Structures and methods for testing printable integrated circuits

{
  "publication_number": "US9142468B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Structures and methods for testing printable integrated circuits",
  "abstract": "A substrate includes an anchor area (30) physically secured to a surface of the substrate (10) and at least one printable electronic component (20). The at least one printable electronic component includes an active layer (14) having one or more active elements thereon, and is suspended over the surface of the substrate by electrically conductive breakable tethers (40). The electrically conductive breakable tethers include an insulating layer and a conductive layer thereon that physically secure and electrically connect the at least one printable electronic component to the anchor area, and are configured to be preferentially fractured responsive to pressure applied thereto. Related methods of fabrication and testing are also discussed.",
  "claims": [
    "1. An integrated circuit test structure, comprising: a substrate; an anchor area comprising one or more electrical elements to conduct an electrical test signal, wherein the anchor area is physically secured to a surface of the substrate; and at least one printable electronic component comprising an active layer including one or more active elements thereon, the at least one printable electronic component being suspended over the surface of the substrate by electrically conductive breakable tethers that physically secure and electrically connect the at least one printable electronic component to the anchor area to provide the electrical test signal to the one or more active elements, and wherein the electrically conductive breakable tethers comprise an insulating layer and a conductive layer thereon that are configured to be preferentially fractured responsive to pressure applied thereto to release the at least one printable electronic component from the substrate.",
    "2. The structure of claim 1, wherein the electrically conductive breakable tethers are configured to provide the electrical test signal to the one or more active elements to indicate defective ones thereof prior to the release of the printable electronic component from the substrate.",
    "3. The structure of claim 2, wherein the electrically conductive breakable tethers respectively comprise one or more conductive layers and at least one insulating layer that releasably secure the electronic component to the anchor area.",
    "4. The structure of claim 3, wherein the electrically conductive breakable tethers further comprise respective stress-concentrating features configured to be preferentially fractured responsive to pressure applied thereto.",
    "5. The structure of claim 4, wherein the stress-concentrating features comprise grooves or portions of the respective tethers having a reduced thickness relative to other portions thereof, and wherein the stress concentrating features of the electrically conductive breakable tethers are configured to be preferentially fractured responsive to pressure applied by a stamp to transfer the at least one electronic component to a target substrate.",
    "6. The structure of claim 2, further comprising: one or more contact pads on the substrate adjacent to and electrically coupled to the one or more electrical elements of the anchor area, wherein the one or more contact pads are sized and configured to be accessible to an external testing device.",
    "7. The structure of claim 6, wherein the one or more contact pads are dimensionally larger than the one or more active elements and are arranged along a periphery of the substrate.",
    "8. The structure of claim 6, wherein the at least one printable electronic component comprises a chiplet, and wherein the active elements of the at least one printable electronic component comprise transistors, light emitting structures, and/or light absorbing structures.",
    "9. The structure of claim 8, wherein the electrical elements of the anchor area comprise transistors, light emitting structures, metal wires, and/or electrical contact pads.",
    "10. The structure of claim 9, wherein the electrical elements of the anchor area comprise passive electrical elements.",
    "11. The structure of claim 9, wherein the one or more electrical elements of the anchor area comprises a light emitting structure that is operable to illuminate responsive to the electrical test signal supplied by the external testing device.",
    "12. The structure of claim 6, wherein the anchor area comprises a first anchor area, and further comprising: a second anchor area including one or more electrical elements thereon physically secured to the surface of the substrate adjacent to the first anchor area, wherein the electrical elements of the first anchor area are electrically connected to the electrical elements of the second anchor area.",
    "13. The structure of claim 1, wherein the anchor area is physically secured to the surface of the substrate by a sacrificial layer, and wherein the at least one electronic component is substantially free of the sacrificial layer and is completely detached from the surface of the substrate.",
    "14. The structure of claim 13, wherein the anchor area comprises a portion of the active layer, and wherein the substrate comprises a source substrate on which the at least one electronic component and the anchor area are formed.",
    "15. The structure of claim 1, wherein the at least one printable electronic component comprises: a first printable electronic component physically secured and electrically connected to the anchor area by ones of the electrically conductive breakable tethers along a first side of the anchor area; and a second printable electronic component physically secured and electrically connected to the anchor area by ones of the electrically conductive breakable tethers along a second side of the anchor area opposite the first side.",
    "16. The structure of claim 1, wherein the active layer comprises a semiconductor layer.",
    "17. The structure of claim 16, wherein the semiconductor layer is amorphous, polycrystalline, microcrystalline, or crystalline.",
    "18. The structure of claim 16, wherein the semiconductor layer comprises silicon, gallium arsenide (GaAs), and/or a III-V compound semiconductor.",
    "19. The structure of claim 1, wherein the electrically conductive breakable tethers include metal, polycrystalline semiconductor materials, or crystalline semiconductor materials.",
    "20. An integrated circuit structure, comprising: a substrate; an anchor area physically secured to a surface of the substrate, wherein the anchor area includes one or more electrical elements; and at least one printable electronic component comprising an active layer including one or more active elements thereon, the at least one printable electronic component being suspended over the surface of the substrate by electrically conductive breakable tethers that physically secure the at least one printable electronic component to the anchor area and electrically connect the one or more active elements of the at least one printable electronic component to the one or more electrical elements of the anchor area, wherein the electrically conductive breakable tethers respectively include first and second conductive layers with at least one insulating layer therebetween that releasably secure the at least one printable electronic component to the anchor area and are configured to be preferentially fractured responsive to pressure applied thereto, wherein the first and second conductive layers are stacked or arranged in a side-by-side manner.",
    "21. A method of testing elements of a printable electronic component, the method comprising: providing a substrate having an anchor area comprising one or more electrical elements to conduct an electrical test signal, wherein the anchor area is physically secured to a surface of the substrate, and at least one printable electronic component including one or more active elements thereon, the at least one printable electronic component being suspended over the surface of the substrate by electrically conductive breakable tethers that physically secure and electrically connect the at least one printable electronic component to the anchor area and are configured to be preferentially fractured responsive to pressure applied thereto to release the at least one printable electronic component from the substrate; and providing the electrical test signal to the one or more active elements of the printable electronic component through the electrically conductive breakable tethers via the anchor area prior to the release of the printable electronic component from the substrate.",
    "22. The method of claim 21, wherein the electrical test signal is configured to test a functionality of the one or more active elements and indicate defective ones thereof prior to the release of the printable electronic component from the substrate.",
    "23. The method of claim 22, wherein the anchor area includes one or more electrical elements, and further comprising: confirming the functionality of the one or more active elements based on an electrical or optical response of the active elements of the at least one electronic component or the electrical elements of the anchor area to the electrical signal.",
    "24. The method of claim 22, wherein the substrate further includes one or more contact pads adjacent to and electrically coupled to the anchor area and sized and configured to be accessible to an external testing device, and wherein providing the electrical signal comprises: providing the electrical signal to the one or more contact pads from the external device to test the functionality of the one or more active elements of the at least one printable electronic component.",
    "25. The method of claim 22, further comprising: after providing the electrical signal to test the functionality of the one or more active elements, pressing a stamp against the at least one printable electronic component with a pressure sufficient to fracture the electrically conductive breakable tethers and separate the at least one printable electronic component from the anchor area.",
    "26. The method of claim 21, wherein providing the substrate comprises: providing a sacrificial layer on the substrate and an active layer on the sacrificial layer; processing the active layer to form the at least one printable electronic component including the one or more active elements, the anchor area, and the electrically conductive breakable tethers that physically secure and electrically connect the at least one printable electronic component to the anchor area; forming a trench extending through the active layer to the sacrificial layer to substantially separate the at least one printable electronic component from the anchor area except for the electrically conductive breakable tethers therebetween; and selectively removing the sacrificial layer to suspend the at least one printable electronic component over the substrate by the electrically conductive breakable tethers.",
    "27. The method of claim 21, wherein the electrically conductive breakable tethers respectively include first and second conductive layers with an insulating layer therebetween, wherein the first and second conductive layers are stacked or arranged in a side-by-side manner."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The present application is a 35 U.S.C. §371 national phase application of PCT International Application No. PCT/US2011/048945, entitled “Structures And Methods For Testing Printable Integrated Circuits”, having an international filing date of Aug. 24, 2011, which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/377,131 entitled “Structures And Methods For Testing Printable Integrated Circuits,” filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Aug. 26, 2010, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. The above PCT International Application was published in the English language as International Publication No. WO 2012/027458 A1.\n\nThe present invention is directed to apparatus and methods for testing substrates with small, active circuit elements.\n\nIntegrated circuits and other electronically active devices are constructed on wafers, usually crystalline semiconductor wafers, using photolithographic processes used in the microelectronics industry. Each wafer usually includes multiple, identical devices that are separated from the wafer after construction, for example, by sawing. The devices can then be packaged, tested for functionality, and sold.\n\nTo avoid expenses associated with sawing and packaging defective devices, devices can be tested while they are still a part of the original wafer in which the devices were constructed. A variety of methods can be used to accomplish this. For example, pads accessible to test probes can be provided on each device, electrical signals can be applied to the pads, and the device can thereby be tested.",
  "cpc": [
    "H10P 72/74",
    "G01R 31/26",
    "G01R 31/2644",
    "H01L 21/308",
    "H01L 21/6835",
    "H01L 22/14",
    "H01L 22/30",
    "H01L 22/32",
    "H01L 2221/6835",
    "H01L 2221/68381",
    "H01L 2924/00",
    "H01L 2924/0002",
    "H10H 20/817",
    "H10H 20/824",
    "H10H 20/826",
    "H10H 20/85",
    "H10H 20/857",
    "H10P 50/691",
    "H10P 72/7426",
    "H10P 72/744",
    "H10P 74/207",
    "H10P 74/27",
    "H10P 74/273",
    "H10W 90/00"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "G01R 31/26",
    "H01L 21/308",
    "H01L 21/66",
    "H01L 21/683",
    "H01L 23/58"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "Semprius Inc"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Christopher Bower",
    "Etienne Menard",
    "Matthew Meitl"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2011-08-24",
  "publication_date": "2015-09-22",
  "grant_date": "2015-09-22",
  "priority_date": "2010-08-26",
  "application_number": "US-201113818901-A",
  "family_id": "44645194",
  "cited_by_count": 33,
  "citations": [
    "US5475224A",
    "US6142358A",
    "US20070032089A1",
    "US20060079010A1",
    "US20070281556A1",
    "US20090202089A1"
  ]
}