SBIR Phase I: Photopolymer-based Microelectronic Device Transfer Process

这一小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是使上级数字显示器具有更好的成本、功耗和性能。 当今的典型解决方案包括液晶显示器（LCD）和有机发光二极管（OLED）。LCD需要多层材料，每一层都增加了成本，降低了效率，增加了脆弱性; OLED的制造成本通常比LCD更高，降解速度也更快。 该项目提出了一种改进的显示器的制造工艺，该显示器由非常小的光源阵列组装而成。 这些显示器将使低成本、轻量化显示器的许多应用取得进展，如人工和虚拟现实耳机、汽车控制台、可穿戴设备、医疗设备和移动的设备。这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目开发一种制造工艺，将数百万个微电子元件，例如微型发光二极管（microLED），以所需的精度安装到基板上，以构建功能显示器。传统方法使用基本的机械工具来从源晶片拾取每个microLED并将其放置在目标电路板上。本项目的目标是开发符合产量、成本和性能要求的制造工艺。 该项目基于与光刻法中使用的聚合物相关的聚合物特性。 当被光照射时，聚合物蒸发并使粘附在其上的组件转移到衬底上，从而在一个具有成本效益的步骤中移动数百万个microLED。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to enable superior digital displays with better cost, power, and performance. Today's typical solutions include liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). LCDs require many layers of materials, each of which adds cost, reduces efficiency, and increases fragility; OLEDs are typically even more expensive to make and degrade faster than LCDs. This project proposes a manufacturing process for an improved display assembled from arrays of very small light sources. These displays will enable advances in many applications of low-cost, lightweight displays, such as artificial and virtual reality headsets, automotive consoles, wearables, medical devices, and mobile devices.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project develops a manufacturing process to place millions of microelectronic components, such as micro-scale light emitting diodes (microLEDs) onto substrates with the required accuracy to build functional displays. Conventional approaches use basic mechanical tooling to pick up each microLED from a source wafer and place it on the target circuit board. The objective of this project is to develop a manufacturing process consistent with yield, cost, and performance requirements. The project is based on properties of polymers related to those used in photolithography. When illuminated by light, the polymers vaporize and cause components adhered to them to be transferred to a substrate, moving millions of microLEDs in a single, cost-effective step. This research will advance this technology toward translation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.