Ino-Flex: Enabling ultra-large area ultra-parallel roll-to-roll transfer printing of high performance flexible inorganic semiconductor devices

该项目旨在开发一种新的大批量制造工艺，使高性能半导体器件能够集成到各种灵活的产品中。这种方法基于转移印刷，其中超薄半导体器件从原始晶片上移除并精确地转移到大规模柔性基板上。为了显著降低制造产品的成本，这种新颖的工艺允许集成到大规模卷对卷印刷工艺中。一系列的策略，包括热和动力控制机制将在新的打印系统中实施。这将允许选择性地控制器件和辊之间的粘附，使得大量半导体器件能够通过辊从它们的基板平行拾取并印刷到连续移动的柔性卷绕基板上。该工艺有可能与成熟的印刷工艺相结合，以允许高性能无机半导体器件与包括有机半导体和织物在内的其他材料集成。高性能无机半导体材料通常由于其脆性晶片衬底而在机械上不灵活，其使用为广泛的新兴智能技术打开了大门，包括高性能显示器（VR/AR的大规模和小规模），可穿戴设备，智能服装和生物技术，如低成本健康监测。在开发出原型卷对卷转印系统之后，一系列设备将被集成到柔性大面积基板中，包括光学和电子元件。这些将用于展示这种制造技术在各种新产品和新兴产品中的变革潜力。

This project seeks to develop a new high volume manufacturing process that will enable high performance semiconductor devices to be integrated into a wide range of flexible products. This approach is based on transfer printing where ultra-thin semiconductor devices are removed from the original wafer and precisely transferred onto large scale flexible substrates. In order to significantly reduce the cost of fabricated products, this novel process allows for integration in to large scale roll-to-roll printing processes. A range of strategies including thermal and kinetic control mechanisms will be implemented within the new print system. This will allow for selective control of adhesion between the devices and the roller, enabling large numbers of semiconductor devices to be picked from their substrates in parallel by a roller and printed onto a continuously moving flexible rolled substrate. This process has the potential to be combined with well-established printing processes to allow high performance inorganic semiconductor devices to be integrated with other materials including organic semiconductors and fabrics. The use of high performance inorganic semiconductor materials that are usually mechanically inflexible due to their brittle wafer substrates, opens the door to a wide range of new and emerging smart technologies including high performance displays (both large scale and small scale for VR/AR), wearables, smart clothing and bio-technologies such as low cost health monitoring. Following the development of a prototype roll-to-roll transfer printing system, a range of devices will be integrated into flexible, large area substrates including optical and electronic components. These will be used to demonstrate the transformative potential of this manufacturing technique in a variety of new and emerging products.