Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C03—GLASS; MINERAL OR SLAG WOOL
  • C03C—CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF GLASSES, GLAZES OR VITREOUS ENAMELS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF GLASS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF FIBRES OR FILAMENTS MADE FROM GLASS, MINERALS OR SLAGS; JOINING GLASS TO GLASS OR OTHER MATERIALS
  • C03C27/00—Joining pieces of glass to pieces of other inorganic material; Joining glass to glass other than by fusing
  • C03C27/06—Joining glass to glass by processes other than fusing
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C04—CEMENTS; CONCRETE; ARTIFICIAL STONE; CERAMICS; REFRACTORIES
  • C04B—LIME, MAGNESIA; SLAG; CEMENTS; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF, e.g. MORTARS, CONCRETE OR LIKE BUILDING MATERIALS; ARTIFICIAL STONE; CERAMICS; REFRACTORIES; TREATMENT OF NATURAL STONE
  • C04B37/00—Joining burned ceramic articles with other burned ceramic articles or other articles by heating
  • C04B37/04—Joining burned ceramic articles with other burned ceramic articles or other articles by heating with articles made from glass
  • C04B37/042—Joining burned ceramic articles with other burned ceramic articles or other articles by heating with articles made from glass in a direct manner
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C04—CEMENTS; CONCRETE; ARTIFICIAL STONE; CERAMICS; REFRACTORIES
  • C04B—LIME, MAGNESIA; SLAG; CEMENTS; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF, e.g. MORTARS, CONCRETE OR LIKE BUILDING MATERIALS; ARTIFICIAL STONE; CERAMICS; REFRACTORIES; TREATMENT OF NATURAL STONE
  • C04B2237/00—Aspects relating to ceramic laminates or to joining of ceramic articles with other articles by heating
  • C04B2237/30—Composition of layers of ceramic laminates or of ceramic or metallic articles to be joined by heating, e.g. Si substrates
  • C04B2237/32—Ceramic
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C04—CEMENTS; CONCRETE; ARTIFICIAL STONE; CERAMICS; REFRACTORIES
  • C04B—LIME, MAGNESIA; SLAG; CEMENTS; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF, e.g. MORTARS, CONCRETE OR LIKE BUILDING MATERIALS; ARTIFICIAL STONE; CERAMICS; REFRACTORIES; TREATMENT OF NATURAL STONE
  • C04B2237/00—Aspects relating to ceramic laminates or to joining of ceramic articles with other articles by heating
  • C04B2237/50—Processing aspects relating to ceramic laminates or to the joining of ceramic articles with other articles by heating
  • C04B2237/52—Pre-treatment of the joining surfaces, e.g. cleaning, machining

Definitions

• This invention relates to direct bonding. More particularly, the invention relates to methods for improvement of direct bonding of surfaces by incorporating lithium into at least one of the surfaces.
• Some embodiments of the invention relate to a method of bonding surfaces, wherein at least one of the surfaces includes silicon. These embodiments include the steps of including lithium on at least a portion of one of the surfaces and placing the surfaces directly in contact in the absence of an adhesive and at a temperature below the softening point of the surfaces. In certain embodiments, the temperature during bonding is below about 400° C, but according to some embodiments of the present invention, bonding can occur below about 200° C, and in other embodiments, bonding can occur at room temperature.
• Surfaces that include silicon include but are not limited to ceramic materials, glass materials, or glass- ceramics.
• the term surface may include an exterior portion of a body or an article, or alternatively, the term may refer to an exterior coating or layer on an exterior portion of an article.
• the inclusion of lithium on the surface of at least one of the articles results in bond strength between the surfaces of over about 90 pounds per square inch.
• Lithium can be included in or on at least one of the surfaces of the articles in several ways.
• lithium can be incorporated in the composition of the glass.
• the glass surface may include other alkali elements such as, for example, sodium and/or potassium.
• lithium can be included in the glass surface by exchanging lithium ions with the alkali ions. Ion exchange may be achieved by contacting the glass surface with a mixture containing lithium.
• the mixture includes a lithium salt, such as for example, lithium nitrate, lithium sulfate, or a mixture of salts.
• ion exchange occurs when a mixture containing a mixture of lithium nitrate and lithium sulfate is placed in contact with the glass surface at a temperature exceeding 400° C.
• lithium is included in at least one of the surfaces by implanting lithium ions into the surface of the glass.
• a layer of lithium metal can be deposited on the glass surface by, for example, using evaporation or sputtering processes.
• lithium may be included on one of the surfaces by adsorbing a liquid mixture containing lithium ions onto at least one of the surfaces prior to the step of placing the surfaces in contact.
• lithium may be included on one of the surfaces by coating one of the surfaces with a sol-gel layer containing lithium ions.
• the methods of the present invention are useful for bonding a wide variety of surfaces and articles.
• the invention can be used to bond optical components including but not limited to optical fibers, optical ferrules, lens arrays, planar waveguides, gratings, amplifiers, filters, prisms, polarizers, birefringent crystals, faraday rotators and lenses.
• the methods can be used to bond surfaces that have different refractive indices or different coefficients of thermal expansion.
• the method is particularly useful for bonding glass articles together, wherein lithium is included at the bonding interface between the glass articles.
• the bonding interface typically includes surface portions of the articles. In certain embodiments, a surface portion of at least one of the articles is contacted with a solution having a pH greater than 8.
• solutions having a pH greater than 8 are hydroxide solutions such as ammonium hydroxide.
• a hydrophilic surface can be provided on a surface portion of at least one of the articles.
• a surface portion of at least one of the articles is contacted with an acid.
• Lithium is one of the most mobile ions and readily migrates within a solid material such as glass at temperatures below 100° C. This behavior is due to the lithium ion's size, charge, and diffusion constant. Migration is a diffusion process, which is inconsequential for materials of homogeneous composition where bulk migration of one component does not result in a compositional gradient. In other words, as one lithium ion in a homogeneous material migrates from point A to point B, another statistically, will migrate from point B to point A.
• Direct chemical bonding relates to the process of generating high strength bonds between surfaces at relatively low temperature, for example, less than about 200° C without the use of polymeric adhesives or a vacuum.
• surfaces are cleaned and placed in contact with little or no applied force and moderately heated to generate the seal. Because surfaces in this process are heated to temperatures greater than about 100° C, absorbed water is removed from between the surfaces and hydrogen bonding between surface groups generates a bond. For glass compositions containing greater than about 95% by weight silica, this sealing temperature is sufficient to allow for bond strengths that will not delaminate.
• this chemical bonding process typically yields bond strengths between about 10-30 pounds per square inch, with bond failure typically occurring by delamination.
• the bonding process is typically followed by an annealing cycle to temperatures up to about 600° C, thus converting hydrogen bonds to covalent bonds.
• Such annealed seals do not fail by delamination, but rather fail by fracture of the bulk glass away from the seal, with fracture strengths typically between about 100-200 pounds per square inch.
• such anneal cycles are not practical for applications when low temperature materials (e.g., optical fiber coatings and adhesives) are incorporated into a surface structure.
• Pyrex ® contains about 81 weight percent silica, and it is a standard material used in the manufacture of photonic components including optical fiber ferrules.
• bond strength in Pyrex ® and other materials is improved by including lithium in or on at least one of the surfaces prepared for bonding.
• Lithium can be included in or on the surfaces by various methods. For example, lithium can be exchanged, deposited, or implanted into surfaces prepared for bonding, thus allowing chemical bonding to become directly feasible for applications where glass or silicon- containing materials having poor bond strength.
• novel glass compositions incorporate lithium for specific applications where chemical bonding is to be used.
• Pyrex ® seal strengths are increased to greater than about 90 PSI by ion exchanging lithium for sodium in the surface of glass articles prior to bonding.
• the seals do not require a post-bonding anneal to generate higher seal strengths, thus allowing for bonding of complex systems that include polymeric coatings and adhesives that degrade above about 150 to 200° C. Failure occurred by glass fracture rather than by delamination.
• FIG. 1 A specific example of such an application involves sealing of fiber arrays to microlens arrays where one component is either Fotoform ® ,
• HPFS ® available from Corning, Inc.
• sealing or bonding of glass surfaces containing alkalis is achieved by incorporating lithium into the glass surfaces by an ion exchange process.
• ion exchange process involves fibers mounted in fiber ferrules made from Pyrex glass that have been ion-exchanged with lithium and subsequently bonded.
• lithium can be included in glass surfaces that contain little or no alkali by utilizing lithium ion implantation. After ion implantation, the surfaces including lithium can be bonded.
• Other embodiments involve the incorporation of lithium into the manufacturing of novel glass and glass-ceramics for chemical bonding applications.
• bonding between a wide variety of articles can be improved by including lithium on or in the surface of at least one of the articles to be bonded.
• articles include conventional glass articles, electronic components and optical articles.
• the optical articles can include, but are not limited to, an optical waveguide, a planar waveguide, an optical waveguide fiber, a lens, a prism, a grating, a faraday rotator, a birerfringent crystal, a filter, a polarizer to an optical component.
• direct bonding and “direct bond” means that bonding between two surfaces is achieved at the atomic or molecular level, no additional material exists between the bonding surfaces such as adhesives, and the surfaces are bonded without the assistance of fusion of the surfaces by heating.
• fusion or “fusion bonding” refers to processes that involve heating the bonding surfaces and/or the material adjacent the bonding surfaces to the softening or deformation temperature of the articles bonded. The methods of the present invention do not involve the use of adhesives or fusion bonding to bond optical components.
• the present invention utilizes methods that involve forming a direct bond between the surfaces without high temperatures that soften the glass material to the point of deformation or the softening point and which typically results in an interface that is not optically clear.
• the present invention provides a bonding method that provides an impermeable, optically clear seal, meaning that there is essentially zero distortion of light passing between the interface of the bonded surfaces.
• the formation of a direct bond between two glass, crystalline or metal surfaces allows for an impermeable seal that has the same inherent physical properties as the bulk materials being bonded.
• termination groups are provided on opposing surfaces of the articles to be bonded. No adhesives, high temperature treatment or caustic hydrofluoric acid treatments are required prior to bonding the opposing surfaces.
• a surface treatment of a high pH base mixture such as sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide or ammonium hydroxide is utilized to provide termination groups on the bonding surfaces of the articles.
• the surfaces are first cleaned using a detergent followed by rinsing with an acid solution such as a nitric acid solution to remove particulate contamination and soluble heavy metals respectively.
• the surfaces are contacted with a high pH solution, rinsed, pressed into contact and gradually heated to the desired temperature, preferably to a temperature less than about 300° C.
• a high pH solution rinsed, pressed into contact and gradually heated to the desired temperature, preferably to a temperature less than about 300° C.
• the surfaces are flat, as determined by performing a preliminary cleaning and pressing the dried samples into contact.
• the bonding process includes machining each surface to be sealed to an appropriate flatness.
• Particularly preferred flatness levels are less than about 1 micron and roughness levels of less than about 2.0 nm RMS.
• lithium ions can be exchanged into glass surfaces containing alkali ions by contacting the surface of the glass with a mixture containing lithium ions.
• a mixture could include a particular lithium salt or mixture of lithium salts.
• a 1 :5 ratio mixture of lithium sulfate and lithium nitrate could be used to soak the surface prepared for bonding.
• the surfaces are assembled without drying.
• a low to moderate load (as low as 1 PSI) is then applied as the surfaces are heated to less than 300° C, for example, between 100- 200° C, so that absorbed water molecules evaporates and silicic acid-like surface groups condense to form a covalently-bonded interface.
• Pressure can be applied using various fixturing devices that may include the use of compressed gas or a low vacuum pressure that is not detrimental to polymers.
• it may be acceptable to moderately dry the bonding surfaces to remove absorbed water molecules, especially when using a low vacuum (e.g., about 10 "3 millibar) to assist in sealing the bonding surfaces without an air gap.
• the degree of heating for different bonding surfaces and glass surfaces will depend in part on the type of surface to be bonded (e.g., a fiber or a flat surface) and the desired bond strength for a particular application. In systems that include polymeric materials, such as optical fiber waveguides, it is undesirable to heat the surfaces to the point where the polymeric material is damaged.
• the bond strength and additional information on a preferred embodiment of chemically bonding glass surfaces may be found in copending United States patent application entitled, "Direct Bonding of Articles Containing Silicon,” commonly assigned to the assignee of the present patent application and naming Robert Sabia as inventor.
• the present invention is not limited to the chemical bonding methods disclosed in the copending patent application and other chemical bonding techniques can be utilized in accordance with the present invention.
• Ion exchange will occur when lithium diffuses into a silicon-based glass containing other alkali additives. Lithium will diffuse into the surface, while the ion lithium is exchanging for will more towards the bulk surface.
• lithium from a lithium nitrate/sulfate mixture
• Pyrex® glass was ion exchanged for sodium in Pyrex® glass at about 500° C for about 16 hours. Because the surface crazed and therefore degraded past the minimal flatness and roughness required for sealing, the surfaces were re-polished while only removing a shallow depth of material while still ensuring that lithium existed in the re- polished surface. Results for sealing of these samples at a temperature of about 200° C without a subsequent anneal or heat treatment at a higher temperature showed an increase in seal strength as determined by tensile testing and seal failure by fracture rather than delamination.
• Lithium ion implantation relates to the diffusion or implantation of lithium into a pure material, for example, a high purity fused silica glass. Because there is no ion to exchange with, the depth and speed in which lithium may diffuse into the surface are limited. By using this process, high purity fused silica can be bonded or sealed to a lower silicate-based glass. Because lithium will more readily diffuse into the latter, lithium is first implanted into the high purity fused silica, and then allowed to diffuse across the interface during sealing or bonding, thus assisting in the formation of covalent bonds between surfaces. It is hypothesized that the mechanism for improved sealing or bonding performance at lower temperatures is due to the removal of water product from condensation away from the interface and into the bulk glass, together with lithium migration between the surfaces.
• ion exchange included the use of a lithium-based molten salt.
• an alternative way of including lithium on or in a surface in preparation for ion exchange or implantation is to deposit a solid layer of lithium metal.
• Methods including, but not limited to evaporation, such as thermal or e-beam evaporation and sputtering can be used to deposit lithium metal.
• the lithium metal will oxidize as soon as it is removed from the vacuum deposition chamber, but this does not adversely affect lithium diffusion, and thus bonding is not adversely affected.
• Other potential methods for coating surfaces with lithium are include adsorption of lithium ions from a liquid mixture onto one or both surfaces after cleaning and just before assembly of interfaces for sealing or bonding.
• one or both surfaces could be coated with a lithium-based silicate sol-gel layer.
• This layer would be very thin, and after condensation, this layer would be a physical extension of the surface.
• a thin layer allows migration of deposited lithium into one or both surfaces, thus eliminating physical and optical barriers that might exist if a distinct metal layer was present after sealing. The thickness of this layer will depend on many factors including the composition of the glasses being sealed, sealing temperature, and thermal treatments implemented between film deposition and sealing.
• the present invention allows the bond or seal to be formed without using high temperatures, more specifically at temperatures below 100° C.
• Another particular application in which the present invention can be utilized is in bonding or sealing of surfaces with significantly different refractive indexes (DRI), where the sealed interface is part of the optical path.
• DRI refractive indexes
• an anti-reflection (AR) coating between the surfaces is required, with most AR coatings being at least three layers of different RI materials.
• AR coatings have significantly different CTE values, and therefore, the use of high temperature annealing treatments to form a bond or seal can cause stress between the bonded surfaces and loss of bond strength.
• Bonding or sealing can be accomplished between two deposited or grown silica outer AR coating layers (one on each surface to be bonded) or between and AR coated surface and the base-glass composition of the second material.
• the outermost surface of the article to be bonded By adding lithium to the outermost surface of the article to be bonded, high temperature annealing is not required, resulting in a bond or seal that does not include a stressed bond interface.
• the AR coating By designing the AR coating for the differences in refractive index between the materials being bonded, only one surface needs to be coated, and sealing with lithium can be successful if the outer AR coating layer is silica.
• lithium can be deposited first on the silica coating such that diffusion readily progresses across the interface by ion exchange with alkali in the opposite seal side.
• the surfaces were bonded at a temperature of about 200° C. Prior to sealing of the surfaces, they were polished to less than about 0.5 microns flatness, and the samples were cleaned in accordance with the procedures in the copending patent application entitled "Direct Bonding of Articles Containing Silicon,” commonly assigned to the assignee of the present application and naming Robert Sabia as inventor. More particularly, a detergent such as Microclean CA05 was used to clean the samples, and after a water rinse, the sample was soaked in 10 volume % nitric acid for one hour. The acid-soaked samples were rinsed again with water, and then the samples were soaked in a 15 volume % ammonium hydroxide solution for 60 minutes. The samples were rinsed again, and the bonding surfaces were maintained in a wet condition and bonded under a pressure greater than about one pound per square inch and at a temperature noted above. The results are shown in Table I below.
• Table I The table lists fracture behavior of chemically bonded surfaces tested in tension, with all seals generated at 200 ⁇ 5°C with no subsequent annealing cycle. Strength values given for bonds that failed by glass fracture do not represent the bond strength upper limit, but instead indicate that failure occurred away from the seal interface at the indicated load due to a structural flaw in the bulk material.
• Lithium oxide was placed in the surface of the Li Implanted Pyrex sample by soaking the Pyrex samples in a solution of lithium sulfate and lithium nitrate (the ratio of lithium sulfate to lithium nitrate was 1 :5) at 500° C for 16 hours.
• Fotoform® like Pyrex® is a low silica glass, i.e., a glass that contains less than approximately 80% silica. Fotoform® contains approximately 9.7% lithium oxide, and Pyrex® does not contain any lithium oxide.
• Fotoform Opal® is a Fotoform® glass that has been cerammed to a glass-ceramic.
• lithium in small amounts will not interfere with optical properties of glasses. Therefore, using lithium to generate a seal or bond that is part of an optical path is not detrimental to optical performance.
• Still another advantage of some embodiments of the present invention is that lithium can be ion exchanged or implanted into virtually any silica-based glass composition. Additionally, lithium can be used to promote and/or improve bonding between materials with significantly different coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) values by promoting sealing at lower-than-normal temperatures (below about 100° C in less than 24 hours). Lithium can be used to promote low temperature bonding between anti -reflectance coatings on materials with significantly different RI.
• CTE coefficient of thermal expansion

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
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• Ceramic Engineering (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
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• Geochemistry & Mineralogy (AREA)
• General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Structural Engineering (AREA)
• Joining Of Glass To Other Materials (AREA)
• Mounting And Adjusting Of Optical Elements (AREA)
• Surface Treatment Of Glass (AREA)
• Glass Compositions (AREA)

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• 2002
  • 2002-04-08 US US10/118,780 patent/US20030188553A1/en not_active Abandoned
• 2003
  • 2003-03-24 AU AU2003222071A patent/AU2003222071A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2003-03-24 CA CA002481571A patent/CA2481571A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2003-03-24 WO PCT/US2003/009149 patent/WO2003087006A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2003-03-24 CN CNB038106906A patent/CN100344567C/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
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