Building flexible circuits with self‐assembly

Abstract

Purpose

The paper's aim is to present a method for integrating high‐performance circuit components onto flexible substrates using self‐assembly. The basic process of self‐assembly at the micrometer‐scale is reviewed and recent work in building functional parts such as silicon transistors and compound semiconductor light emitting diodes, as well as their integration onto flexible plastic templates, is reported.

Design/methodology/approach

A micron‐scale self‐assembly method was used for building flexible circuits. In micron‐scale self‐assembly, functional micro‐components are independently microfabricated and subsequently allowed to self‐assemble on a template with electrical interconnects and corresponding binding sites in a fluid.

Findings

The self‐assembly process can achieve heterogeneous integration with a potentially very high yield. Successful assembly of functional micro‐components such as LEDs and transistors on plastic has been demonstrated.

Originality/value

The paper demonstrates fabrication techniques for free‐standing micro‐components with novel designs, low‐temperature fabrication on thin plastic sheets, and using capillary‐gravity‐based self‐assembly for the integration of crystalline inorganic semiconductor components onto unconventional substrates such as flexible polymers.

Citation

Saeedi, E., Kim, S. and Parviz, B.A. (2008), "Building flexible circuits with self‐assembly", Circuit World, Vol. 34 No. 4, pp. 25-31. https://doi.org/10.1108/03056120810918097