Abstract: A method for forming through-wafer interconnects (TWI) in a substrate. Blind holes are formed from a surface, sidewalls thereof passivated and coated with a conductive material. A vent hole is then formed from the opposite surface to intersect the blind hole. The blind hole is solder filled, followed by back thinning of the vent hole portion of the wafer to a final substrate thickness to expose the solder and conductive material at both the active surface and the thinned back side. A metal layer having a glass transition temperature greater than that of the solder may be plated to form a dam structure covering one or both ends of the TWI. Intermediate structures of semiconductor devices, semiconductor devices and systems are also disclosed.

Abstract: A method for forming through-wafer interconnects (TWI) in a substrate of a thickness in excess of that of a semiconductor die such as a semiconductor wafer. Blind holes are formed from the active surface, sidewalls thereof passivated and coated with a solder-wetting material. A vent hole is then formed from the opposite surface (e.g., wafer back side) to intersect the blind hole. The blind hole is solder filled, followed by back thinning of the vent hole portion of the wafer to a final substrate thickness to expose the solder and solder-wetting material at both the active surface and the thinned back side. A metal layer such as nickel, having a glass transition temperature greater than that of the solder, may be plated to form a dam structure covering one or both ends of the TWI including the solder and solder-wetting material to prevent leakage of molten solder from the TWI during high temperature excursions.

Abstract: According to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, an apparatus and method for a digital filing system is disclosed. In this context, digital filing refers to the efficient management of paper-based information from its receipt at the desktop through an indexing, scanning, image storage, and image retrieval process. The preferred embodiments of the present invention provide for easy and effective indexing, imaging, storing, retrieving and managing of paper-based documents, transforming them into electronic documents using a system which incorporates many existing office resources. The proposed system and method implements a desktop solution for digital filing, which can be made available to each worker. Uniquely, the digital filing system of the present invention also allows users to index and label documents prior to scanning/imaging by using either a dedicated desktop labeling mechanism or pre-printed labels.