Micro device transfer equipment and related method

{
  "publication_number": "US10505070B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Micro device transfer equipment and related method",
  "abstract": "A micro device transfer equipment includes a convey platform and a transfer device. The convey platform is configured to carry a wafer and move the wafer towards a specific direction, wherein a plurality of micro devices are fabricated on the wafer. The transfer device includes a plurality of transfer heads each including a base arm, a first side arm and a second side arm. The first side arm and the second side arm are disposed on the base arm in a movable manner for clamping a corresponding micro device among the plurality of micro devices.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A micro device transfer equipment, comprising: a convey platform configured to carry a wafer and move the wafer towards a specific direction, wherein a plurality of micro devices are fabricated on the wafer and each micro device is a micro light emitting diode; and a transfer device including a plurality of transfer heads each comprising: a base arm; and a first side arm and a second side arm disposed on the base arm in a movable manner for clamping a corresponding micro device among the plurality of micro devices.",
    "2. The micro device transfer equipment of claim 1, wherein the convey platform is a transport belt.",
    "3. The micro device transfer equipment of claim 1, wherein the plurality of transfer heads are arranged to be respectively aligned with a first column of micro devices among the plurality of micro devices fabricated on the wafer, or arranged to be respectively aligned with a first row of micro devices among the plurality of micro devices fabricated on the wafer.",
    "4. A method of transferring micro devices, comprising: using a convey platform to carry a wafer on which a plurality of micro devices are fabricated, wherein each micro device is a micro light emitting diode; arranging a plurality of transfer heads in a transfer device to be respectively aligned with a first column of micro devices among the plurality of micro devices fabricated on the wafer, or arranging the plurality of transfer heads in the transfer device to be respectively aligned with a first row of micro devices among the plurality of micro devices fabricated on the wafer; adjusting a distance between a first side arm and a second side arm in each transfer head to a first value; the transfer device moving towards the convey platform and the convey platform moving the wafer towards the transfer device until the first column of micro devices or the first row of micro devices are moved into a space between the first side arm and the second side arm of a corresponding transfer head; and adjusting the distance between the first side arm and the second side arm in each transfer head to a second value for clamping each micro device of the first column of micro devices or the first row of micro devices, wherein: the first value is larger than a sum of a height of each micro device and a height of the wafer; the second value is smaller than the first value; and the first column of micro devices or the first row of micro devices are nearest to the transfer device among the plurality of micro devices fabricated on the wafer.",
    "5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: the transfer device moving away from the convey platform for separating the first column of micro devices or the first row of micro devices from other micro devices fabricated on the wafer after clamping each micro device of the first column of micro devices or the first row of micro devices using each transfer head.",
    "6. The method of claim 5, further comprising: the transfer device moving a second column of micro devices or a second row of micro devices fabricated on the wafer towards the transfer device after separating the first column of micro devices or the first row of micro devices from other micro devices fabricated on the wafer, wherein the second column of micro devices or the second row of micro devices are nearest to the transfer device among the plurality of micro devices fabricated on the wafer except the first column of micro devices or the first row of micro devices.",
    "7. The method of claim 4, further comprising: performing a cutting procedure on the wafer for defining a range of each micro device before using the convey platform to carry the wafer."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "1. Field of the Invention\n\nThe present invention is related to a micro device transfer equipment and related method, and more particularly, to a micro device transfer equipment and related method capable of mass-transferring micro LEDs rapidly and efficiently.\n\n2. Description of the Prior Art\n\nCompared to traditional incandescent bulbs, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are advantageous in low power consumption, long lifetime, small size, no warm-up time, fast reaction speed, and the ability to be manufactured as small or array devices. In addition to outdoor displays, traffic signs, and liquid crystal display (LCD) backlight for various electronic devices such as mobile phones, notebook computers or personal digital assistants (PDAs), LEDs are also widely used as indoor/outdoor lighting devices in place of fluorescent of incandescent lamps.\n\nThe size of traditional LED arrays is the dimension of millimeters (mm). The size of micro LED arrays may be reduced to the dimension of micrometers (μm) while inheriting the same good performances regarding power consumption, brightness, resolution, color saturation, reaction speed, life time and efficiency. In a micro LED manufacturing process, a thin-film, miniaturized and array design is adopted so that multiple micro LEDs are fabricated in the dimension of merely 1-250 μm. Next, these micro LEDs are mass transferred to be disposed on another circuit board. Protection layers and upper electrodes may be formed in a physical deposition process before packaging the upper substrate.",
  "cpc": [
    "H01L 33/005",
    "B25J 18/00",
    "H01L 2933/0033",
    "H01L 2933/0066",
    "H10H 20/01",
    "H10H 20/036",
    "H10H 20/0364",
    "H10P 72/0446",
    "H10W 90/00"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "B25J 18/00",
    "H01L 33/00"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "Acer Inc"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Jui-Chieh HSIANG",
    "Chih-Chiang Chen"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2018-04-09",
  "publication_date": "2019-12-10",
  "grant_date": "2019-12-10",
  "priority_date": "2018-01-09",
  "application_number": "US-201815947881-A",
  "family_id": "62067381",
  "cited_by_count": 0,
  "citations": [
    "US20040038499A1",
    "US20040154161A1",
    "US20070138466A1",
    "EP2284862A1",
    "JP2011119365A",
    "US8453548B2",
    "JP2012043930A",
    "US9343365B2",
    "TWM448052U",
    "US20170186630A1",
    "US20190051762A1"
  ]
}