Apparatus and method for wafer bonding

A plasma module, comprising:

• a first chamber for accommodating a semiconductor wafer;
• and
• a heater, located in the first chamber, the heater configured to selectively control a temperature, at which an operation is performed upon the semiconductor wafer, to fall within a predetermined temperature range,
• wherein each value in the predetermined temperature range is greater than a value of a room temperature, and a surface of the semiconductor wafer is activated at the room temperature;
• when a first type of plasma comprising NH3 plasma is applied to the first chamber to perform the operation to convert metal oxides on the surface of the semiconductor wafer to metal, the heater located in the first chamber is configured to control the temperature to rise above a room temperature and fall within the predetermined temperature range.

A method for wafer bonding, comprising:

• applying a first type of plasma to perform a reduction operation upon conductive pads on a surface of a semiconductor wafer to convert metal oxides on the conductive pads to metal;
• utilizing a heater located within a chamber accommodating the semiconductor wafer to control a temperature, at which the metal oxides on the conductive pads are converted to the metal to fall within a predetermined temperature range, wherein each value in the predetermined temperature range is greater than a value of a room temperature;
• applying a second type of plasma to comprising Cl2 plasma to clean a sidewall of the chamber;
• utilizing the heater to control a temperature, at which the second type of plasma is applied for cleaning the sidewall, to fall within the predetermined temperature range and reach the temperature at which the metal oxides are converted to the metal;
• and
• applying a third type of plasma to activate dielectric material on the surface of the semiconductor wafer at the room temperature.