Directed Assembly: Integration of Heterogeneous Systems Across Length Scales and Material Boundaries

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ECS-0601454H. Jacobs, Univ. of Minnesot-Twin CitiesSummary. The main goal of this proposal remains to develop a directed assembly process to enable the assembly of heterogeneous systems that contain non-identical parts, while supporting the ability of forming electrical interconnects. The revised objectives are:1) A fluidic agitation concept to suspend the disparate parts.2) A new method to activate receptors to enable programmable self-assembly and transfer of chiplets onto desired locations on a surface.3) Defect reduction by combining geometrical shape recognition with surface tension directed self-assembly. 4) Application of the gained knowledge to fabricate a sensor system that contains disparate units for sensing, processing, and communication.The scope is reduced by focusing on the assembly of systems with more readily available components that are 50 mm. Accordingly, the "key chemistry" and agitation using ultrasonification become obsolete. Both will become essential as we scale-down to smaller chip sizes. Given the opportunity we will apply for additional funding to explore these two important elements in the future. Intellectual Merit. The intellectual merit of this proposal is to advance knowledge in an emerging area that can be referred to as directed assembly, self-assembly-by-design, or programmable self-assembly. The focal points are heterogeneous systems and assemblies that contain components made of different materials with different physical dimensions that cannot be assembled effectively with robotic assembly lines, wafer-to-wafer transfer techniques, or existing self-assembly methods.Broader Impact. The ability to assemble disparate microscopic components (integrated circuits, optical components, sensors, actuators, fluidic devices) in two- or three dimensions would impact the creation of improved and entirely new systems that cannot be achieved with current micromachining and microassembly techniques. Applications include sensor systems to gather optical, IR, UV, acoustic, chemical, and/or radiological data that would improve many areas of our daily lives including healthcare, the environment, energy, food safety, manufacturing, and national security.