Engineers at the University of California,
Davis, have
invented a superthin nanoglue that could be used in new-generation microchip
fabrication.
“The material itself (say,
semiconductor wafers) would break before the glue peels off,” said Tingrui Pan,
professor of biomedical engineering. He and his fellow researchers have filed a
provisional patent.
Conventional glues form a
thick layer between two surfaces. Pan’s nanoglue, which conducts heat and can
be printed, or applied, in patterns, forms a layer the thickness of only a few
molecules.
The nanoglue is based on a
transparent, flexible material called polydimethylsiloxane, or PDMS, which,
when peeled off a smooth surface usually leaves behind an ultrathin, sticky
residue that researchers had mostly regarded as a nuisance.
Pan and his colleagues
realized that this residue could instead be used as glue, and enhanced its
bonding properties by treating the residue surface with oxygen.
The nanoglue could be used to
stick silicon wafers into a stack to make new types of multilayered computer
chips. Pan said he thinks it could also be used for home applications—for
example, as double-sided tape or for sticking objects to tiles. The glue only
works on smooth surfaces and can be removed with heat treatment.
Advanced Materials published a paper on the work.
