Fluidic Self-Assembly and Interconnection Processes: Fundamental Research, Scaling Limits, and Applications

背景和动机：几乎所有人工制品的生产，包括封装的微系统、智能手机和计算机，都依赖于机器人装配线，这些装配线放置、包装和连接各种不同的组件。虽然机器人在制造业中占据主导地位，但在某些应用中，已建立的串行拾取和放置以及单个对象的操作过程达到了扩展限制。如果组装和互连处理(1)微观物体（<300微米）或高通量大体积组装，这些既定的过程将受到挑战。在另一个极端，大自然通过在分子长度尺度上以大规模平行的方式自组装来生产材料、结构和生命系统。受这些工艺的启发，基于自组装的制造策略已被广泛采用为纳米技术中不可避免的制造工具，使装配低于100纳米的物体成为可能。然而，考虑到目前的技术水平，由于目前不可能有效地组装和连接具有高产量，吞吐量和精度的微观（100nm-300微米）物体，因此仍然存在很大的组装差距。目的：本研究的目的是开发一种工艺，以缩小这种组装差距，并使功能组件的组装和互连，特别是小型化的半导体芯片和芯片，以大规模并行的方式。第一个目标是将最小芯片尺寸缩小到远远超过当前水平，同时支持在组装结构之间形成电气互连的能力。所提出的方法是基于定向自组装而不是机器人拾取和放置。第一个目标的智力价值是建立一个知识库，它将使自组装过程的工程能够有可能关闭或实质上缩小概述的组装差距。该研究将探讨潜在的解决方案，并建立力的基本标度定律，所需的搅拌，受体/结合位点，互连策略和组件递送机制。第一个目标应该被定性为基础研究。第二个目标是演示应用程序。第二个目标更具体，本质上不那么基本，因为它集成了特定于应用程序的自组装机器内部的工作原理。提出的组装机的目标是生产大面积固态照明面板，需要在广域基板上组装和连接led，具有高吞吐量（每小时100万个零件）和产量。第二个目标的智力价值在于建立一种目前尚不存在的连续自组装机器的蓝图。这台机器的实现很重要，因为它将提供证据，证明自组装具有实际应用，这是在学术环境之外帮助技术适应所必需的。

Background and Motivation: The production of nearly all man-made artifacts, including packaged microsystems, smart phones and computers, relies on robotic assembly lines that place, package, and connect a variety of disparate components. While robotic machines dominate the manufacturing world there are applications where the established processes of serial pick and place and manipulation of single objects, reach scaling limits. These established processes are challenged if the assembly and interconnection deals with (1) microscopic objects (<300 micrometer) or the assembly of large volumes at high throughput. At the other extreme, nature produces materials, structures, and living systems by self-assembly on a molecular length scale in a massively parallel way. Inspired by these processes self-assembly-based fabrication strategies have widely been adopted as an inevitable manufacturing tool in nanotechnology enabling the assembly of sub 100 nm objects. However, considering the state of the art, a large assembly gap remains since it is presently not possible to effectively assemble and connect microscopic (100nm-300 micrometer) objects with high yields, throughput, and precision. Objectives: The objective of this research is to develop a process to narrow this assembly gap and to enable the assembly and interconnection of functional components in particular miniaturized semiconductor dies and chips in a massively parallel manner. The first goal is to reduce the minimal chip size far beyond current levels while supporting the ability to form electrical interconnects between the assembled structures. The proposed approach is based on directed self-assembly instead of robotic pick and place. The intellectual merit of the first goal is to establish a knowledge base which will enable the engineering of self-assembly processes that have the potential to close or substantially narrow the outlined assembly gap. The research will investigate potential solutions and establish fundamental scaling laws of the forces, required agitation, receptors/binding sites, interconnection strategies, and component delivery mechanisms. The first goal should be characterized as fundamental research. The second goal is to demonstrate applications. The second goal is more specific and less fundamental in nature since it integrates working principles inside of an application specific self-assembly machine. The proposed assembly machine targets the production of large areas Solid State Lighting Panelsthat require the assembly and connection of LEDs on wide area substrates with high throughput (>10000 parts per hour) and yield. The intellectual merit of the second goal is to establish the blueprints of a continuous self-assembly machine that does not exist today. The realization of this machine is important since it will provide evidence that self-assembly has real applications which is required to aid technology adaptation outside of an academic setting.