Comparison of different bonding techniques for efficient strain transfer using piezoelectric actuators

In this paper strain transfer efficiencies from single crystalline piezoelectric lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate (PMN-PT) substrate to a GaAs semiconductor membrane bonded on top are investigated using state-of-the-art x-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques and finite-element-method (FEM) simulations. Two different bonding techniques are studied, namely gold-thermo-compression and polymer-based SU8 bonding. Our results show a much higher strain-transfer for the "soft" SU8 bonding in comparison to the "hard" bonding via gold-thermo-compression. A comparison between the XRD results and FEM simulations allows to explain this unexpected result with the presence of complex interface structures between the different layers.