Welcome to AML.
APPLIED MICROENGINEERING LTD.
With long experience and expertise in wafer bonding, AML supply integrated aligner-bonder equipment to a global market.
Applied Microengineering Ltd (AML) design and manufacture wafer-bonding systems with integrated wafer-to-wafer alignment capabilities. The AWB and ROCK systems offer exceptional flexibility, enabling a wide range of bonding techniques to be carried out with in-situ optical alignment. The systems can be readily configured to meet customer requirements.
All AWB & ROCK aligner-bonder systems are constructed at our Harwell Campus facilities, with factory testing, including wafer bonding, carried out within a cleanroom environment.
AML have built an enviable reputation for proven machine reliability and customer support, and remain committed to maintaining a position at the forefront of wafer bonding technology.
AML are based in Oxfordshire, in the UK, with convenient rail/road links to London and Heathrow airport.
In Memory Of
Tony Rogers
1953-2025
It is with great sadness that we have to say our final goodbyes to Tony Rogers who passed away in December 2025.
Tony was a co-founder of AML, the creator and guiding force behind the Aligner Wafer Bonder and its related technologies. He was a brilliant and open-minded scientist and a worldwide recognised expert in the wafer bonding field and beyond.
After retiring in 2021 from his role as Technical Director, Tony devoted himself to his other passions and embraced writing and performing his poetry and music.
His curiosity, depth of knowledge, and innovative spirit shaped not only our company, but the industry itself.
To us, Tony was far more than a colleague or founder - he was a mentor, an inspiration, and a friend. His inquisitive mind was matched by rare compassion, humility, selflessness, and genuine kindness. He taught us that nothing is impossible and that, at least in science, there is always a solution waiting to be found.
Through years of shared projects, countless discussions, and an open exchange of ideas, Tony helped shape not only our professional paths but our personal growth. His trust, guidance, encouragement, and belief in us will always be remembered with gratitude.
Tony will be deeply missed - not only for what he knew, but for who he was.
His legacy lives on in the technologies he created and in all of us who will continue to build upon the exceptional foundation he established.
We extend our deepest condolences to Tony’s family and friends.
AWB
The AWB system provides the flexibility to enable all types of bonding process to be carried out
ROCK
The ROCK system features an integrated cryopump for vacuum levels in the 10-8 mbar range
Configurator
Customise your bonder by choosing the options that suit your application, and request a quote
Features.
IN-SITU ALIGNMENT
Optical wafer-to-wafer alignment system as standard, with +/- 1μm accuracy. This integrated functionality avoids the need for two separate machines
RADICAL ACTIVATION
Radical-activation (RAD) of the bonding surfaces immediately prior to alignment and bonding without exposure to air between process steps
WAFER SEPARATION
Wafers held in separation, up to 30mm apart. This allows for independent heating, rapid evacuation of wafer cavities, and in-situ chemistry
Bond types.
AML aligner-bonder systems enable a wide range of bonding techniques to be carried out, either under manual control or automatic control via programmable recipes, including automatic alignment.
Anodic Bonding
Anodic bonding is a method of hermetically and permanently joining glass to silicon without using adhesives.
Direct Bonding
Two flat, highly polished clean surfaces will stick together if they are brought into contact. Bond suitable for high/low temp.
Metal Layer Bonding
Various methods of bonding using metal interlayers: Thermocompression, Eutectic, and Solid Liquid Interdiffusion (SLID).
Adhesive Bonding
Various adhesives (epoxies, silicones, photoresists, polyimides, BCB, etc.) can be used to form wafer bonds.
Glass Frit
Low melting point glasses have been used in industry for many decades to form hermetic seals.
Hybrid Bonding
A combination of direct bonding of dielectric SiO2–SiO2 and thermo compression bonding of Cu-Cu metal.
Overview
