Method and system for mass assembly of thin-film materials
Sheets of a thin film material are attached to a carrier wafer. The carrier wafer and the attached sheets of thin film material are separated to form chiplet carriers. Each chiplet carrier includes a portion of the sheets of thin film material attached to a portion of the carrier wafer. The chiplet carriers are placed on an assembly surface in a random pattern. The chiplet carriers are arranged from the random pattern to a predetermined pattern, and the portions of the thin film material are transferred from the chiplet carriers to a target substrate.
1. A system comprising:
a plurality of chiplet carriers each comprising a portion of thin film material attached to a portion of a carrier wafer, a sheet of the thin film material being attached to the carrier wafer before the carrier wafer and the thin film material are separated into the chiplets;
a micro assembler that arranges the chiplet carriers on an assembly surface from a disordered pattern to a predetermined pattern; and
a carrier that transfers the portions of the thin film material from the chiplet carriers to a target substrate.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the thin film material comprises a van der Waals material.
3. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a singulation tool that separates the carrier wafer and the sheet of the thin film material after attachment thereto.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the carrier comprises a stamp having an array of mildly adhesive protrusions in the predetermined pattern so that each of the protrusion aligns with one of the chiplet carriers, the stamp being configured to:
press the protrusions against the chiplet carriers on the assembly surface;
rapidly cool the protrusions to a first temperature;
pull away from the chiplet carriers to remove the portions of the thin film material from the portions of the carrier wafers via the protrusions; and
press the portions of the thin film material onto the target substrate; and change the protrusions to a second temperature higher than the first temperature to separate the portions of the thin film from the protrusions.
5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the protrusions comprise silicon-based organic polymer.
6. The system of claim 4 , wherein portions of a second thin film material are on each of the protrusions before pressing the stamp against the chiplet carriers, and wherein pressing the stamp against the chiplet carriers causes the protrusions to contact the portion of the thin film material via the second thin film material, thereby causing the portion of the thin film material and the second thin film material to form a material stack, and wherein pressing the stamp onto the target substrate causes the material stack to be deposited on the target substrate.
7. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a sensor coupled to a processor, the sensor and the processor optically mapping the sheets of the thin film material in relation to the chiplets before separating the carrier wafer to form the chiplet carriers, the optical mapping used to select the chiplet carriers to be arranged in the predetermined pattern.
8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the sensor comprises at least one of a visible light imager, an electron imager, an infrared imager, an ultraviolet imager, an atomic force imager, and a photoluminescent imager.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the micro assembler uses electrostatic actuation to arrange the chiplet carriers.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the micro assembler uses one of magnetic forces, acoustics waves, physical forces, and fluidic actuation to arrange the chiplet carriers.
11. A system comprising:
means for attaching sheets of thin film material to a carrier wafer;
means for separating the carrier wafer and the attached sheets of the thin film material to form chiplet carriers, each chiplet carrier comprising a portion of the thin film material attached to a portion of the carrier wafer;
means for placing the chiplet carriers on an assembly surface in a disordered pattern;
means for arranging the chiplet carriers from the disordered pattern to a predetermined pattern;
means for transferring the portions of the thin film material from the chiplet carriers to a target substrate; and
means for mapping the sheets of the thin film material in relation to the portions of the carrier wafer before separating the carrier wafer to form the chiplet carriers, the mapping used to select the chiplet carriers to be arranged in the predetermined pattern.
12. The system of claim 11 , further comprising means for marking a unique identifier on each of the chiplet carriers, the unique identifiers being used in arranging the chiplet carriers from the disordered pattern to the predetermined pattern.
13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the thin film material comprises a van der Waals material.
14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the means for mapping the sheets of the thin film material comprises at least one of a visible light imager, an electron imager, an infrared imager, an ultraviolet imager, an atomic force imager, and a photoluminescent imager.
15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the means for arranging the chiplet carriers from the disordered pattern to the predetermined pattern uses one of electrostatic actuation, magnetic forces, acoustics waves, physical forces, and fluidic actuation to arrange the chiplet carriers.