Patent Application
20080157235
Since the first demonstration of a printed, all polymer transistor in 1994, a great deal of interest has been directed at a potential new class of electronic systems comprising flexible integrated electronic devices on plastic substrates. [Garnier, F., Hajlaoui, R., Yassar, A. and Srivastava, P., Science, Vol. 265, pgs 1684-1686] Recently, substantial research has been directed toward developing new solution processable materials for conductors, dielectrics and semiconductors elements for flexible plastic electronic devices. Progress in the field of flexible electronics, however, is not only driven by the development of new solution processable materials but also by new device component geometries, efficient device and device component processing methods and high resolution patterning techniques applicable to flexible electronic systems. It is expected that such materials, device configurations and fabrication methods will play an essential role in the rapidly emerging new class of flexible integrated electronic devices, systems and circuits.
Interest in the field of flexible electronics arises out of several important advantages provided by this technology. For example, the inherent flexibility of these substrate materials allows them to be integrated into many shapes providing for a large number of useful device configurations not possible with brittle conventional silicon based electronic devices. In addition, the combination of solution processable component materials and flexible substrates enables fabrication by continuous, high speed, printing techniques capable of generating electronic devices over large substrate areas at low cost.
The design and fabrication of flexible electronic devices exhibiting good electronic performance, however, present a number of significant challenges. First, the well developed methods of making conventional silicon based electronic devices are incompatible with most flexible materials. For example, traditional high quality inorganic semiconductor components, such as single crystalline silicon or germanium semiconductors, are typically processed by growing thin films at temperatures (>1000 degrees Celsius) that significantly exceed the melting or decomposition temperatures of most plastic substrates. In addition, most inorganic semiconductors are not intrinsically soluble in convenient solvents that would allow for solution based processing and delivery. Second, although many amorphous silicon, organic or hybrid organic-inorganic semiconductors are compatible with incorporation into flexible substrates and can be processed at relatively low temperatures, these materials do not have electronic properties capable of providing integrated electronic devices capable of good electronic performance. For example, thin film transistors having semiconductor elements made of these materials exhibit field effect mobilities approximately three orders of magnitude less than complementary single crystalline silicon based devices. As a result of these limitations, flexible electronic devices are presently limited to specific applications not requiring high performance, such as use in switching elements for active matrix flat panel displays with non-emissive pixels and in light emitting diodes.
Flexible electronic circuitry is an active area of research in a number of fields including flexible displays, electro-active surfaces of arbitrary shapes such as electronic textiles and electronic skin. These circuits often are unable to sufficiently conform to their surroundings because of an inability of the conducting components to stretch in response to conformation changes. Accordingly, those flexible circuits are prone to damage, electronic degradation and can be unreliable under rigorous and/or repeated conformation change. Flexible circuits require stretchable and bendable interconnects that remain intact while cycling through stretching and relaxation.
Conductors that are capable of both bending and elasticity are generally made by embedding metal particles in an elastomer such as silicone. Those conductive rubbers are both mechanically elastic and electrically conductive. The drawbacks of a conductive rubber include high electrical resistivity and significant resistance changes under stretching, thereby resulting in overall poor interconnect performance and reliability.
Gray et al. discuss constructing elastomeric electronics using microfabricated tortuous wires encased in a silicone elastomer capable of linear strains up to 54% while maintaining conductivity. In that study, the wires are formed as a helical spring-shape. In contrast to straight-line wires that fractured at low strains (e.g., 2.4%), tortuous wires remained conductive at significantly higher strains (e.g., 27.2%). Such a wire geometry relies on the ability of wires to elongate by bending rather than stretching. That system suffers limitations in the ability to controllably and precisely pattern in different shapes and in additional planes, thereby limiting the ability to tailor systems to different strain and bending regimes.
Studies suggest that elastically stretchable metal interconnects experience an increase in resistance with mechanical strain. (Mandlik et al. 2006). Mandlik et al. attempt to minimize this resistance change by depositing metal film on pyramidal nanopatterned surfaces. That study, however, relies on the relief feature to generate microcracks that impart stretchability to thin metal lines. The microcracks facilitate metal elastic deformation by out of plane twisting and deformation. Those metal cracks, however, are not compatible with thick metal films, and instead is compatible with a rather narrow range of thin metal films (e.g., on the order of less than 30 nm) that are deposited on top of patterned elastomer.
One manner of imparting stretchability to metal interconnects is by prestraining (e.g., 15%-25%) the substrate during conductor (e.g., metal) application, followed by spontaneous relief of the prestain, thereby inducing a waviness to the metal conductor interconnects. (see, e.g., Lacour et al. (2003); (2005); (2004), Jones et al. (2004); Huck et al. (2000); Bowden et al. (1998)). Lacour et al. (2003) report by initially compressing gold stripes to generate spontaneously wrinkled gold stripes, electrical continuity is maintained under strains of up to 22% (compared to fracture strains of gold films on elastic substrates of a few percent). That study, however, used comparatively thin layers of metal films (e.g., about 105 nm) and is relatively limited in that the system could potentially make electrical conductors that could be stretched by about 10%.
From the forgoing, it is apparent there is a need for interconnects and device components having improved stretchability, electrical properties and related processes for rapid and reliable manufacture of stretchable interconnects in a variety of different configurations. Progress in the field of flexible electronics is expected to play a critical role in a number of important emerging and established technologies. The success of these applications of flexible electronics technology depends strongly, however, on the continued development of new materials, device configurations and commercially feasible fabrication pathways for making integrated electronic circuits and devices exhibiting good electronic, mechanical and optical properties in flexed, deformed and bent conformations. Particularly, high performance, mechanically extensible materials and device configurations are needed exhibiting useful electronic and mechanical properties in stretched or contracted conformations.
The present invention provides stretchable devices and device components such as semiconductors and stretchable electronic devices, and circuits. Stretchable, bendable and conformable electronic devices and device components are required for making electronics suitable for printing on a variety of curved surfaces. Shape-conforming devices have a variety of applications ranging from flexible displays and electronic fabrics to conformable biological and physical sensors. Accordingly, an embodiment of the invention are flexible and bendable electronic devices, device components, and related methods for making flexible and bendable devices. Such flexibility and bendability is accomplished by providing an interconnect or semiconductor membrane having a wavy or buckled geometry. Such geometry provides a means for ensuring the system is stretchable and bendable without adversely impacting performance, even under vigorous and repeated stretching and/or bending cycles. Furthermore, the methods provide a capability of precise and accurate geometric construction, so that physical characteristics (e.g., stretchability, bendability) of the device and/or device component may be tailored to the operating conditions of the system. Another aspect of the invention are stretchable components having a physical property that is at least partially coupled to strain, so that the parameter is capable is capable of being tuned by application of varying amount of strain to the component.
An array of device components may be connected to one another by buckled components or interconnects, to facilitate independent movement of device components relative to one another. Local regions within the array, however, may have a different bending or stretching requirement than other regions. The devices and methods presented herein facilitate construction of a flexible system that can have localized variation in buckled component or interconnect geometry including component or interconnect dimension, periodicity, amplitude, orientation, and total number of components or interconnects in an area, for example. Generating multiple components or interconnects having controllable orientation facilitates tailoring components or interconnects to the device's operating conditions.
In an embodiment, the invention is a stretchable component of a device, where the component comprises a first end, a second end, and a central region disposed between the first and second ends. The component is supported by a substrate, with the first end and second ends of the component bonded to the substrate, and at least a portion of the central region of the component having a bent configuration. In an aspect, the central region of the component is not in physical contact with the substrate. In another aspect, the central region of the component is under strain. In an aspect, the strain in the central region is less than 10%, between 0.1% and 5%, 0.1% and 2%, or any sub-ranges thereof.
In an embodiment, the stretchable component central portion is curved or arc-shaped. In an aspect, the curve has an amplitude, such as an amplitude that is between about 100 nm and 1 mm. In an aspect, the number of distinct component or interconnect bond regions may number more than two, such as three, four, or five, for example. In this aspect, the central portion that is between the first and second component ends is actually subdivided into a number of bent configuration regions, so that a plurality of distinct curved portion regions not in physical contact with the substrate are formed. In such a configuration, the amplitude and/or periodicity may be constant or may vary over the entire longitudinal length of the component or interconnect. The component itself may be of any shape, such as a membrane, wire, or a ribbon. In an aspect where the component is a ribbon, the ribbon may have a thickness that is between about 300 nm and 1 mm.
To facilitate placement of additional device components, the device component to which a component end is electrically connected may be a contact pad. In an aspect, an additional device component is in electrical contact with the contact pad.
The stretchable component optionally comprises one or more materials that is a metal, a semiconductor, an insulator, a piezoelectric, a ferroelectric, a magnetostrictive material, an electrostrictive material, a superconductor, a ferromagnetic material, or a thermoelectric material.
In another aspect, the stretchable component comprises a component of a device selected from the group consisting of an electronic device, an optical device, an opto-electronic device, mechanical device and a thermal device.
As noted, the substrate that supports the component may be of any desired material depending on the device in which the component is incorporated. In an embodiment, the substrate comprises an elastomeric material, such as PDMS. The substrate may be reversibly deformable (e.g., PDMS) or non-reversibly deformable (e.g., a plastic). In an embodiment, the substrate itself is a layer or coating.
In an embodiment, the devices may be further described based on their physical characteristics. For example, provided herein are components and/or interconnects capable of undergoing a strain of up to 25% while maintaining electrical conductivity and electrical contact with the device component. “Maintaining” in this case refers to less than a 20%, 10% or 5% drop in electrical conductivity during strain accommodation.
In another embodiment, the invention provides a stretchable component or interconnect for establishing electrical contact with device components. The component or interconnect has a first end, a second end and a central portion disposed between the first and second ends. The ends are bonded to a substrate, such as a flexible (e.g., stretchable) substrate, an elastomeric substrate, a rigid substrate, a substrate that is not elastomeric, or a substrate to which it is desired to print electronic devices, device components, or arrays thereof. Each end of the component or interconnect may be attached to a different device component that is itself supported by the substrate. The central portion of the component or interconnect is in a bent configuration and not in physical contact (e.g., not bonded) with the substrate. In an aspect, this bent configuration is a result of the central portion being under strain. In this aspect, the bent configuration is generally curved so that if a force is applied to one or more device components (or underlying substrate) in a manner that separates the device components, the component or interconnect curved portion may at least partially straighten to accommodate relative motion between the device components, while maintaining electrical contact between the device components. The components or interconnects optionally electrically connect adjacent islands or contact pads in any one of a number of geometries such as bridge, floral and/or by multiple components or interconnects. In an aspect, a device component is in electrical contact with the contact pad.
Any of the stretchable components disclosed herein optionally further comprise a tunable device component of an electronic device. The tunable component has at least one electronic property that changes selectively with the strain of the central region provided by said bent configuration. For example, the electronic property is optionally one or more of electron mobility, resonance frequency, conductance, and resistance. In an aspect, the tunable device component comprises the semiconductor channel of a transistor.
In an embodiment, the component has a strain coefficient optical coupling, where the tunable component has at least one optical property that changes selectively with the level of strain of the central region provided by the bent configuration. Example of strain coefficient optical coupling includes, but is not limited to, the refractive index of the tunable device component or the angle of incidence of a incident beam of electromagnetic radiation relative to a surface of the central region of the stretchable component. In another embodiment, the tunable device component comprises a waveguide, an optical modulator, an optical switch, or an optical filter.
In another embodiment, the stretchable component is a tunable device component of a device having thermal conductivity that changes selectively with the level of strain in the central region provided by the bent configuration.
In another embodiment, the stretchable component is a thermal isolation component of a device, wherein the central region is not in physical contact with said substrate. In an aspect of this embodiment, the central region is not in thermal contact with the substrate, and the central region supports one or more device components, thereby providing thermal isolation of the one or more device components supported by the central region from the substrate. A useful application for this aspect is for a device that is a long wavelength imaging system.
In another embodiment, the stretchable component is an actuator of a mechanical device, wherein the central region is curved and has an amplitude that is capable of modulation by compressing or elongating said stretchable component or by applying an electric potential to said central region. A useful application in this embodiment is a mechanical device that is selected from the group consisting of a microelectromechanical device, a nanoelectromechanical device, and a microfluidic device.
In an embodiment, multi-axial stretching and bending is provided by incorporating any of the stretchable components disclosed herein into a device array having a plurality of components and more than two device components. In this embodiment, each component provides electrical contact between a pair of device components. Depending on the desired stretching, bending and/or compression operating conditions, the device array may have a geometric configuration that is in a grid, floral, bridge or any combination thereof (e.g., one region that is in a grid, another region that is bridge). In addition, further stretching and bendability control is provided by the ability to connect adjacent device components to more than one components (e.g., multiple interconnects), such as two, three, or four components. For example, a device component that is square or rectangular, may be adjacent to four other device components. If each adjacent pair is connected by two interconnects, the device component will have eight interconnects extending therefrom.
In an embodiment, a device array has sets of components that are oriented in at least two different directions. For example, in a grid configuration the components may have two orientations that are perpendicular or orthogonal to one another to provide capacity for stretching in two directions. In another embodiment, the device array may comprise components that are all aligned with respect to each other. That embodiment may be useful where stretching or bending is confined to a single direction (e.g., bending an electronic device fabric to a cylindrical surface). Additional bending and/or stretching capacity is provided by orienting the components in three or more directions, three directions or four directions, for example. In an embodiment, additional control and stability is provided by having the components of the device array placed in any number of different layers, such as two layers adjacent to one another.
In an embodiment, a device array is capable of undergoing a strain of up to about 150% without fracturing. Strain to fracture is maximized by tailoring the interconnect geometry, orientation, amplitude, periodicity, number to the operating conditions (e.g., uniaxial versus multiaxial stretching and/or bending).
The substrate to which the interconnect or device array is supported may have at least a portion that is curved, such as in a concave, convex, hemispherical shape, or combination thereof. In an embodiment, the device in which the components is incorporated is one or more of a stretchable: photodetector, display, light emitter, photovoltaic, sheet scanner, LED display, semiconductor laser, optical system, large-area electronics, transistor, or an integrated circuit.
In another aspect, the present invention relates to various methods for tuning a property of a stretchable component of a device. For example, a tuning method may comprise providing a device having a stretchable component, as disclosed herein, such as a component having a first end; a second end; and a central region disposed between the first and second ends, and that is supported by a substrate. In particular, the first end and second end of the component are bonded to the substrate, and at least a portion of the central region of the component has a bent configuration and is under a level of strain. The level of strain is modulated in the stretchable component by compressing, elongating and/or bending the stretchable component, thereby tuning the property of the stretchable component of the device.
In an aspect, the property is one or more of an optical property, an electrical property, and a mechanical property, such as an optically, mechanically, or electrically-coupled strain parameter, where the magnitude of the respective property is at least partially strain-dependent. In another aspect, the property is selected from the group consisting of resonance frequency, electron mobility, resistance, conductance, refractive index, thermal conductivity, and the angle of incidence of an incident beam of electromagnetic radiation relative to a surface of the central region of said stretchable component.
In an embodiment, provided is a method of making a stretchable component of a device. In this embodiment, an elastomeric substrate having a receiving surface is provided having a first level of strain, where the strain is optionally zero, compressive, or elongating. One or more device components are bonded to the receiving surface having the first level of strain. A force is applied to the elastomeric substrate so as generate a change in the level of strain from the first to a second different level of strain. The magnitude of this change, or how the change is accomplished does not particularly matter so long as the change in the level of strain in the substrate from the first level to the second level causes the component to bend, thereby generating the one or more stretchable components each having a first end and second end that are bonded to the substrate and a central region provided in a bent configuration.
Bonding of the device components to the substrate is by any suitable means. In an embodiment, the bonding step comprises generating a pattern of bonded and non-bonded regions of the stretchable component, wherein the bonded regions of the stretchable component are bonded to the elastomeric substrate and wherein the non-bonded regions of said stretchable component are not bonded to the elastomeric substrate.
In another aspect, non-bonded regions correspond to central regions of the stretchable components, wherein the step of applying the force to the elastomeric substrate causes the central regions to bend such that at least a portion of the central region of each stretchable component is not in physical contact with the substrate. In an aspect, the step of applying the force to the elastomeric substrate causes central regions to bend such that at least a portion of the central region of each stretchable component is not in physical contact with the substrate.
In an embodiment, any of the methods for making a stretchable component further comprises generating a pattern of bonding sites on the stretchable component, the receiving surface of the elastomeric substrate or on both the stretchable component and the receiving surface of the elastomeric substrate.
In another embodiment, any of the methods or devices have an elastomeric substrate with a plurality of compliant regions and a plurality of rigid regions. Such a substrate provides flexural rigidity of the compliant regions that is less than that of the rigid regions, and optionally have the first and second ends of each of the stretchable components bonded to at least one of the rigid regions and a central region of each of the stretchable components bonded to at least one of the compliant regions. Use of this substrate type provides the capacity of achieving controllable buckling of the component based on the pattern of compliancy of the underlying substrate.
In an embodiment, the force applied to the elastomeric substrate is achieved mechanically. In an aspect of this embodiment, the first level of strain, the second level of strain or both are generated by elongating or compressing the elastomeric substrate, curing the elastomeric substrate, or by thermal means, such as by raising or lowering the temperature of said elastomeric substrate, or by thermal expansion or thermally induced contraction of the elastomeric substrate.
In another embodiment, the step of bonding the one or more device components to said receiving surface of said elastomeric substrate is carried out before the step of applying a force to the elastomeric substrate that generates a change in the level of strain of the substrate from the first level to a second level of strain different than said first level. Alternatively, the step of bonding is carried out after the step of applying a force to the elastomeric substrate that generates a change in the level of strain of the substrate from the first level to a second level of strain different than the first level.
In an embodiment, any of the first level of strain or second level of strain is equal to 0. In an aspect, any of the device components comprises an interconnect or an electrode.
In another embodiment, the invention relates to various methods for making a buckled component or interconnect capable of establishing electrical contact with device components. In an aspect, a pattern of bond sites is applied to an elastomeric substrate surface, the components or interconnects, or to both. A force is exerted to strain the substrate and the components or interconnects contacted with the substrate. The pattern of bond sites provides bonding between specific components or interconnect locations and the substrate. Upon relaxation of the substrate (by removal of the force), buckled components or interconnects are generated. Varying one or more of the magnitude of prestrain, bond site patterning, geometry and spacing generates components or interconnects with different buckled or wavy geometry. For example, staggering the location of bond sites so that adjacent components or interconnects are bonded to the substrate at different locations, provides an “out-of-phase” interconnect geometry. Bond site patterning is by any means known in the art, such as by application of a curable photopolymer to the elastomeric substrate surface. Components or interconnects are optionally protected by encapsulating at least a portion of the component or interconnect in an encapsulating material, such as an elastomeric material. The buckled components or interconnects may have any pattern suited for the application. In an embodiment, the pattern is a grid configuration, floral configuration, bridge configuration, or any combination thereof.
The methods and devices may have components of any dimensions, such as a thickness ranging from tens of nanometers to about a millimeter, or a thickness greater than about 300 nm. In an aspect, the buckled component has an amplitude corresponding to a maximum vertical displacement of the interconnect from the substrate, and the amplitude is selected from a range that is between 100 nm and 1 mm. For a component ribbon having a length and a width, the width, the amplitude, or the width and amplitude optionally varies along the length of the interconnect. One factor that affects amplitude, is the strain applied to the elastomeric substrate prior to component bonding or after the component bonding. In general, the higher the strain, the larger the amplitude. In an embodiment, the applied force generates a strain in the elastomeric substrate, wherein the strain selected from a range that is between 20% and 100%.
In an embodiment, the component is an interconnect electrically connected to a device component. Any of the systems and processes presented herein optionally provide for a substrate that is capable of stretching up to about 100%, compressing up to about 50%, or bending with a radius of curvature as low as 5 mm, without component fracture. The component is made from any suitable material, such as a metal, a semiconductor, including GaAs or Si, an insulator, a piezoelectric, a ferroelectric, a magnetostrictive material, an electrostrictive material, a superconductor, a ferromagnetic material, and a thermoelectric material. In an embodiment, the methods provide for transfer printing of the buckled components from an elastomeric substrate, such as a stamp, to a device substrate such as, for example, a curved device substrate.
Instead of generating pop-up or buckled components via force or strain application to an elastomeric substrate, a stretchable and bendable interconnect may be made by application of a component material to a receiving surface, such as a receiving surface having relief features, such as a wavy surface.
In an embodiment, to make a stretchable and bendable component a substrate with wavy features on a surface is smoothed, such as spin-coating a polymer to partially fill the recess features. The partial filling generates a smoothly-wavy substrate. Components, including but not limited to metal features, are then deposited and patterned as desired onto the smoothly-wavy substrate. The components on the receiving surface substrate are available for subsequent casting of a polymeric stamp against the substrate at least partially coated with the component. The component is transferred to the polymeric substrate by removing the polymeric stamp from the substrate to make a stretchable and bendable component. In an embodiment, the interface between the component and substrate is Au/Su-8 epoxy photoresist. The component may be a layered metal, for example, Au/Al. The substrate may be similarly layered, for example a glass layer supporting the Su-8 layer, with the actual interface between the metal and the substrate being Au/Su-8.
An alternative method of making a pop-up component, such as a pop-up interconnect, on a stamp surface relies on flattening a curved substrate surface, contacting components to the flattened surface, and allowing the substrate surface to relax back to its curved geometry. In an embodiment, the method further provides spatial patterning of bond sites prior to contact, as disclosed herein. In this embodiment, the method is particularly suited for transferring interconnects and device components to a second corresponding curved substrate surface. In an aspect, bonding means, such as adhesive or adhesive precursor generates bonding between the second curved substrate and interconnect system on the first curved substrate, sufficient to permit transfer of interconnect system to the second substrate, even after the elastomeric stamp is removed.
Any of the methods and devices of the present invention, in an aspect, has a stamp or elastomeric substrate that is PDMS having a linear and elastic response for strains that are up to about 40%. The interconnects of the present invention are optionally part of a stretchable electrode, stretchable passive matrix LED display, or a photodetector array. In an embodiment, the invention is a stretchable electronic device with any one or more interconnects made by the methods of the present invention, where the electronic device is a stretchable or bendable: electrode, passive matrix LED, solar cell, optical collector arrays, biosensor, chemical sensor, photodiode array, or semiconductor array. In an aspect, the device component that is electrically connected to the buckled interconnect is a thin film, sensor, circuit element, control element, microprocessor, transducers, or combinations thereof. In an aspect, interconnects are accessed by electrically connecting one end of the interconnect to a device component.
In an embodiment, the invention relates to methods and structures having a wavy nanomembrane, such as a wavy semiconductor nanomembrane. Such a wavy nanomembrane facilitates incorporation of flexibility in a device component itself (in contrast to flexibility of the interconnects that connect device components). In an aspect, the invention is a method of making a biaxially stretchable semiconductor membrane transferring a semiconductor nanomembrane material from a first substrate to a second deformed substrate, wherein after transfer the deformed substrate is permitted to relax back to its resting configuration. In an aspect, the thickness of the semiconductor material is between about 40 nm and 600 nm. Release of a two-dimensional deforming force generates a nanomembrane having a two-dimensional wavy structure. In an aspect, the deforming force is generated by changing the temperature of the flexible substrate.
In an embodiment, a method is provided for making a stretchable and bendable device comprising providing a substrate having a receiving surface with relief features; smoothing the relief features by spin-coating a polymer to at least partially conformally coat the receiving surface; casting a polymeric stamp against the spin-coated substrate; removing the polymeric stamp from the substrate to expose a polymeric stamp having relief features; and depositing a device component onto the polymeric stamp surface having relief features; thereby making a stretchable and bendable component for use in a stretchable and bendable device. In an aspect, the relief features are wavy.
In an embodiment, the component comprises a metal, and the metal is deposited by electrodeposition or by: providing a shadowmask; contacting the shadowmask with the wavy surface; and evaporating metal through the shadowmask to generate a corresponding pattern of metal on the wavy surface. The substrate having wavy features is optionally made by anisotropic etching of Si (1 0 0) or by embossing Su-8. The wavy surface optionally has a wavelength having a range selected from between 50 nm-1 mm; an amplitude having a range selected from between 100 nm-1 mm; and is capable of stretching up to 100% without fracture. Optionally the component is transferred to a device substrate. In an aspect, the device component comprises an interconnect, and the method further comprises providing an additional device component and establishing an electrical contact between one end of the interconnect and the additional device component.
In another aspect, the present invention provides methods of making a device via materials level heterogeneous integration and/or device level heterogeneous integration techniques. A method of the present invention for making a device comprises the steps of: (i) providing a substrate pre-patterned with one or more device components supported by a receiving surface of the substrate; and (ii) assembling a plurality of printable semiconductor elements on the substrate by contact printing the printable semiconductor elements onto the receiving surface of the substrate or one or more structures provided thereon, wherein at least a portion of the printable semiconductor elements are positioned such that they are spatially aligned, in electrical contact or both with one or more of the device components supported by the substrate. In an embodiment, the printable semiconductor elements each comprise a unitary inorganic semiconductor structure having a length selected from the range of about 100 nanometers to about 1000 microns, a width selected from the range of about 100 nanometers to about 1000 microns, and a thickness selected from the range of about 10 nanometers to about 1000 microns.
In another aspect, the present invention provides methods of making multilevel device structures via materials level heterogeneous integration and/or device level heterogeneous integration techniques. A method of the present invention for making a device comprises the steps of: (i) providing a substrate pre-patterned with one or more device components supported by a receiving surface of the substrate; (ii) assembling a first set of printable semiconductor elements on the substrate by contact printing the printable semiconductor elements onto the receiving surface of the substrate or one or more structures provided thereon, thereby generating a first device layer; (iii) providing an interlayer on the first set of printable semiconductor elements, the interlayer having a receiving surface; and (iv) assembling a second set of printable semiconductor elements on the interlayer by contact printing the printable semiconductor elements onto the receiving surface of the interlayer or one or more structures provided thereon, thereby generating a second device layer. In an embodiment, at least a portion of the printable semiconductor elements in the first device layer are spatially aligned, in electrical contact or both with at least a portion of the printable semiconductor elements in the second device layer. A specific method of this aspect of the present invention further comprises the step of establishing electrical contact between at least a portion of the printable semiconductor elements in the first device layer and at least a portion of the printable semiconductor elements in the second device layer.
Useful contact printing methods for assembling, organizing and/or integrating printable semiconductor elements in the present methods include dry transfer contact printing, microcontact or nanocontact printing, microtransfer or nanotransfer printing and self assembly assisted printing. Use of contact printing is beneficial in the present invention because it allows assembly and integration of a plurality of printable semiconductor in selected orientations and positions relative to each other. Contact printing in the present invention also enables effective transfer, assembly and integration of diverse classes of materials and structures, including semiconductors (e.g., inorganic semiconductors, single crystalline semiconductors, organic semiconductors, carbon nanomaterials etc.), dielectrics, and conductors. Contact printing methods of the present invention optionally provide high precision registered transfer and assembly of printable semiconductor elements in preselected positions and spatial orientations relative to one or more device components prepatterned on a device substrate. Contact printing is also compatible with a wide range of substrate types, including conventional rigid or semi-rigid substrates such as glasses, ceramics and metals, and substrates having physical and mechanical properties attractive for specific applications, such as flexible substrates, bendable substrates, shapeable substrates, conformable substrates and/or stretchable substrates. Contact printing assembly of printable semiconductor structures is compatible, for example, with low temperature processing (e.g., less than or equal to 298K). This attribute allows the present optical systems to be implemented using a range of substrate materials including those that decompose or degrade at high temperatures, such as polymer and plastic substrates. Contact printing transfer, assembly and integration of device elements is also beneficial because it can be implemented via low cost and high-throughput printing techniques and systems, such as roll-to-roll printing and flexographic printing methods and systems.
In specific embodiments of the present methods of making devices at least a portion of the printable semiconductor elements comprise heterogeneous semiconductor elements. A range of heterogeneous semiconductor elements are useful in the present invention. In an embodiment, or example, the heterogeneous semiconductor elements comprise an inorganic semiconductor structure in combination with one or more structures comprising a material selected from the group consisting of: an inorganic semiconductor having a different composition than the inorganic semiconductor structure, an inorganic semiconductor having a different doping than the inorganic semiconductor structure, a carbon nanomaterial or film thereof, an organic semiconductor, a dielectric material, and a conductor. In an embodiment, for example, the heterogeneous semiconductor elements comprise a combination of two different semiconductor materials selected from the group consisting of single crystal silicon, Si, Ge, SiC, AlP, AlAs, AlSb, GaN, GaP, GaAs, GaSb, InP, InAs, GaSb, InP, InAs, InSb, ZnO, ZnSe, ZnTe, CdS, CdSe, ZnSe, ZnTe, CdS, CdSe, CdTe, HgS, PbS, PbSe, PbTe, AlGaAs, AlInAs, AlInP, GaAsP, GaInAs, GaInP, AlGaAsSb, AlGaInP, SiGe and GaInAsP. In an embodiment, for example, the heterogeneous semiconductor elements comprise the inorganic semiconductor structure in combination with a dielectric material, a conductor or both a dielectric material and a conductor.
Useful heterogeneous semiconductor elements also include printable device components and printable devices. In an embodiment, for example, the printable semiconductor elements comprise on or more printable components of a device selected from the group consisting of an electronic device, an array of electronic device, an optical device, an electro-optical device, a microfluidic device, a microelectromechanical system, a nanoelectromechanical system, a sensor, an integrated circuit, a microprocessor, and a memory device.
In specific methods, at least of portion of the heterogeneous semiconductor elements comprise one or more printable semiconductor devices selected from the group consisting of a diode, a transistor, a photovoltaic cell, a light emitting diode, a laser, a P-N junction, a thin film transistor, a high electron mobility transistor, a photodiode, a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor, a metal-semiconductor field effect transistor, a photodetector, a logic gate device, and a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser. In an embodiment, for example, at least of portion of the printable semiconductor devices are assembled on the substrate via contact printing such that the printable semiconductor devices are provided in electrical contact with electrodes pre-patterned on the substrate.
Methods of the present invention may further comprise multiple, and optionally iterative, steps of assembling printable semiconductor elements on a substrate or structure(s) provided thereon, such as device component structures, interlayer structure and/or planarizing or encapsulating layers. In an embodiment, for example, a method of the present invention further comprises the step of assembling additional printable semiconductor elements on the substrate by contact printing the additional printable semiconductor elements onto the semiconductor elements provided on the receiving surface of the substrate or onto one or more intermediate structures provided between the semiconductor elements provided on the receiving surface of the substrate and the additional printable semiconductor elements, thereby generating a multilayer device structure.
A multilayer device structure fabricated by the present methods may comprise a plurality of device layers separated by one or more interlayers; wherein the device layers comprise printable semiconductor elements. In some embodiments, for example, the device layers have thicknesses less than or equal to 1 micron and wherein the interlayers have thicknesses less than or equal to 1.5 microns. In some embodiments, methods of this aspect further comprise the step of establishing electrical contact between printable semiconductors provided in different device layers.
A specific method of this aspect further comprises the steps of: (i) providing an interlayer on top of the printable semiconductor elements printed onto the receiving surface of the substrate or the one or more structures provided thereon; and (ii) assembling the additional printable semiconductor elements by contact printing the printable semiconductor elements onto a receiving surface of the interlayer. In an embodiment, for example, at least a portion of the additional printable semiconductor elements provided on the receiving surface of the interlayer are positioned such that they are spatially aligned, in electrical contact or both with the printable semiconductor elements provided on the receiving surface of the substrate. Methods of this aspect may optionally further comprise the steps of: (i) patterning one or more openings in the interlayer, thereby exposing regions of one or more of the printable semiconductor elements provided on the receiving surface of the substrate or the one or more structures provided thereon; and (ii) establishing electrical contact through the openings in the interlayer between printable semiconductor elements provided on the receiving surface of the substrate or the one or more structures provided thereon and the semiconductor elements provided on the receiving surface of the interlayer.
Methods of the present invention may include an number of optional processing steps. A method of the present invention further comprises the step of providing an adhesive layer on the receiving surface, wherein the printable semiconductor elements are printed onto the adhesive layer. A method of the present invention further comprises the step of providing an encapsulating layer or planarizing layer on the printable semiconductor elements printed onto the receiving surface of the substrate or the one or more structures provided thereon. A method of the present invention further comprises the step of patterning the receiving surface of the substrate or one or more printable semiconductor elements printed onto the receiving surface of the substrate or the one or more structures provided thereon with one or more thin films of conducting material via a deposition method. Methods of the present invention are applicable to a range of substrates including, but not limited to, flexible substrates; polymer substrates, plastic substrates, stretchable substrates; rigid substrates; semiconductor wafers and a contoured substrate.
The invention also includes devices and systems made using the present methods. Devices and systems of the present invention include, but are not limited to, electronic devices, optical devices, electro-optical devices, microfluidic devices, microelectromechanical systems, nanoelectromechanical systems, sensors, integrated circuits, microprocessors, and memory devices.
In another embodiment, the invention is a two-dimensional stretchable and bendable device. In this aspect, the device comprises a substrate having a contact surface, where a component is bonded to at least a portion of the substrate contact surface, wherein the component has at least one relief feature region and at least one substantially flat region; wherein the relief feature region has a portion that is separated from the substrate, and the substantially flat region is at least partially bonded to the substrate. In an aspect, the at least one relief feature region has a two-dimensional pattern of relief features on the substrate, such as a wavy pattern having a plurality of contact regions in contact with the substrate contact surface.
To facilitate bonding of the component to the substrate, any one or both of the component or substrate receiving surface may have activated regions, such as a pattern of activated regions. “Active regions” is used broadly to refer to means for bonding and/or means for providing buckling, such as by on or more of a pattern of adhesive sites on said substrate contact surface or said component; a selected pattern of substrate or component physical parameters, said parameter selected from one or more of: substrate or component thickness, modulus, temperature, composition, each having a spatial variation; chemical modification of the substrate surface; and regions adjacent to free edges of the component on the substrate contact surface. The common theme for each of these parameters is that they either facilitate bonding between the component and substrate or provide a mechanism for generating spatially-controlled buckling of the component. For example, positioning the substantially flat region or a portion of the relief feature region to an active substrate region, the component may be controllably buckled to provide for stretchable components.
Any of the devices and methods disclosed herein optionally have a component selected from the group consisting of one or more of: a metal, a semiconductor, an insulator, a piezoelectric, a ferroelectric, a magnetostrictive material, an electrostrictive material, a superconductor, a ferromagnetic material, and a thermoelectric material. Any of the devices and methods disclosed herein is optionally for a device selected from the group consisting of an electronic device, an optical device, an opto-electronic device, mechanical device, and a thermal device.
In an aspect, any of the two dimensional stretchable and bendable devices have a substantially flat region comprising an island for receiving a device component, such as an interconnect relief feature that electrically connects at least two islands.
In an embodiment, any of the substrate contact or receiving surface is: flat, substantially flat, has a relief feature, has a curved portion, has a wavy portion, or is elastomeric, such as a PDMS substrate or substrate layer.
“Stretchable” refers to the ability of a material, structure, device or device component to be strained without undergoing fracture. In an exemplary embodiment, a stretchable material, structure, device or device component may undergo strain larger than about 0.5% without fracturing, preferably for some applications strain larger than about 1% without fracturing and more preferably for some applications strain larger than about 3% without fracturing.
A “component” is used broadly to refer to a material or individual component used in a device. An “interconnect” is one example of a component and refers to an electrically conducting material capable of establishing an electrical connection with a component or between components. In particular, the interconnect may establish electrical contact between components that are separate and/or can move with respect to each other. Depending on the desired device specifications, operation, and application, the interconnect is made from a suitable material. For applications where a high conductivity is required, typical interconnect metals may be used, including but not limited to copper, silver, gold, aluminum and the like, alloys. Suitable conductive materials may include a semiconductor like silicon, indium tin oxide, or GaAs.
“Semiconductor” refers to any material that is an insulator at a very low temperature, but which has a appreciable electrical conductivity at a temperatures of about 300 Kelvin. In the present description, use of the term semiconductor is intended to be consistent with use of this term in the art of microelectronics and electronic devices. Semiconductors useful in the present invention may comprise element semiconductors, such as silicon, germanium and diamond, and compound semiconductors, such as group IV compound semiconductors such as SiC and SiGe, group III-V semiconductors such as AlSb, AlAs, AIn, AlP, BN, GaSb, GaAs, GaN, GaP, InSb, InAs, InN, and InP, group III-V ternary semiconductors alloys such as AlxGa1-xAs, group II-VI semiconductors such as CsSe, CdS, CdTe, ZnO, ZnSe, ZnS, and ZnTe, group I-VII semiconductors CuCl, group IV-VI semiconductors such as PbS, PbTe and SnS, layer semiconductors such as PbI2, MoS2 and GaSe, oxide semiconductors such as CuO and Cu2O. The term semiconductor includes intrinsic semiconductors and extrinsic semiconductors that are doped with one or more selected materials, including semiconductor having p-type doping materials and n-type doping materials, to provide beneficial electronic properties useful for a given application or device. The term semiconductor includes composite materials comprising a mixture of semiconductors and/or dopants. Specific semiconductor materials useful for in some applications of the present invention include, but are not limited to, Si, Ge, SiC, AlP, AlAs, AlSb, GaN, GaP, GaAs, GaSb, InP, InAs, GaSb, InP, InAs, InSb, ZnO, ZnSe, ZnTe, CdS, CdSe, ZnSe, ZnTe, CdS, CdSe, CdTe, HgS, PbS, PbSe, PbTe, AlGaAs, AlInAs, AlInP, GaAsP, GaInAs, GaInP, AlGaAsSb, AlGaInP, and GaInAsP. Porous silicon semiconductor materials are useful for applications of the present invention in the field of sensors and light emitting materials, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) and solid state lasers. Impurities of semiconductor materials are atoms, elements, ions and/or molecules other than the semiconductor material(s) themselves or any dopants provided to the semiconductor material. Impurities are undesirable materials present in semiconductor materials which may negatively impact the electronic properties of semiconductor materials, and include but are not limited to oxygen, carbon, and metals including heavy metals. Heavy metal impurities include, but are not limited to, the group of elements between copper and lead on the periodic table, calcium, sodium, and all ions, compounds and/or complexes thereof.
“Semiconductor element” and “semiconductor structure” are used synonymously in the present description and broadly refer to any semiconductor material, composition or structure, and expressly includes high quality single crystalline and polycrystalline semiconductors, semiconductor materials fabricated via high temperature processing, doped semiconductor materials, organic and inorganic semiconductors and composite semiconductor materials and structures having one or more additional semiconductor components and/or non-semiconductor components, such as dielectric layers or materials and/or conducting layers or materials
An interconnect that is “stretchable” is used herein to broadly refer to an interconnect capable of undergoing a variety of forces and strains such as stretching, bending and/or compression in one or more directions without adversely impacting electrical connection to, or electrical conduction from, a device component. Accordingly, a stretchable interconnect may be formed of a relatively brittle material, such as GaAs, yet remain capable of continued function even when exposed to a significant deformatory force (e.g., stretching, bending, compression) due to the interconnect's geometrical configuration. In an exemplary embodiment, a stretchable interconnect may undergo strain larger than about 1%, 10% or about 30% without fracturing. In an example, the strain is generated by stretching an underlying elastomeric substrate to which at least a portion of the interconnect is bonded.
A “device component” is used to broadly refer to an individual component within an electrical, optical, mechanical or thermal device. Component can be one or more of a photodiode, LED, TFT, electrode, semiconductor, other light-collecting/detecting components, transistor, integrated circuit, contact pad capable of receiving a device component, thin film devices, circuit elements, control elements, microprocessors, transducers and combinations thereof. A device component can be connected to one or more contact pads as known in the art, such as metal evaporation, wire bonding, application of solids or conductive pastes, for example. Electrical device generally refers to a device incorporating a plurality of device components, and includes large area electronics, printed wire boards, integrated circuits, device components arrays, biological and/or chemical sensors, physical sensors (e.g., temperature, light, radiation, etc.), solar cell or photovoltaic arrays, display arrays, optical collectors, systems and displays.
“Substrate” refers to a material having a surface that is capable of supporting a component, including a device component or an interconnect. An interconnect that is “bonded” to the substrate refers to a portion of the interconnect in physical contact with the substrate and unable to substantially move relative to the substrate surface to which it is bonded. Unbonded portions, in contrast, are capable of substantial movement relative to the substrate. The unbonded portion of the interconnect generally corresponds to that portion having a “bent configuration,” such as by strain-induced interconnect bending.
A component in “conformal contact” with a substrate refers to a component that covers a substrate and retains a three-dimensional relief feature whose pattern is governed by the pattern of relief features on the substrate.
In the context of this description, a “bent configuration” refers to a structure having a curved conformation resulting from the application of a force. Bent structures in the present invention may have one or more folded regions, convex regions, concave regions, and any combinations thereof. Bent structures useful in the present invention, for example, may be provided in a coiled conformation, a wrinkled conformation, a buckled conformation and/or a wavy (i.e., wave-shaped) configuration.
Bent structures, such as stretchable bent interconnects, may be bonded to a flexible substrate, such as a polymer and/or elastic substrate, in a conformation wherein the bent structure is under strain. In some embodiments, the bent structure, such as a bent ribbon structure, is under a strain equal to or less than about 30%, a strain equal to or less than about 10%, a strain equal to or less than about 5% and a strain equal to or less than about 1% in embodiments preferred for some applications. In some embodiments, the bent structure, such as a bent ribbon structure, is under a strain selected from the range of about 0.5% to about 30%, a strain selected from the range of about 0.5% to about 10%, a strain selected from the range of about 0.5% to about 5%. Alternatively, the stretchable bent interconnects may be bonded to a substrate that is a substrate of a device component, including a substrate that is itself not flexible. The substrate itself may be planar, substantially planar, curved, have sharp edges, or any combination thereof. Stretchable bent interconnects are available for transferring to any one or more of these complex substrate surface shapes.
“Thermal contact” refers to the ability of two materials that are capable of substantial heat transfer from the higher temperature material to the lower temperature material, such as by conduction. Bent structures resting on a substrate are of particular use in providing regions that are in thermal contact (e.g., bond regions) with the substrate and other regions that are not in thermal contact (e.g., regions that are insulated and/or physically separated from the substrate).
Interconnects can have any number of geometries or shape, so long as the geometry or shape facilitates interconnect bending or stretching without breakage. A general interconnect geometry can be described as “buckled” or “wavy.” In an aspect, that geometry can be obtained by exerting a force (e.g., a strain) on the interconnect by exerting a force on an underlying deformable substrate, such that a change in a dimension of the underlying substrate generates buckles or waves in the interconnect because portions of the interconnect are bonded to the substrate, and regions between the bound portions are not bonded. Accordingly, an individual interconnect may be defined by ends that are bonded to a substrate, and a curved central portion between the ends that is not substrate-bonded. “Curved” or “buckled” refers to relatively complex shapes, such as by an interconnect having one or more additional bond regions in the central portion. “Arc-shaped” refers to a generally sinusoidal shape having an amplitude, where the amplitude corresponds to the maximum separation distance between the interconnect and the substrate surface.
The interconnect can have any cross-sectional shape. One shape interconnect is a ribbon-shaped interconnect. “Ribbon” refers to a substantially rectangular-shaped cross-section having a thickness and a width. Specific dimensions depend on the desired conductivity through the interconnect, the composition of the interconnect and the number of interconnects electrically connecting adjacent device components. For example, an interconnect in a bridge configuration connecting adjacent components may have different dimensions than a single interconnect connecting adjacent components. Accordingly, the dimensions may be of any suitable values, so long as a suitable electrical conductivity is generated, such as widths that are between about 10 μm and 1 cm and thickness between about 50 nm to 1, or a width to thickness ratio ranging from between about 0.001 and 0.1, or a ratio that is about 0.01.
“Elastomeric” refers to a polymeric material which can be stretched or deformed and return, at least partially, to its original shape without substantial permanent deformation. Elastomeric substrates commonly undergo substantially elastic deformations. Exemplary elastomeric substrates useful in the present include, but are not limited to, elastomers and composite materials or mixtures of elastomers, and polymers and copolymers exhibiting elasticity. In some methods, the elastomeric substrate is prestrained via a mechanism providing for expansion of the elastic substrate along one or more principle axes. For example, prestraining may be provided by expanding the elastic substrate along a first axes, including expansion in a radial direction to transform a hemispherical surface to a flat surface. Alternatively, the elastic substrate may be expanded along a plurality of axes, for example via expansion along first and second axis orthogonally positioned relative to each other. Means of prestraining elastic substrates via mechanisms providing expansion of the elastic substrate include bending, rolling, flexing, flattening, expanding or otherwise deforming the elastic substrate. The prestraining means also includes prestraining provided by raising the temperature of the elastic substrate, thereby providing for thermal expansion of the elastic substrate. Elastomers useful in the present invention may include, but are not limited to, thermoplastic elastomers, styrenic materials, olefenic materials, polyolefin, polyurethane thermoplastic elastomers, polyamides, synthetic rubbers, PDMS, polybutadiene, polyisobutylene, poly(styrene-butadiene-styrene), polyurethanes, polychloroprene and silicones.
Strain is defined as: ∈=ΔL/L for lengths changed from L (at rest) to L+ΔL (under an applied force), where ΔL is the displacement distance from resting. Axial strain refers to a force applied to an axis of the substrate to generate the displacement ΔL. Strain is also generated by forces applied in other directions, such as a bending force, a compressive force, a shearing force, and any combination thereof. Strain or compression may also be generated by stretching a curved surface to a flat surface, or vice versa. “Level of strain” refers to the magnitude of the strain and can range from negative (corresponding to compression) to zero (relaxed state) to positive (corresponding to elongation or stretching).
“Young's modulus” is a mechanical property of a material, device or layer which refers to the ratio of stress to strain for a given substance. Young's modulus may be provided by the expression;
wherein E is Young's modulus, L0 is the equilibrium length, ΔL is the length change under the applied stress, F is the force applied and A is the area over which the force is applied. Young's modulus may also be expressed in terms of Lame constants via the equation:
wherein λ and μ are Lame constants. High Young's modulus (or “high modulus”) and low Young's modulus (or “low modulus”) are relative descriptors of the magnitude of Young's modulus in a give material, layer or device. In the present invention, a high Young's modulus is larger than a low Young's modulus, preferably about 10 times larger for some applications, more preferably about 100 times larger for other applications and even more preferably about 1000 times larger for yet other applications. Complex surface shapes are obtained by polymerizing an elastomer having a spatially-varying Young's modulus and/or by layering an elastomer with multiple layers in various locations having different elasticity.
Compression is used herein in a manner similar to the strain, but specifically refers to a force that acts to decrease a characteristic length, or a volume, of a substrate, such that ΔL<0.
“Fracturing” or “fracture” refers to a physical break in the interconnect, such that the interconnect is not capable of substantial electrical conductivity.
A “pattern of bond sites” refers to spatial application of bonding means to a supporting substrate surface and/or to the interconnects so that a supported interconnect has bond regions and non-bond regions with the substrate. For example, an interconnect that is bonded to the substrate at its ends and not bonded in a central portion. Further shape control is possible by providing an additional bond site within a central portion, so that the not-bonded region is divided into two distinct central portions. Bonding means can include adhesives, adhesive precursors, welds, photolithography, photocurable polymer. In general, bond sites can be patterned by a variety of techniques, and may be described in terms of surface-activated (Wact) areas capable of providing strong adhesive forces between substrate and feature (e.g., interconnect) and surface-inactive (Win) where the adhesive forces are relatively weak. A substrate that is adhesively patterned in lines may be described in terms of Wact and Win dimensions. Those variables, along with the magnitude of prestrain, ∈pre affect interconnect geometry.
“Spatial variation” refers to a parameter that has magnitude that varies over a surface, and is particularly useful for providing two-dimensional control of component relief features, thereby providing spatial control over the bendability of a device or device component.
“Carbon nanomaterial” refers to a class of structures comprising carbon atoms and having at least one dimension that is between one nanometer and one micron. In an embodiment, at least one dimension of the carbon nanomaterial is between 2 nm and 1000 nm. Carbon nanomaterials include allotropes of carbon such as single walled nanotubes (SWNTs), multiwalled nanotubes (MWNTs), nanorods, single walled and/or multiwalled fullerenes, graphite, graphene, carbon fibers, carbon films, carbon whiskers, and diamond, and all derivatives thereof.
“Spatial aligned” refers to positions and/or orientations of two or more structures that are defined with respect to each other. Spatially aligned structures may have positions and/or orientations that are preselected with respect to each other, for example, preselected to within 1 micron, preferably for some applications to within 500 nanometers, and more preferably for some applications to within 50 nanometers.
“Heterogeneous semiconductor elements” are multicomponent structures comprising a semiconductor in combination with one or more other materials or structures. Other materials and structures in the context of this description may comprise elements, molecules and complexes, aggregates and particles thereof, that are different from the semiconductor in which they are combined, such as materials and/or structures having a different chemical compositions and/or physical states (e.g. crystalline, semicrystalline or amorphous states). Useful heterogeneous semiconductor elements in this aspect of the invention include an inorganic semiconductor structure in combination with other semiconductor materials, including doped semiconductors (e.g., N-type and P-type dopants) and carbon nanomaterials or films thereof, dielectric materials and/or structures, and conducting materials and/or structures. Heterogeneous semiconductor elements of the present invention include structures having spatial homogeneous compositions, such as uniformly doped semiconductor structures, and include structures having spatial inhomogeneous compositions, such as semiconductor structures having dopants with concentrations that vary spatially in one, two or three dimensions (i.e. a spatially inhomogeneous dopant distribution in the semiconductor element).
The invention may be further understood by the following non-limiting examples. All references cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the extent not inconsistent with the disclosure herewith. Although the description herein contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention should, therefore, be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents, rather than by the examples given.
One method for making buckled or wavy interconnects is generally summarized in
One example of a buckled or wavy metal feature generated by the method summarized in
A method for generating wavy stretchable electrodes and/or interconnects is provided in
An example of a smoothly wavy PDMS substrate 30 made by the method summarized in
An example of spin coating of a smoothing layer into a sharp-edged valley or recess feature is shown in
The methods and devices disclosed herein may be used to fabricate a variety of electronic devices, including for example, a stretchable passive matrix LED display (see
One such example of a curved electronic device is provided in
Although many of the drawings provided herein show a device component that is a contact pad 70, the methods and devices claimed herein are capable of connecting to a vast population of device components to provide stretchable and therefore shape-conforming, electronic devices. For example,
Buckled arrays of device components may be readily transferred to curved surfaces, including rigid or inelastic curved surfaces. An example of one device and process for facilitating conformal contact to curved surfaces is provided by the bubble or balloon stamp 400 of
Another means for generating buckled or pop-up interconnects on a curved surface is summarized in
An example of “two-dimensional” stretching of a buckled silicon array by the device shown in
Control over the compositions, shapes, spatial locations and/or geometrical configurations of semiconductor nanostructures is important for nearly all applications of these materials. Although methods exist for defining the material compositions, diameters, lengths, and positions of nanowires and nanoribbons, there are relatively few approaches for controlling their two- and three-dimensional (2D and 3D) configurations. Provided herein is a mechanical strategy for creating certain classes of 3D shapes in nanoribbons that are otherwise difficult to generate. This example involves the combined use of lithographically patterned surface chemistry to provide spatial control over adhesion sites and elastic deformations of a supporting substrate to induce well-controlled local displacements. Precisely engineered buckling geometries are created in nanoribbons of GaAs and Si in this manner and these configurations can be described quantitatively with analytical models of the mechanics. As one applications example, particular structures provide a route to electronics (and optoelectronics) with extremely high levels of stretchability (up to ˜100%), compressibility (up to ˜25%) and bendability (with curvature radius down to ˜5 mm).
The 2D and 3D configurations of nanoribbons and wires are controlled during their growth to yield certain geometries, such as coils, rings, and branched layouts, or after their growth to produce, as examples, sinusoidal wave-like structures by coupling these elements to strained elastomeric supports or tube-like (or helical) structures by using built-in residual stresses in layered systems. Semiconductor nanoribbons with wavy geometries are of interest in part because they enable high performance, stretchable electronic systems for potential applications such as spherically curved focal plane arrays, intelligent rubber surgical gloves and conformable structural health monitors. This approach, in which the electronic devices themselves are stretchable, is different than and perhaps complementary to an alternative route to these same applications that use rigid device islands with stretchable metal interconnects. The previously described wavy nanoribbons have two main disadvantages: (i) they form spontaneously, with fixed periods and amplitudes defined by the moduli of the materials and the thicknesses of the ribbons, in a way that offers little control over the geometries or the phases of the waves and (ii) the maximum strains that they can accommodate are in the range of 20-30%, limited by the non-optimal wavy geometries that result from this process. The procedures introduced here use lithographically defined surface adhesion sites together with elastic deformations of a supporting substrate to achieve buckling configurations with deterministic control over their geometries. Periodic or aperiodic designs are possible, for any selected set of individual nanoribbons in large scale, organized arrays of such structures. Specialized geometries designed for stretchable electronics enable strain ranges of up to nearly 150%, even in brittle materials such as GaAs, consistent with analytical modeling of the mechanics, and as much as ten times larger than previously reported results.
In this example, nanoribbons consisted of both single crystal Si and GaAs. The silicon ribbons are prepared from silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers using procedures described previously (see Khang et al. Science 311, 208-212 (2006)). The GaAs ribbons involved multilayers of Si-doped n-type GaAs (120 nm; carrier concentration of 4×1017 cm3), semi-insulating GaAs (SI—GaAs; 150 nm) and AlAs (200 nm) formed on a (100) SI—GaAs wafer by molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE). Chemically etching the epilayers in an aqueous etchant of H3PO4 and H2O2, using lines of photoresist patterned along the (0 1 1) crystalline orientation as etch masks, define the ribbons. Removing the photoresist and then soaking the wafer in an ethanol solution of HF (2:1 in volume between ethanol and 49% aqueous HF) removes the AlAs layer, thereby releasing ribbons of GaAs (n-GaAs/SI—GaAs) with widths determined by the photoresist (˜100 μm for the examples in
Laminating the processed SOI or GaAs wafers against a UVO treated, pre-stretched PDMS substrate (ribbons oriented parallel to the direction of prestrain), baking in an oven at 90° C. for minutes, and removing the wafer transferred all of the ribbons to the surface of the PDMS (step iv). Heating facilitates conformal contact and the formation of strong siloxane bonds (i.e., —O—Si—O—) between the native SiO2 layer on the Si ribbons or the deposited SiO2 layer on the GaAs ribbons and the activated areas of the PDMS. Relatively weak van der Waals forces bond the ribbons to the inactivated surface regions of the PDMS. Relaxing the strain in the PDMS generates buckles through the physical separation of the ribbons from the inactivated regions of the PDMS (step v). The ribbons remain tethered to the PDMS in the activated regions due to the strong chemical bonding. The resulting 3D ribbon geometries (i.e. the spatially varying pattern of buckles) depend on the magnitude of prestrain and the patterns of surface activation (e.g., shape and dimensions of Win and Wact). (Similar results can be achieved through patterned bonding sites on the ribbons). For the case of the simple line pattern, Win and the prestrain determine the width and amplitude of the buckles. Sinusoidal waves with wavelengths and amplitudes much smaller than the buckles also formed in the same ribbons when Wact was >100 μm, due to mechanical instabilities of the type that generate ‘wavy’ silicon. (see
as determined by nonlinear analysis of buckles formed in a uniform, thin layer. The maximum tensile strain in the ribbons is, approximately,
The width of the buckles is 2L1 and the periodicity is 2L2. Because h2π2/(12L12) is much smaller than ∈pre (i.e., >10% in the report) for h<1 μm, the amplitude is independent of the mechanical properties of ribbons (e.g., thickness, chemical composition, Young's modulus, etc.) and is mainly determined by the layout of adhesion sites and the prestrain. This conclusion suggests a general applicability of this approach: ribbons made of any material will form into similar buckled geometries. This prediction is consistent with the results obtained with Si and GaAs ribbons used here. The calculated profiles, plotted as dotted lines in
The lithographically defined adhesion sites can have more complex geometries than the simple grating or grid patterns associated with the structures in
The simple case of buckled GaAs ribbons on PDMS with ∈pre=60%, Wact=10 μm and different Win, as shown in
Where Lprojectedmax represents the maximum/minimum length before fracture and Lprojected0 is the length in the relaxed state. Stretching and compressing correspond to Lprojectedmax greater and less than Lprojected0 respectively. Buckled ribbons on PDMS with Wact=10 μm and Win=400 μm and ∈pre=60%, exhibit stretchability of 60% (i.e., ∈pre and compressibility up to 30%. Embedding the ribbons in PDMS mechanically protects the structures, and also produces a continuous, reversible response, but with slight changes in the mechanics. In particular, the stretchability and compressibility decreased to ˜51.4% (
A direct consequence of this large stretchability/compressibility is extreme levels of mechanical bendability.
To demonstrate these mechanical properties in functional electronic devices, we build metal semiconductor-metal photodetectors (MSM PDs) using buckled GaAs ribbons with profiles similar to those shown in
In conclusion, this example indicates that soft elastomers with lithographically defined adhesion sites are useful as tools for creating certain classes of 3D configurations in semiconductor nanoribbons. Stretchable electronics provide one example of the many possible application areas for these types of structures. Simple PD devices demonstrate some capabilities. The high level of control over the structures and the ability to separate high temperature processing steps (e.g. formation of ohmic contacts) from the buckling process and the PDMS indicate that more complex devices (e.g. transistors, and small circuit sheets) are possible. The well controlled phases of buckles in adjacent ribbons provide an opportunity for electrically interconnecting multiple elements. Also, although the experiments reported here used GaAs and Si nanoribbons, other materials (e.g. GaN, InP, and other semiconductors) and other structures (e.g. nanowires, nanomembranes) are compatible with this approach.
FABRICATION OF GaAs RIBBONS: GaAs wafers with customer-designed epitaxial layers (details described in the text) were purchased from IQE Inc., Bethlehem, Pa. Photolithography and wet chemical etching generated the GaAs ribbons. AZ photoresist (e.g., AZ 5214) was spin cast on the GaAs wafers at speed of 5000 rpm for 30 seconds and then soft baked at 100° C. for 1 minute. Exposure through a photomask with patterned lines oriented along the (0 1 1) crystallographic direction of GaAs, followed by development generated line patterns in the photoresist. Mild O2 plasma (i.e., descum process) removed the residual photoresist. The GaAs wafers were then anisotropically etched for 1 minute in the etchant (4 mL H3PO4 (85 wt %), 52 mL H2O2 (30 wt %), and 48 mL deionized water), cooled in the ice-water bath. The AlAs layers were dissolved with an HF solution (Fisher® Chemicals) diluted in ethanol (1:2 in volume). The samples with released ribbons on mother wafers were dried in a fume hood. The dried samples were coated with 30 nm SiO2 deposited by electron beam evaporation.
FABRICATION OF Si RIBBONS: The silicon ribbons are fabricated from an silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer (Soitect, Inc., top silicon 290 nm, buried oxide 400 nm, p-type). The wafer is patterned by conventional photolithography using AZ 5214 photoresist and etched with SF6 plasma (PlasmaTherm RIE, SF6 40 sccm, 50 mTorr, 100 W). After the photoresist is washed away with acetone, the buried oxide layer is then etched in HF (49%).
FABRICATION OF UVO MASKS: Fused quartz slides are cleaned in piranha solution (at 60° C.) for 15 minutes and thoroughly rinsed with plenty of water. The cleaned slides are dried with nitrogen blowing and placed in the chamber of electron-beam evaporator to be coated with sequential layers of 5-nm Ti (as adhesive layer) and 100-nm Au (mask layer for UV light). Negative photoresist, i.e., SU8 5, is spin cast on the slides at speed of 3000 rpm for 30 seconds to yield ˜5 μm thick films. Soft baking, exposing to UV light, post baking, and developing generated patterns in the photoresist. Mild O2 plasma (i.e., descum process) removes the residual photoresist. The photoresist serves as mask to etch Au and Ti using gold etchant (i.e., aqueous solution of I2 and KI) and titanium etchant (i.e., diluted solution of HCl), respectively.
PREPARATION OF PDMS STAMPS: PDMS substrates with thickness of ˜4 mm were prepared by pouring the prepolymer (A:B=1:10, Sylgard 184, Dow Corning) into a Petri dish, followed by baking at 65° C. for 4 hours. Slabs with suitable sizes and rectangular shapes were cut from the resulting cured piece and the rinsed with isopropyl alcohol and dried with nitrogen blowing. A specially designed stage was used to mechanically stretch the PDMS to desired levels of strain. Illuminating these stretched substrates to short-wavelength UV light (low-pressure mercury lamp, BHK, 173 μW/cm2 from 240 to 260 nm) for 5 min through a UVO mask placed in contact with the PDMS generated the patterned surface chemistries.
FORMATION AND EMBEDMENT OF BUCKLED GaAs RIBBONS: GaAs wafers with released ribbons coated with SiO2 were laminated against the stretched PDMS with patterned surface chemistry. Baking in an oven at 90° C. for 5 minutes, cooling to room temperature in air, and then slowly relaxing the strain in the PDMS generated buckles along each ribbon. Embedding the buckled ribbons, involved flood exposing to UV light for 5 minutes and then casting of liquid PDMS prepolymers to a thickness of ˜4 mm. Curing the sample either in an oven at 65° C. for 4 hours or at room temperature for 36 hours cured the prepolymer, to leave the buckled ribbons embedded in a solid matrix of PDMS.
CHARACTERIZATION OF BUCKLED RIBBONS: The ribbons were imaged with an optical microscope by tilting the sample by ˜90° (for nonembedded samples) or ˜30° (for embedded samples). The SEM images were recorded on a Philips XL30 field-emission scanning electron microscope after the sample was coated with a thin layer of gold (˜5 nm in thickness). The same stage used for pre-stretching the PDMS stamps was used to stretch and compress the resulting samples.
FABRICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SMS PDs: Fabrication of PDs started with samples in the configuration shown in the bottom frame of
Our technical approach uses certain ideas embodied in the planar stamp based printing methods previously described. Although these basic techniques provide a promising starting point, many fundamentally new features must be introduced to meet the challenges of the HARDI (Hemispherical Array Detector for Imaging) system, as described in the following.
Removing the retaining ring causes the PDMS to relax back to its initial hemispherical shape, thereby accomplishing a planar to spherical transformation of the chiplet array. This transformation induces compressive strains at the surface of the stamp. These strains are accommodated in the CMOS chiplet array by local delamination and lifting up of the interconnects (bottom left of
In the second set of steps (
The approach of
A second feature is that the approach uses elastomeric elements and mechanical designs to enable a well-controlled planar to hemispherical transformation. Reversible, linear mechanics in the transfer stamps and comprehensive mechanical modeling accomplishes this control, as outlined subsequently. A third attractive aspect is that certain basic components of the transfer processes and strategies to control adhesion have been demonstrated in planar applications. In fact, the stages that have been engineered for those planar printing applications can be adapted for the process of
These types of printer systems are used to demonstrate several aspects of the process of
In addition to materials and general processing strategies, full computational modeling of the elastic mechanical response of the hemispherical stamps, the pop-up interconnects and the interactions with the rigid device islands is performed. These calculations reveal the physics of the process at a level that facilitates engineering control and optimization. Simple estimates based on linear elastic plate theory suggest that the strain levels associated with the processes of
Mechanical measurements such as these, coupled with literature values for the moduli and geometries of the chiplets and the ribbon pop-up interconnects, provide information necessary for the modeling. Two approaches to the calculations are adopted. The first is full-scale finite element modeling (FEM), in which the details of device and interconnect geometry (e.g., size, spacing, multi-layers) on the planar substrate are analyzed. Different materials (e.g., stamp, silicon, interconnects) are accounted for directly in the analysis. A lateral pressure is imposed to deform the stamp and circuits onto the desired spherical shape. The finite element analysis gives the strain distribution, particularly the maximum strain in devices and interconnects, and non-uniform spacing between transformed devices. The advantage of such an approach is that it captures all the details of device geometry and materials, and therefore can be used to explore the effects of different designs of transfer printing process in order to reduce the maximum strain and non-uniformity. This approach, however, is computationally intensive and therefore, time consuming since it involves a wide range of length scales, and the modeling of large numbers of structures devices on the stamp.
The second approach is a unit-cell model for devices (chiplets) that analyzes their mechanical performance upon loading. Each device is represented by a unit cell, and its response upon mechanical loading (e.g., bending and tension) is studied thoroughly via the finite element method. Each device is then replaced by the unit cell linked by interconnects. This unit-cell model is then incorporated into the finite element analysis to replace the detailed modeling of devices and interconnects. Furthermore, away from the edge of the sphere, the strains are relatively uniform such that the many unit-cells can be integrated and their performance can be represented by a coarse-level model. Near the sphere edge the strains are highly non-uniform such that the detailed modeling of devices are still necessary. The advantage of such an approach is that it significantly reduces the computational effort. The full-scale finite element analysis in the first approach is used to validate this unit-cell model. Once validated, the unit-cell model provides a powerful design tool since it is suitable for the quick exploration of different designs of devices, interconnects, and their spacing.
The modeling can also determine the levels of strain in the Si CMOS chiplets. The systems should be designed to keep these chiplet strains below ˜0.1-0.2% to avoid changes in the electrical properties and, possibly, mechanical failures due to fracture or delamination. This modeling facilitates the design of stamps and processing conditions to avoid exposure of the chiplets to strains above this range.
This example introduces a biaxially stretchable form of single crystalline silicon that consists of two dimensionally buckled, or “wavy”, silicon nanomembranes on elastomeric supports. Fabrication procedures for these structures are described, and various aspects of their geometries and responses to uniaxial and biaxial strains along various directions are presented. Analytical models of the mechanics of these systems provide a framework for quantitatively understanding their behavior. These classes of materials provides a route to high-performance electronics with full, two-dimensional stretchability.
Electronics that offer mechanically bendability are of interest for applications in information display, X-ray imaging, photovoltaic devices, and other systems. Reversible stretchability is a different and much more technically challenging mechanical characteristic that would enable device possibilities that cannot be realized with electronics that are only bendable, such as smart surgical gloves, electronic eye cameras, and personal health monitors. In one approach to electronics of this type, stretchable wires interconnect rigid device islands to provide circuit level stretchability with device components that are not stretchable. In an alternative strategy, certain structural forms of thin single-crystal semiconductor and other electronic materials allow stretchability in the devices themselves. Recent demonstrations involved the use of buckled, one-dimensional “wavy” geometries in nanoribbons (thicknesses between tens and hundreds of nanometers and widths in the micrometer range) of silicon and gallium arsenide to achieve uniaxial stretchability in metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs), metal semiconductor field effect transistors (MESFETs), pn junction diodes, and Schottky diodes. This example shows that nanomembranes of similar materials can be formed into two-dimensional (2D) wavy geometries to provide full 2D stretchability. The fabrication procedures for such systems are described, together with detailed experimental characterization and analytical modeling of their mechanical response.
Parts a-f of
The two linecuts extracted from the AFM images indicate periodic, although only approximately sinusoidal, relief profiles along the jogs direction (profile i) and perpendicular to waves (profile ii). The λ and A1 of waves, determined from profile ii, are 12.8 and 0.66 μm, respectively. The λ given by theoretical analysis, 12.4 μm, is similar with the experimental data; however, the A1 from theoretical analysis is 0.90 μm, somewhat higher value than the experimental results. The SEM images show clearly the intimate bonding between the membrane and the PDMS, as evidenced by the behavior of the sample near the small holes in the silicon in both the raised and recessed regions of the waves. These images also indicate that the wave structures are completely uncorrelated to the position of these holes, since the hole size of 2.5 μm is much smaller than the characteristic wavelengths of the deformation modes in our experiments. Studies of the dependence of the geometry of the wavy structures on the thickness of the silicon can provide additional insights into the physics and further validate the mechanics models.
These wavy membranes provide true stretchability for strains in various in-plane directions, as opposed to the one-dimensional stretchability provided by previously described ribbon geometries. To investigate this aspect, we perform uniaxial tensile stretching tests along different directions using a calibrated mechanical stage and a 2D stretchable membrane prepared with a thermally induced prestrain of 3.8%.
Tensile strains applied in a diagonal direction (case ii), showed similar structural changes although at full stretching the 1D wave structures aligned along a direction defined by the applied strain, rather than the initial geometry. For the perpendicular case iii, at small strain ∈st 1.8%) certain portions of the sample lose completely the herringbone layout to yield new 1D waves along the stretching direction. With increasing strain, more regions undergo this transformation until the entire area consists of these oriented 1D waves. These newly formed 1D waves are perpendicular to the orientation of the original waves; upon release, they simply bend to create a disordered herringbone-like geometry. For all cases shown in
These observations apply only to the central regions of the membranes. As indicated in the bottom frames of
To investigate further these edge effects, we fabricated rectangular membranes with lengths of 1000 μm and with widths of 100, 200, 500, and 1000 μm, all on the same PDMS substrate.
The membranes themselves provide a path to biaxially stretchable electronic devices. The edge effects outlined above can be exploited to realize a particular outcome that might be useful for certain classes of such devices. In particular, in an imaging system, there might be value in maintaining flat, undeformed regions at the locations of the photodetectors to avoid nonideal behavior that occurs when these devices have wavy shapes.
In summary, nanomembranes of silicon can be integrated with prestrained elastomeric substrates to create 2D “wavy” structures with a range of geometries. Many aspects of the mechanical behavior of these systems are in good agreement to theoretically predicted behaviors. These results are useful for applications of electronics in systems where full stretchability is required during use or during installation.
We have developed a simple approach to combine broad classes of dissimilar materials into heterogeneously integrated (HGI) electronic systems with two or three dimensional (3D) layouts. The process begins with the synthesis of different semiconductor nanomaterials (e.g. single walled carbon nanotubes and single crystal nanowires/ribbons of gallium nitride, silicon and gallium arsenide) on separate substrates. Repeated application of an additive, transfer printing process using soft stamps and these substrates as donors, followed by device and interconnect formation, yields high performance 3D-HGI electronics that incorporate any combination of these (or other) semiconductor nanomaterials on rigid or flexible device substrates. This versatile methodology can produce a wide range of unusual electronic systems that are difficult or impossible to achieve using other techniques.
Many existing and emerging electronic devices benefit from the monolithic, heterogeneous integration (HGI) of dissimilar classes of semiconductors into single systems, in either two or three dimensional (2D or 3D) layouts. Examples include multifunctional radio frequency communication devices, infrared (IR) imaging cameras, addressable sensor arrays and hybrid CMOS/nanowire/nanodevice circuits (3-7). In some representative systems, compound semiconductors or other materials provide high speed operation, efficient photodetection or sensing capabilities while silicon CMOS provides digital readout and signal processing, in circuits that often involve stacked 3D configurations. Wafer bonding (8) and epitaxial growth (9,10) represent the two most widely used methods for achieving these types of 3D-HGI systems. The former process involves physical bonding, by use of adhesives or thermally initiated interface chemistries, of integrated circuits, photodiodes or sensors formed separately on different semiconductor wafers. This approach works well in many cases, but it has important drawbacks, including (i) limited ability to scale to large areas or to more than a few layers in the third (i.e. stacking) dimension, (ii) incompatibility with unusual (e.g. nanostructured materials) or low temperature materials and substrates, (iii) challenging fabrication and alignment for the through-wafer electrical interconnects, (iv) demanding requirements for flat, planar bonding surfaces and (v) bowing and cracking that can occur from mechanical strains generated by differential thermal expansion/contraction of disparate materials. Epitaxial growth provides a different approach that involves the direct formation, by molecular beam epitaxy or other means, of thin layers of semiconductor materials on the surfaces of wafers of other materials. Although this method avoids some of the aforementioned problems, the requirements for epitaxy place severe restrictions on the quality and type of materials that can be grown, even when buffer layers and other advanced techniques are used. By contrast, emerging classes of semiconductor nanomaterials, such as nanoscale wires, ribbons, membranes or particles of inorganic materials, or carbon based systems such as single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) or graphene sheets (11-14), can be grown and then suspended in solvents or transferred onto substrates in a manner that bypasses the need for epitaxial growth or wafer bonding. Recent work shows, for example, the integration, in 2D layouts, of crossed nanowire diodes formed by solution casting (15). The results presented here illustrate how dissimilar single crystal inorganic semiconductors (e.g., nanowires/ribbons of GaN, Si and GaAs) can be combined with one another and also with other classes of nanomaterials (e.g. SWNTs) using a scalable and deterministic printing method to yield complex, HGI electronic systems in 2D or 3D layouts. In particular, ultrathin multilayer stacks of high performance metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs), metal-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MESFETs), thin film transistors (TFTs), photodiodes and other components, integrated into device arrays, logic gates and actively addressable photodetectors on rigid inorganic and flexible plastic substrates demonstrate some of the capabilities.
Electrical interconnections formed between different levels in these 3D-HGI devices can create interesting circuit capabilities. The thin polymer interlayers enable these interconnects to be formed easily by evaporating metal lines over and into lithographically defined openings.
Printed semiconductor nanomaterials provide new approaches to 3D-HGI systems and could have important applications in various fields of application, not only those suggested by the systems reported here, but also others including microfluidic devices with integrated readout and sensing electronics, chem/bio sensor systems that incorporate unusual sensing materials with conventional silicon based electronics and photonic/optoelectronic systems that combine light emitters of compound semiconductor with silicon drive electronics or microelectromechanical structures. Further, the compatibility of this approach with thin, lightweight plastic substrates may create additional opportunities for devices that have unusual form factors or mechanical flexibility as key features.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Device fabrication: Silicon devices: The fabrication begins with definition of contact doped thin ribbons of single crystal silicon, by processing silicon on insulator wafer (SOI; Soitec unibond with a 290 nm top Si layer with doping level of 6.0˜9.4×1014/cm3). The first step involved phosphorous doping, using a solid source and spin-on-dopant (Filmtronic, P509), and a photolithographically defined layer of plasma enhanced chemical vapor (PECVD) deposited SiO2 (Plasmatherm, 300 nm, 900 mTorr, 350 sccm, 2% SiH4/He, 795 sccm NO2, 250° C.) as a mask to control where dopant diffuses into the silicon. After doping, SF6 plasma etching through a patterned layer of photoresist defined the ribbons. Undercut etching of the buried oxide with concentrated HF solution (Fisher Chemicals) released the ribbons from the wafer. This procedure completed the fabrication of contact doped ribbons of single crystal silicon. In the next step, contacting a flat elastomeric stamp of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS, A:B=1:10, Sylgard 184, Dow Corning) with the photoresistcoated ribbons and then peeling back the stamp removed the ribbons from the wafer and left them adhered, by van der Waals forces between the hydrophobic PDMS and the photoresist, to the surface of the stamp. The stamp thus ‘inked’ with □s-Si ribbons from wafer was laminated against a polyimide (PI) sheet of 25 μm (Dupont, Kapton100E) spincoated with a thin layer (˜1.5 μm) of liquid PI precursor, polyamic acid (Sigma_Aldrich Inc.). Curing the precursor, peeling off the PDMS stamp, and stripping the photoresist left the ribbons embedded on and well adhered to the surface of the PI substrate. The gate dielectric layer consisted of a layer of SiO2 (thickness ˜100 nm) deposited by PECVD at relatively low temperature, 250° C. Photolithography and CF4 plasma etching defined openings to the doped source/drain regions of the silicon. Source, drain and gate electrodes of Cr/Au (5/100 nm, from bottom to top by electron beam evaporation, Temescal FC-1800) were defined in a single step by photolithography and wet etching.
GaN devices: GaN microstructures were fabricated on a bulk wafer of GaN with heteorostructure [AlGaN (18 nm)/GaN (0.6 μm)/AlN (0.6 μm)/Si]. An ohmic contact area defined by AZ 5214 photoresist and then cleaned with SiCl4 plasma in a RIE system. A Ti/Al/Mo/Au (15/60/35/50 nm) metal layer was then deposited by e-beam evaporation (Ti/Al/Mo) and thermal evaporation (Au). Washing away the resist completed left metal contacts on the GaN. Thermal annealed at 850° C. for 30 sec in N2 ambient formed the ohmics. SiO2 (Plasmatherm, 300 nm, 900 mTorr, 350 sccm, 2% SiH4/He, 795 sccm NO2, 250° C.) and Cr metal (e-beam evaporator, 150 nm) layers were deposited as the mask materials for subsequent inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching. Photolithography, wet etching, and RIE processing (50 mTorr, 40 sccm CF4, 100 W, 14 min) defined the ribbon geometries of the GaN. After removing the photoresist with acetone, ICP dry etching (3.2 mTorr, 15 sccm CI2, 5 sccm Ar, −100V Bias, 14 min) was used to remove the exposed GaN and to etch slightly into the Si (˜1.5 μm) to facilitate the subsequent anisotropic etching. The Si was then etched away from underneath the GaN using a tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide (Aldrich, 150° C. for 4 min 30 sec). The sample was dipped in BOE (6:1, NH4F: HF) for 30 sec to remove the PECVD SiO2 and a new 50 nm e-beam evaporated SiO2 layer was deposited on top of the GaN ribbons. A PDMS slab ‘inked’ with the GaN ribbons from mother wafer was then laminated against a PI sheet coated with 2 μm polyurethane (PU, Norland optical adhesive, No. 73). The sample was exposed to UV light (173 μWcm−2) for 15 min to cure the PU. Peeling back the PDMS and removing the e-beam SiO2 by immersion in BOE for 20 sec resulted in the transfer of the GaN elements to the plastic substrate. A negative photoresist (AZ nLOF2020) was used to pattern Schottky contacts of Ni/Au (80/180 nm). The photoresist was removed with an AZ stripper (KWIK for 30 min).
SWNT devices: Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) was used to grow random networks of individual single walled carbon nanotubes on SiO2/Si wafers. Ferritin (Sigma Aldrich) deposited on the substrate with a methanol was used as a catalyst. The feeding gas was methane (1900 sccm CH4 with a 300 sccm H2). The quartz tube in the furnace was flushed with a high flow of Ar gas for cleaning before growth. During the growth, the temperature was held at 900° C. for 20 minutes. The transfer involved either procedures similar to the printing like processes described previously, or a slightly different method in which a thick Au layer and a PI precursor were coated on the SiO2/Si substrate with the tubes. After curing the PI, the Au/PI was peeled back. Laminating this layer against a prepatterned device substrate coated with a thin epoxy layer (SU8, 150 nm) and then removing the PI and Au layer by oxygen reactive ion etching and wet etching, respectively, completed the transfer. In the case of bottom gate devices, the substrate supported prepatterned gate electrodes and dielectrics. In particular, gate electrodes of Cr/Au/Cr (2/10/10 nm) were patterned by photolithography and then, 300 nm SiO2 was deposited on the substrate using PECVD. The source and drain electrodes of Cr/Au (2/20 nm) were defined directly on top of the tubes.
3D Circuit: 3D Si NMOS inverter: Multilayer devices were constructed by repetitively applying the same fabrication procedures. In particular, to the PI precursor was spin-cast on the top of an existing layer of devices, and silicon ribbons were transfer-printed on top. The same processes were then used to fabricate devices. For vertical metal interconnects, an electrode area was defined by photo-patterning openings in a layer of AZ4620 photoresist, and then etching away the SiO2 and PI in this exposed area using CF4 and O2 plasma in a RIE system. Depositing 300 nm Al into this area established contacts at the bottom, and provided an electrically continuous connection over the step edge formed by the etched SiO2 and PI.
SWNT and Si CMOS inverter: The SWNT devices consisted of source/drain contacts of Au (20 nm) defined by photolithography on the tube networks. The SiO2 (100 nm)/Si wafer substrate provided the gate dielectric and gate. Epoxy (SU8, 500 nm) was then spin-coated onto this substrate after the SWNT transistors were selectively coated with photoresist (AZ5214). After UV exposure for curing of epoxy, a PDMS slab ‘inked’ with undoped Si ribbons was laminated against the substrate and subsequently removed by slow manual peeling to complete the transfer-printing process. Cr/Au (5/100 nm) were used as Schottky contacts for source and drain electrodes in the silicon devices. Al (100 nm) was used to connect the SWNT and Si transistor.
GaAs MSM IR detector integrated with Si TFT: GaAs wafers (IQE Inc., Bethlehem, Pa.) were used to generate back-to-back schottky diodes. The ribbons were generated from a high-quality bulk wafer of GaAs with multiple epitaxial layers [Si-doped n-type GaAs (120 nm)/semi-insulating (SI)—GaAs (150 nm)/AlAs (200 nm)/SI—GaAs]. The carrier concentration of n-type GaAs is 4×1017 cm−3. GaAs wafers with photoresist mask patterns were anisotropically etched in the etchant (4 mL H3PO4 (85 wt %), 52 mL H2O2 (30 wt %), and 48 mL deionized water). The AlAs layers were etched away with a diluted HF solution in ethanol (1:2 in volume). Layers of 2 nm Ti and 28 nm SiO2 were the deposited by e-beam evaporator. A PDMS stamp inked with the GaAs ribbons was then contacted to a layer of Si transistors coated with PI (thickness 1.5 μm). Peeling back the PDMS and removing Ti and SiO2 by BOE etchant completed the transfer of GaAs to the device substrate. Metals (Ti/Au=5/70 nm) for the Schottky contacts were deposited by e-beam evaporation. Electrical interconnects between the GaAs back-to-back Schottky diodes and the Si MOSFET were defined by first patterning a layer of AZ4620 photoresist, then etching through the openings using CF4 and O2 plasma in a RIE system and then depositing a 300 nm of Al.
Device characterization: A semiconductor parameter analyzer (Agilent, 4155C) and a conventional probing station were used for the electrical characterization of the diodes and transistors. The IR response was measured under IR LED source with wavelength of 850 nM.
Circuit Simulation: To compare the measured transfer curve of the CMOS inverter with a simulation, level 2 PSPICE models for the n-channel Si MOSFET and the p-channel SWNT TFT were generated empirically. These PSPICE models were created based on the default PSPICE MOSFET model (MbreakN and MbreakP) with extracted parameters to fit the measured IV curves of both Si NMOS and SWNT PMOS shown in
5. C. Joachim, J. K. Gimzewski, A. Aviram, Nature 408, 541 (2000).
The pop up architecture is one that enables a range of device architectures and structures integrating structures that embed useful but difficult to achieve features. It is an architecture enabling important competencies devices that express electronic, optical, mechanical, and thermal forms of functionality. In many cases, the system designs exploit a hierarchy of such effects to enable explicit device level performance outcomes, although for simplicity we discuss specific embodiments below in terms of a dominant mode of functioning.
Electronic Systems. The most direct form of utility in this sphere is the provisions the described architectures make for the design of complex mechanically compliant electronic devices that directly embed high performance electronic circuits—displays, sensing elements, RF-ID tags comprising some challenging forms of application that benefit from the integration of high performance electronic circuits within a flexible system level architecture. The designs disclosed herein significantly extend the full range of mechanical compliances that can be realized. It does so by enabling the provision, at the system design level, of specific architectural details that can extend range of mechanical deformations that can be tolerated—well beyond the general limit of 1% strain that is typical for a device based on a planar integration of components. The examples show a specific architecture for the simplest system elements, the interconnects, that can be used to withstand formal system high level strains (>30% in the form factor appropriate for the construction of bus lines and interconnects in a display) as well as providing for other more demanding forms of mechanical compliance (stretchability). These benefits can be extended as well to more complex device level components as illustrated by the form factor of the exemplary devices shown in FIG. 31, a GaAs MSM IR photodetector as described. Essentially every functional component of a complex electronic system can be integrated in a design-specific, mechanically compliant form using the methods taught herein.
Optical Components and Systems. Optical components, e.g., a waveguide can respond with extreme sensitivity to flexure. The methods and systems provide new architectures for such devices that can both tolerate and, more importantly, exploit mechanical flexure to benefit functional performance. Examples of technologies that can directly exploit the methods disclosed herein include advanced forms of photonic components including, but not limited to, waveguide optical couplers and related forms of optical switches and limiters. Mechanical flexure at the system level of the integrated structure (via compression or extension) provides a direct means to effect these functionalities. The loss in a channel as well directly relates to the flexure of the waveguide—high bending radii promoting leakage in a controllable way from core to sheath modes. Such effects can be directly exploited in a variety of devices. For example,
Mechanically Functional Systems. The intersection between mechanics and electronics is fundamental for several critical classes of technologies—inertial and other forms of force sensors comprise specific examples that are both of current interest and finding broad use. The methods and systems disclosed herein provide a route to generating new forms of such devices.
Thermally Functional Devices. The pop up structures afforded by the present invention engender new capacities to provide for the thermal isolation of complex electronic components. An explicit device class provides a general design for the pixel elements of a long wavelength imaging system that requires the integration of high performance electronic components that provide control, read out, data handling and other capabilities for the system while providing direct integration and precise thermal isolation of thermally responsive (and for this example) two terminal devices. This demanding architecture is readily accessed using the methods taught by the current invention. In the present case it is possible to place functional electronic components—such as the AD converter needed to read a pixel—in close proximity to the IR responsive elements (appropriate examples include but are not limited to Si and thin film multilayers of photoresistive metal oxides supported on Si3N4 membrane), a feature that makes it possible to both simplify design and enhance performance. Most notably, the systems and devices presented herein provides a capability of integrating of such device elements in a non-planar focal array.
U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 11/115,954, 11/145,574, 11/145,542, 60/863,248, 11/465,317, 11/423,287, 11/423,192, and 11/421,654 are hereby incorporated by reference to the extent not inconsistent with the present description.
All references throughout this application, for example patent documents including issued or granted patents or equivalents; patent application publications; and non-patent literature documents or other source material; are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties, as though individually incorporated by reference, to the extent each reference is at least partially not inconsistent with the disclosure in this application (for example, a reference that is partially inconsistent is incorporated by reference except for the partially inconsistent portion of the reference).
The terms and expressions which have been employed herein are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed. Thus, it should be understood that although the present invention has been specifically disclosed by preferred embodiments, exemplary embodiments and optional features, modification and variation of the concepts herein disclosed may be resorted to by those skilled in the art, and that such modifications and variations are considered to be within the scope of this invention as defined by the appended claims. The specific embodiments provided herein are examples of useful embodiments of the present invention and it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be carried out using a large number of variations of the devices, device components, methods steps set forth in the present description. As will be obvious to one of skill in the art, methods and devices useful for the present methods can include a large number of optional composition and processing elements and steps.
Every formulation or combination of components described or exemplified herein can be used to practice the invention, unless otherwise stated.
Whenever a range is given in the specification, for example, a temperature range, a time range, or a composition or concentration range, all intermediate ranges and subranges, as well as all individual values included in the ranges given are intended to be included in the disclosure. It will be understood that any subranges or individual values in a range or subrange that are included in the description herein can be excluded from the claims herein.
All patents and publications mentioned in the specification are indicative of the levels of skill of those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains. References cited herein are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety to indicate the state of the art as of their publication or filing date and it is intended that this information can be employed herein, if needed, to exclude specific embodiments that are in the prior art. For example, when composition of matter are claimed, it should be understood that compounds known and available in the art prior to Applicant's invention, including compounds for which an enabling disclosure is provided in the references cited herein, are not intended to be included in the composition of matter claims herein.
As used herein, “comprising” is synonymous with “including,” “containing,” or “characterized by,” and is inclusive or open-ended and does not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method steps. As used herein, “consisting of” excludes any element, step, or ingredient not specified in the claim element. As used herein, “consisting essentially of” does not exclude materials or steps that do not materially affect the basic and novel characteristics of the claim. In each instance herein any of the terms “comprising”, “consisting essentially of” and “consisting of” may be replaced with either of the other two terms. The invention illustratively described herein suitably may be practiced in the absence of any element or elements, limitation or limitations which is not specifically disclosed herein.
One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that starting materials, biological materials, reagents, synthetic methods, purification methods, analytical methods, assay methods, and biological methods other than those specifically exemplified can be employed in the practice of the invention without resort to undue experimentation. All art-known functional equivalents, of any such materials and methods are intended to be included in this invention. The terms and expressions which have been employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention that in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed. Thus, it should be understood that although the present invention has been specifically disclosed by preferred embodiments and optional features, modification and variation of the concepts herein disclosed may be resorted to by those skilled in the art, and that such modifications and variations are considered to be within the scope of this invention as defined by the appended claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Applications 60/944,626 filed Jun. 18, 2007 and 60/824,683 filed Sep. 6, 2006 and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 11/145,574 filed Jun. 2, 2005, and 11/145,542 filed Jun. 2, 2005, each of which claim benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Nos. 60/577,077, 60/601,061, 60/650,305, 60/663,391 and 60/677,617 filed on Jun. 4, 2004, Aug. 11, 2004, Feb. 4, 2005, Mar. 18, 2005, and May 4, 2005, respectively, and is also a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 11/423,287 filed Jun. 9, 2006 which claims benefit of 60/790,104 filed Apr. 7, 2006, and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 11/145,574 filed Jun. 2, 2005, and 11/145,542 filed Jun. 2, 2005, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety to the extent not inconsistent with the disclosure herein
This invention was made with government support under DEFG02-91-ER45439 awarded by U.S. Department of Energy. The government has certain rights in the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60944626 | Jun 2007 | US | |
| 60824683 | Sep 2006 | US | |
| 60577077 | Jun 2004 | US | |
| 60601061 | Aug 2004 | US | |
| 60650305 | Feb 2005 | US | |
| 60663391 | Mar 2005 | US | |
| 60677617 | May 2005 | US | |
| 60577077 | Jun 2004 | US | |
| 60601061 | Aug 2004 | US | |
| 60650305 | Feb 2005 | US | |
| 60663391 | Mar 2005 | US | |
| 60677617 | May 2005 | US | |
| 60790104 | Apr 2006 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11145574 | Jun 2005 | US |
| Child | 11851182 | US | |
| Parent | 11145542 | Jun 2005 | US |
| Child | 11145574 | US | |
| Parent | 11423287 | Jun 2006 | US |
| Child | 11145542 | US | |
| Parent | 11145542 | Jun 2005 | US |
| Child | 11423287 | US | |
| Parent | 11145574 | Jun 2005 | US |
| Child | 11145542 | US |
