Fabrication of indium bumps for hybrid infrared focal plane array applications

Hybrid infrared focal plane arrays (FPAs) have found many applications. In hybrid IR FPAs, FPA and Si read out integrated circuits (ROICs) are bonded together with indium bumps by flip-chip bonding. Taller and higher uniformity indium bumps are always being pursued in FPA fabrication. In this paper, two indium bump fabrication processes based on evaporation and electroplating techniques are developed. Issues related to each fabrication technique are addressed in detail. The evaporation technique is based on a unique positive lithography process. The electroplating method achieves taller indium bumps with a high aspect ratio by a unique "multi-stack" technique. This technique could potentially benefit the fabrication of multi-color FPAs. Finally, a proposed low-cost indium bump fabrication technique, the "bump transfer", is given as a future technology for hybrid IR FPA fabrication. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.