Contact-less handling of metal sub-micron and nanowires for microelectronic packaging applications

Individual sub-micron particles produced by non-lithographic techniques are promising for future microelectronic applications. Being too small to be handled by traditional Pick & Place, they require a contact-less manipulation. We propose a combination of dielectrophoretic and acoustic trapping for the separation and oriented positioning of metal and semiconductor wires on microelectronic substrates. Chiplets, rods, and spheres of different materials can be manipulated in inicrofluidic channels by dielectrophoresis and ultrasonic standing waves, covering object sizes from the micro- to the nanoscale. Technical principles developed for the biotechnological manipulation of single live cells and other microparticles are adapted to the integration of miniaturized components into a microelectronic periphery. Developing these handling techniques for tiny and delicate individual components in microelectronic packaging ultimately requires the use of carrier liquids that facilit ate employing self-assembly strategies.