Pad bonding employing a self-aligned plated liner for adhesion enhancement

A bonded structure comprising:

• a first substrate including at least one first metal pad embedded in a first dielectric material layer;
• a second substrate including at least one second metal pad, wherein said at least one second metal pad is not in contact with said at least one first meal pad and said at least one second metal pad is embedded in a second dielectric material layer in contact with said first dielectric material layer;
• and
• at least one means for bonding said first substrate and said second substrate, wherein each of said at least one means for bonding said first substrate and said second substrate is embodied as a contiguous metal liner layer contacting a first surface of one of said at least one first metal pad and a second surface of one of said at least one second metal pad and, and said contiguous metal liner layer has a periphery that vertically coincides with a periphery of said one of said at least one first metal pad.