Automated Nanoscale Absolute Accuracy Alignment System for Transfer Printing.

John Mcphillimy,Benoit J E Guilhabert,Antonio Hurtado,Dimitars Jevtics,Marc Sorel,Michael J Strain,Martin D Dawson,Charalambos Klitis

doi:10.1021/acsanm.0c02224

John Mcphillimy, Benoit J E Guilhabert + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.0c02224

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Abstract

The heterogeneous integration of micro- and nanoscale devices with on-chip circuits and waveguide platforms is a key enabling technology, with wide-ranging applications in areas including telecommunications, quantum information processing, and sensing. Pick and place integration with absolute positional accuracy at the nanoscale has been previously demonstrated for single proof-of-principle devices. However, to enable scaling of this technology for realization of multielement systems or high throughput manufacturing, the integration process must be compatible with automation while retaining nanoscale accuracy. In this work, an automated transfer printing process is realized by using a simple optical microscope, computer vision, and high accuracy translational stage system. Automatic alignment using a cross-correlation image processing method demonstrates absolute positional accuracy of transfer with an average offset of <40 nm (3σ < 390 nm) for serial device integration of both thin film silicon membranes and single nanowire devices. Parallel transfer of devices across a 2 × 2 mm2 area is demonstrated with an average offset of <30 nm (3σ < 705 nm). Rotational accuracy better than 45 mrad is achieved for all device variants. Devices can be selected and placed with high accuracy on a target substrate, both from lithographically defined positions on their native substrate or from a randomly distributed population. These demonstrations pave the way for future scalable manufacturing of heterogeneously integrated chip systems.

Highlights

Integrated photonic chips have been implemented in a wide range of material systems dependent on the application
In applications requiring the integration of multiple materials on a single chip, the requirement to reprocess the full system by using multiple die bonds may be prohibitive, especially for densely packed layouts
The results demonstrate the possible use of the technique as a future wafer-scale device integration technology

Summary

Introduction

Integrated photonic chips have been implemented in a wide range of material systems dependent on the application. III−V materials for on-chip laser sources,[1] silicon for large-scale passive signal processing,[2] or glass for lab-on-a-chip use.[3] To realize true single chip systems, it is necessary to integrate multiple materials together, on a common substrate, to cover the required range of functions. The integration of electrically pumped diode lasers with silicon photonics has provided much of the early work in this field and is reaching a significant level of maturity.[4] The common method of wafer or die bonding onto a prefabricated passive optical chip, followed by fabrication of active optoelectronic devices in situ, meets the required scaling criteria and is suitable for applications requiring the integration of only two materials. Recent reviews on photonic integrated circuits for quantum optical applications, for example, show both the breadth of function that can be achieved and the need for dense integration of devices from multiple, complementary materials.[5−7] Similar requirements can be envisaged for all-optical computing and telecommunications applications.[8−10]

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