Transfer print techniques for heterogeneous integration of photonic components

Abstract

The essential functionality of photonic and electronic devices is contained in thin surface layers leaving the substrate often to play primarily a mechanical role. Layer transfer of optimised devices or materials and their heterogeneous integration is thus a very attractive strategy to realise high performance, low-cost circuits for a wide variety of new applications. Additionally, new device configurations can be achieved that could not otherwise be realised. A range of layer transfer methods have been developed over the years including epitaxial lift-off and wafer bonding with substrate removal. Recently, a new technique called transfer printing has been introduced which allows manipulation of small and thin materials along with devices on a massively parallel scale with micron scale placement accuracies to a wide choice of substrates such as silicon, glass, ceramic, metal and polymer. Thus, the co-integration of electronics with photonic devices made from compound semiconductors, silicon, polymer and new 2D materials is now achievable in a practical and scalable method. This is leading to exciting possibilities in microassembly. We review some of the recent developments in layer transfer and particularly the use of the transfer print technology for enabling active photonic devices on rigid and flexible foreign substrates

Micro Grating Deposition on Non‐Planar Surfaces by Polymer‐Assisted Transfer Printing

“…Such an approach could allow one to deposit nanostructures onto curved substrates (e.g., lenses), or stack nanostructures to create multilayer metasurfaces and bulk metamaterials. One feasible route to place nanostructures on an arbitrary surface is known as transfer print technique . This technique implies combining i) fabrication of the structure on a conventional substrate and ii) transferring of the nanosctructures onto the substrate of choice.…”

“…However, transferring techniques have relatively long history and are well developed from late 1980s to nowadays . Especially, in the past years transfer print techniques have improved rapidly . Many of these techniques have provided a pathway to scientific and technological breakthroughs, including creating large‐area metamaterials, transferring crystalline gold films, stacking micro‐structures and depositing diodes on desired surfaces .…”

Transfer printing of semiconductor nanowire lasers

“…This technique, first reported by Prof. Rogers' group at the University of Illinois in 2006 [15], has proven to be a very advantageous technique for hybrid optoelectronic device fabrication due to its simplicity and versatility to produce a myriad of hybrid systems. Soon after the first report of this technique, advances swiftly followed (for reviews see [9] [16]) and different research groups have reported multiple hybrid photonic systems, based on TP processes. These included the systematic deposition of -LEDs onto flexible substrates [17][18] and the integration of lasers on silicon platforms [16] [19] just to name a few.…”

“…Soon after the first report of this technique, advances swiftly followed (for reviews see [9] [16]) and different research groups have reported multiple hybrid photonic systems, based on TP processes. These included the systematic deposition of -LEDs onto flexible substrates [17][18] and the integration of lasers on silicon platforms [16] [19] just to name a few.…”

“…TP fabrication techniques have however mainly been centred on the manipulation of large-dimensional optoelectronic structures [16][17][18][19]. Although some effort focused at applying TP fabrication protocols to manipulate nanostructures, these have mainly dealt with large-printing approaches that did not permit the transfer printing of single nanoscale devices [7][8][9][10][11].…”