Design and analysis of high-speed continuous micro-contact printing

Abstract

Micro-contact printing ([mu]CP) is a technology that prints directly off a patterned elastomeric stamp by transferring only a molecular monolayer of ink to a surface, providing a low-cost, high resolution and widely applicable method of nano-scale patterning. Roll to roll is recognized as one of the most promising models for high volume micro-contact printing since it offers advantages such as high throughput, convenient material handling and conformal contact propagation. We have designed and built a tool to study the behavior of micro-contact printing in a roll to roll paradigm, with the three fold objective of printing at high speeds, over large areas and obtaining good quality. A speed of as high as 400 feet/min was achieved with good printing quality. This thesis provides details of this roll to roll high speed micro-contact printing technique from mechanical design to system control to final experiment result analysis, with a concentration in system control. We were also able to keep the distortions to as low as 28 microns over an area of 5.8"x5" and maintain dimensional distribution within 1 micron. A proof-of-concept continuous etching tool was also built to match the speed of the print tool.