Laser-driven noncontact bubble transfer printing via a hydrogel composite stamp

Abstract

Transfer printing that enables heterogeneous integration of materials into spatially organized, functional arrangements is essential for developing unconventional electronic systems. Here, we report a laser-driven noncontact bubble transfer printing via a hydrogel composite stamp, which features a circular reservoir filled with hydrogel inside a stamp body and encapsulated by a laser absorption layer and an adhesion layer. This composite structure of stamp provides a reversible thermal controlled adhesion in a rapid manner through the liquid-gas phase transition of water in the hydrogel. The ultrasoft nature of hydrogel minimizes the influence of preload on the pick-up performance, which offers a strong interfacial adhesion under a small preload for a reliable damage-free pick-up. The strong light-matter interaction at the interface induces a liquid-gas phase transition to form a bulge on the stamp surface, which eliminates the interfacial adhesion for a successful noncontact printing. Demonstrations of noncontact transfer printing of microscale Si platelets onto various challenging nonadhesive surfaces (e.g., glass, key, wrench, steel sphere, dry petal, droplet) in two-dimensional or three-dimensional layouts illustrate the unusual capabilities for deterministic assembly to develop unconventional electronic systems such as flexible inorganic electronics, curved electronics, and micro-LED display.