A method to passively align bonded components without direct mechanical contact has been developed. This method uses the pressure field generated by the squeeze flow between the parts during the bonding process to increase the parallelism of planar components. A computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model has been developed to study the squeeze flow phenomenon and to determine generated efforts. Based on these calculations, an assembly stage standing on a flexure pinned linkage has been developed. This assembly stage had two purposes. The first was to show the possibility of passive mechanical alignment using a squeeze flow. The second was to measure efforts to confirm the CFD model. These measurements have led to a refined CFD model taking into account the non-Newtonian behavior of the fluid at high shear rates. This technique was initially developed for the assembly of a fiber-optic-to-silicon-chip-interface. Other potential applications could be wafer bonding, bonding of multiple wafer stacks, or 3D integrated circuits.
