Infra-red video sequences were taken of directly bonded silicon wafer pairs undergoing the razor blade crack length test for bond strength in a specially designed jig. A series of tests were carried out under controlled atmospheres of nitrogen at various relative humidities. Analysis of the video images showed that the crack continues to propagate rapidly for several minutes after the blade has stopped moving, and that the presence of moisture has a strong positive influence on the rate of crack propagation under static loading. A new Maszara protcol is suggested based on modelling crack growth using our experimentally derived constants.
Using an improved Maszara test we have shown that post anneal bond strength of radical activated wafers and plasma activated wafers varies by up to 50% across the entire wafer surface. We have shown that this is independent of the wafer pre-treatment, the microscale surface geometry and any discontinuities visible in the post anneal infra-red transmission image.
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