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Wafer-recyclable, environment-friendly transfer printing for large-scale thin-film nanoelectronics

Submitted by Yue Zhang on

Wafer-recyclable, Environment-friendly Transfer Printing for Large-scale Thin-film NanoelectronicsProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2018

Abstract

Transfer printing of thin-film nanoelectronics from their fabrication wafer commonly requires chemical etching on the sacrifice of wafer but is also limited by defects with a low yield. Here, we introduce a wafer-recyclable, environment-friendly transfer printing process that enables the wafer-scale separation of high-performance thinfilm nanoelectronics from their fabrication wafer in a defect-free manner that enables multiple reuses of the wafer. The interfacial delamination is enabled through a controllable cracking phenomenon in a water environment at room temperature. The physically liberated thin-film nanoelectronics can be then pasted onto arbitrary places of interest, thereby endowing the particular surface with desirable add-on electronic features. Systematic experimental, theoretical, and computational studies reveal the underlying mechanics mechanism and guide manufacturability for the transfer printing process in terms of scalability, controllability, and reproducibility.

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/07/11/1806640115.short