title: Thermo-compressive transfer printing for facile alignment and robust device integration of nanowires.
abstract: Controlled alignment and mechanically robust bonding between nanowires (NWs) and electrodes are essential requirements for reliable operation of functional NW-based electronic devices. In this work, we developed a novel process for the alignment and bonding between NWs and metal electrodes by using thermo-compressive transfer printing. In this process, bottom-up synthesized NWs were aligned in parallel by shear loading onto the intermediate substrate and then finally transferred onto the target substrate with low melting temperature metal electrodes. In particular, multi-layer (e.g. Cr/Au/In/Au and Cr/Cu/In/Au) metal electrodes are softened at low temperatures (below 100 °C) and facilitate submergence of aligned NWs into the surface of electrodes at a moderate pressure (∼5 bar). By using this thermo-compressive transfer printing process, robust electrical and mechanical contact between NWs and metal electrodes can be realized. This method is believed to be very useful for the large-area fabrication of NW-based electrical devices with improved mechanical robustness, electrical contact resistance, and reliability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering and KI for the NanoCentury, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 305-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Won Seok
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sejeong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Won
authors.forename: Jeunghee
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jihye
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Inkyu
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Park