Heiko O. Jacobs Professor, Inst. of Microelectronics and Nanoelectronics Chair, Nanotechnology Division Ilmenau University of Technology GERMANY

Directed Parallel Assembly Across Length Scales Exploiting Surface Tension and Coulomb Forces

This talk will discuss directed self-assembly based methods to enable positioning, self-alignment, and interconnection of micro- and nanoscopic objects. Two methods will be presented:

Fluidic Self-assembly of Microscopic Semiconductor Chips — The first process uses surface tension as a method to capture agitated components, align, and electrically connect disparate objects in a massively parallel fashion. The physics and applications will be described. The process has been applied to fabricate solid-state lighting modules in a reel-to-reel fashion. It has been used to enable the self-packaging of LEDs or to cover surface with chips using a self-tiling process. In combination with elastomeric supports, the realization of stretchable and metamorphic electronics is possible. First demonstrators include metamorphic LED arrays which morph from a planar to a spherical to a cone and box like topology.

Gas Phase Coulomb Force Directed Assembly — The second process aims to provide a directed transport and assembly solution of nanoscopic objects. The original goal was to find a solution to establish freeform and self-aligning nanobondwires. The process is also referred to as “Gas Phase Electrodeposition” since it replaces the liquid medium and ions in the wet chemical analog with a carrier gas, high mobility gas ions, and charged nanoscopic objects to be assembled. The process enables the site selective assembly and deposition of nanomaterials on pre-patterned surfaces. The process is applied to fabricate nanostructured electrodes, multimaterial/ multifunctional sensor arrays, and nanoscopic freeform bondwires.