for making such structures, and masks having such patterns are also disclosed.

Method of forming conductive line features for enhanced reliability of multi-layer ceramic substrates

A method and system for cleaning an object containing a metal surface, includes pre-cleaning the object to prepare the object for a metal plating thereover, and post-cleaning the object after the object has been plated with the metal plating. The pre-cleaning step and the post-cleaning step each include blasting the object with a media.

Method and system for pre-cleaning and post-cleaning deposited metal

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Poughkeepsie, NY, United States of America

John Joseph Garant