General Competition (April 1992)

Scalable High-Density Electronics Based on MultiFilm Modules

Sponsor: Kopin Corporation

• Project Performance Period: 9/15/1992 - 9/15/1995
• Total project (est.): $5,705,308.00
• Requested ATP funds: $2,776,131.00

A constant challenge in the electronics industry is to pack more semiconductor devices into smaller spaces. Miniaturization enhances the value and allows lighter, more powerful products--laptop computers, for example. However attempts to increase greatly the scale of circuit fabrication have been accompanied by unacceptable defect levels. When a single integrated circuit fills an entire wafer, yields become far too low to be commercially acceptable. A possible alternate approach is to continue to make smaller-scale devices, where quality control is easier and yields are acceptably high, but to pack the completed circuits closer together. Kopin Corporation, the coordinator of The American Scaled-Electronics Consortium (TASC), has developed the technology to fabricate thin-film circuits on single-crystal silicon substrates, and then detach the circuit from the substrate in a film only a few microns thick which can then be transferred to an alternate substrate. TASC proposes to extend this technology to complex, multicircuit modules. Multiple thin-film circuits could be laminated on a glass substrate, for example, as part of a compact display device. Even more challenging, several thin-film circuits could be stacked atop each other to form extremely dense, three-dimensional circuit packages. To achieve this, the thin-film circuit technology must be meshed with methods to position components with micron-scale alignment, a suitable technology devised for connecting the individual circuits, and an adhesive developed to bond the devices together. All of these have been studied by the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC) and their member companies, which make up the balance of TASC. As a test of multi-film module technology, a large-area active matrix flat-panel display will be fabricated with on-board drivers and logic on a glass-based substrate.

For project information:

Dr. Jack P. Salerno, (508) 824-6696

Active Project Participants

• Microelectronics & Computer Technology Corporation (Austin, TX)
  [Original, Active Member]
  

ATP Project Manager

Carlos Grinspon, (301) 975-4448
carlos.grinspon@nist.gov