TOPTRANS: a sub-micron alignment accuracy large-area micro-transfer printing tool for the electronic-photonic micro-systems of the future

Today, one cannot imagine a world without electronics or

photonics. Electronic chips are everywhere: they are the

heart of our laptops and smartphones and are largely based

on monolithic silicon-based technologies. Photonics is the

science and technology that uses light and offers solutions

where today's conventional technologies are approaching

their limits in terms of speed, capacity and accuracy.

Enriching the digital electronics world with photonic chips

and materials is the foundation to the next wave of

disruptive innovations. The key challenge is to develop a

scalable technology that allows for the integration of a

heterogeneous variety of photonic chips and materials with

electronics, with a cost akin to that of a monolithic silicon

chip. This technology is micro-transfer printing. TOPTRANS

aims at installing a state-of-the-art wafer-scale microtransfer printing tool. This facility will be unique globally in

an academic setting and makes Ghent University a

reference center for heterogeneous integration for the

coming decade. The tool will contribute significantly to the

research of a multidisciplinary consortium of 17 promotors

from 6 research groups with a focus on the

photonic/electronic systems of the future, such as sensors

for autonomous vehicles, AR/VR displays, brain/computer

interfaces, quantum computers and wearables for digital

health.