Highly effective transfer of micro-LED pixels to the intermediate and rigid substrate with weak and tunable adhesion by thiol modification
Journal article, 2023

Based on transfer printing technology, micro-LED pixels can be transferred to different types and sizes of driving substrates to realize displays with different application scenarios. To achieve a successful transfer, GaN-based micro-LEDs first need to be separated from the original epitaxial substrate. Here, micro-LED pixels (each size 25 μm × 30 μm) on the sapphire substrate were transferred to a flexible semiconductor wafer processing (SWP) tape that is strongly sticky by conventional laser lift-off (LLO) techniques. The pixels on the SWP tape were then transferred by using a sacrificial layer of non-crosslinked oligomeric polystyrene (PS) film onto the intermediate and rigid substrate (IRS) with weak and tunable adhesion by thiol (-SH) modification. The electrode of the micro-LED is Au metal, which forms Au-S bonds with the surface of the IRS to fix the pixels. The rigid substrate helps ensure that the pixel spacing is almost unchanged during the stamp transfer process, and the weak and tunable adhesion facilitates the pixels being picked up by the stamp. The experimental results demonstrate that the pixels can be efficiently transferred to the IRS by LLO and sacrificial layer-assistance, which will provide the possibility of achieving the further transfer of pixels to different types and sizes of driving substrates by a suitable transfer stamp. The transfer process details are discussed, which can provide insights into the transfer of micro-nano devices through polymer sacrificial layers.

Author

Kui Pan

Fuzhou University

Jie Sun

Fuzhou University

Fujian Science & Technology Innovation Laboratory for Optoelectronic Information of China

Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Quantum Device Physics

Chang Lin

Fujian Science & Technology Innovation Laboratory for Optoelectronic Information of China

Fuzhou University

Liying Deng

Fuzhou University

Xiao Li

Fuzhou University

Zuodong Mao

Fuzhou University

Tianxi Yang

Fujian Science & Technology Innovation Laboratory for Optoelectronic Information of China

Zhonghang Huang

Fujian Science & Technology Innovation Laboratory for Optoelectronic Information of China

Yang Li

Fuzhou University

Junyang Nie

Xi'an Jiaotong University

Tailiang Guo

Fujian Science & Technology Innovation Laboratory for Optoelectronic Information of China

Fuzhou University

Qun Yan

Fujian Science & Technology Innovation Laboratory for Optoelectronic Information of China

Fuzhou University

Nanoscale

2040-3364 (ISSN) 2040-3372 (eISSN)

Vol. 15 9 4420-4428

Subject Categories

Polymer Chemistry

Materials Chemistry

Condensed Matter Physics

DOI

10.1039/d2nr06021c

More information

Latest update

3/7/2024 9