Mechanics of pressure driven transfer printing for stamp with micropillars

Abstract Transfer printing is a pivotal technology in the fabrication of flexible electronics, which is used to pick up the chiplet from the donor substrate and print the chiplet onto the receiver substrate. Transfer printing by stamp with micropillar has been widely used in the manufacturing process due to the adjustability of adhesion force. However, there is no adequate theoretical analysis on the regulation mechanism of the adhesion for the stamp with micropillar in the transfer printing. Herein, an analytical model of tunable elastomeric micropillar adhesion is established for pressure driven transfer printing process. With this model, the delamination length and maximum adhesion force between the stamp and the chiplet can be predicted. Meanwhile, different factors, including parameters, pressure and displacement of the stamp, were studied in this paper, to reveal their influence on the interface delamination length and adhesion force. The maximum adhesion force predicted by analytical model is verified through experiments. These conclusions can be used to guide the design of the stamp to assist the transfer printing process.