Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Machine Tool to Collaborate with D-process Inc. in Bonding Services Using Room-temperature Wafer Bonding Machines

The collaborative agreement calls for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Machine Tool to perform bonding, using its own room-temperature bonding machines, of wafers that have undergone CMP and/or other surface smoothing processes at D-process on consignment from customers. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Machine Tool has offered room-temperature bonding services since 2014, including orders received from D-process. Going forward, further expansion can now be anticipated in the bonding foundry business.

Room-temperature bonding is a bonding method that activates wafer surfaces by irradiating an ion or atom beam in a vacuum. Because, in contrast to conventional bonding, no heat is applied, room-temperature bonding is suited to bonding of materials having different coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) as well as the manufacture of MEMS^*, which require very precise finishing, and biodevices, which cannot be heated. Room-temperature bonding can be performed on a wide range of materials, including silicones, oxide dielectrics, glass, compound semiconductors, metals and ceramics.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Machine Tool, by providing services through D-process, which has outstanding technology in wafer polishing, looks to market the benefits of room-temperature bonding technology to the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The company will also strive to raise the level of bonding processes by engaging in close information exchanges with D-process, as a way of expanding sales of its room-temperature bonding machines. Meanwhile D-process, which primarily deals in CMP services and is seeking to expand and improve its bonding services segment, will aggressively develop a customer base for room-temperature bonding.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Machine Tool is a pioneer in room-temperature wafer bonding machines. By teaming up with D-process, the company will be ideally positioned to accelerate the widespread adoption of room-temperature bonding both at home and abroad.

* MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) are micro-size devices, such as sensors and actuators, produced by micro-processing technology. These devices are used in automobiles, cellphones, digital cameras, ink-jet printer heads, etc.