A new silicon-silicon bond characterization technique has been demonstrated. Defect decoration etches can be used to detect weaknesses at the bond interface, and the Wright etch was found to be a particularly suitable etch. Defects at the bond interface are decorated in the cleaved cross section of bonded wafers, and the appearance of the etch figures is a qualitative indicator of the bond completeness. The clearest results are seen when the anneal takes place at or above about 1000-degrees-C. This technique also decorates the surface of a bonded and thinned wafer and can highlight the presence of small voids, undetectable by IR transmission, that are present at the bond interface. The technique is mainly qualitative in nature but can also give semiquantitative information. In particular, we have estimated an activation energy of about 6.1 eV for the mass transport portion during the bonding process for Si-Si bonds.