Large scale self-assembly of crystalline semiconductor microcomponents onto plastic substrates via microfluidic traps

Abstract

We present high-yield self-assembly results of silicon microcomponents assembled onto plastic substrates. The self-assembly is achieved by engineering the fluid flow over the substrate containing an array of microfluidic traps. This simple self-assembly method has demonstrated physical yields exceeding 90% as well as electrical connections between the microcomponents and the substrate. Using templates with 1250 binding sites, we were able to study the statistical nature of the self-assembly process experimentally and determine two exponential spatial and temporal trends affecting the overall yield.