Micrometer-sized photodetectors for selective-area transferring and integration on a heterogeneous substrate

下一代显示技术的关键特征可能包括高光效率、高空间分辨率、高可靠性、节能以及环境光感知能力。其中，实时光学传感不仅可以为设备增加新的功能，还可以使显示器主动响应周围的任何变化并做出相应的反应，从而实现一个全新的概念——智能显示器。然而，没有一种商用显示技术集成了原位光学传感能力。原因很简单，器件顶表面积完全被二维密集排列的发光RGB（红/绿/蓝）阵列占据，没有给任何其他组件留下空间。VueReal Technologies Inc.一直在与PI合作开发微米尺寸的发光二极管（µled）显示器。通过此次合作，不仅可以展示有史以来最先进的微型led显示屏，还可以吸引1800万美元以上的投资资金。在这种基于微led的显示器中，通过显着缩小每个发光像素的尺寸，可以释放设备表面积，从而产生新的自由度来集成不同的光学元件。基于过去三年的研发进展，PI和VueReal将继续致力于微米级光电探测器（micro-PD）技术的开发。本项目的研究目标是：1)开发微pd的制造策略和优化配方；2)表征所制备的微pd器件；3)优化所制备器件的性能，特别是抑制漏电流和提高信噪比；4)开发一种分离和转移策略，将微pd与µled集成在同一衬底上。该项目将为高素质的个人（HQP）提供一个极好的机会，以获得设备制造，表征，光学检测和显示技术的实践经验。该项目还将为行业合作伙伴提供滑铁卢大学急需的专业知识和设施。

The key features of next-generation display technologies may include high optical efficiency, high spatial resolution, high reliability, energy saving as well as the capability of environment optical sensing. Among them, the real-time optical sensing would not only add new functionalities to the devices, but also enable the displays to actively respond to any changes in surroundings and react accordingly, leading to the realization of a completely new concept - smart display. Nevertheless, none of the commercially-available display technologies has integrated in-situ optical sensing capabilities. The reason is simple, the device top surface area is fully occupied by the two-dimensional heavily-packed light-emitting RGB (red/green/blue) array, leaving no room for any other components. VueReal Technologies Inc. has been collaborating with the PI on the development of micrometer-sized light emitting diode (µ-LED)-based displays. The collaboration yields the demonstration of record-breaking µ-LED-based displays and enables the company to attract more than 18 million dollars investment fund. By significantly shrinking the size of each light-emitting pixel in such µ-LED-based displays, device surface area is freed up, yielding a new degree of freedom to integrate different optical components. Based on the R&D progress in the past three years, the PI and VueReal will continue to work on the development of micrometer-sized photodetector (micro-PD) technologies. The research objectives of this project are 1) To develop a fabrication strategy and an optimized recipe for fabricating microPDs, 2) To characterize the fabricated micro-PD devices, 3) To optimize the performance of the fabricated devices, in particular, to suppress the leakage current and to enhance signal-to-noise ratio and, 4) To develop a detaching and transferring strategy that can integrate micro-PDs with µ-LEDs on a same substrate. This project will provide an excellent opportunity for highly qualified personal (HQP) to gain hands-on experience with device fabrication, characterization, optical detection and display technologies. This project will also provide the much urgently-needed expertise and facilities at the University of Waterloo to the industry partner.