CN109390267B

CN109390267B - Method and apparatus for transferring micro-components in batches

Info

Publication number: CN109390267B
Application number: CN201710675244.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 吴智孟
Original assignee: Innovation Service Co ltd
Current assignee: Innovation Service Co ltd
Priority date: 2017-08-09
Filing date: 2017-08-09
Publication date: 2023-03-21
Anticipated expiration: 2037-08-09
Also published as: CN109390267A

Abstract

A method for transferring the micro elements in batches includes such steps as loading multiple probes on a transferring unit in array mode, extending the probes out of the bottom of said transferring unit, arranging a temp-controlled channel in said transferring unit, introducing hot water to said channel to raise the temp of probes, driving said transferring unit to make the probes wet a binding material, introducing cold water to said channel to lower temp of probes, temporarily attaching said binding material to the probes, moving the transferring unit to the position over multiple micro elements, pressing down the binding material to stick them in batches, moving the transferring unit to the position over a substrate, heating again to make the binding material flow onto the substrate, and controlling the substrate to be at low temp.

Description

Method and device for transferring micro-components in batches

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method for transferring micro components in bulk, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for transferring micro components in bulk.

Background

With the maturity and evolution of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), the LED industry has developed to appeal for thin film, miniaturization, and array, and the size of the Micro LED Display can reach about 1 to 10 μm.

However, although Micro LED displays have been paid attention and expanded by enterprises, and have multiple advantages in specification compared with LCD, even comparable in image quality to OLED, micro LED development is not widespread at present, and the main difficulties are three major aspects: first, in LED die bonding, taking the mature LED light bar process as an example, failure problems such as bad spots occur in manufacturing an LED light bar, and in any case, millions of micro LEDs are embedded in a display, and the LCD and the OLED are operated in batch, so the yield performance is relatively good. Secondly, on the LED element, the Flip-Chip LED is suitable for Micro LED display, because of its small volume, easy to be manufactured into miniaturization, no metal wire is needed, the gap between LEDs can be reduced, and the like, although the current yield of Flip Chip technology has a certain problem, with the gradual improvement of LED technology and the continuous injection of capital, it has been steadily promoted. Thirdly, in the aspect of large-scale transfer, the display difficulty of the Micro LED in the future lies in that a large-batch operation mode is not easily adopted for an embedded LED process, particularly, RGB three-color LEDs have higher monochrome difficulty, but the Micro LED display is favorably LED into a mass production stage along with the improvement of technical methods such as LED adhesion and printing in the future.

Therefore, for the adhesion and printing Technology of Micro LEDs, surface Mount Technology (SMT) Technology or Chip On Board (COB) Technology is still used in the industry to bond Micro LED chips of micron scale to a display substrate, which both take time and are one of the factors that lead to slow production speed and further reduce manufacturing efficiency.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a method and a device for transferring micro elements in batches, which have the advantages of high production speed, improved yield and reduced manufacturing cost.

Based on the above, the present invention mainly adopts the following technical means to achieve the above object.

A method for transferring micro components in batches comprises the following steps: step A: arranging a plurality of probes on a shifting unit in an array manner, and enabling the needle heads of the probes to penetrate and extend out of the bottom of the shifting unit; and B: the transfer unit is internally provided with a temperature control flow passage, and the temperature of the probe is increased by leading hot water into the temperature control flow passage; and C: driving the transfer unit to make the probe head wet with a bonding material; step D: then leading cold water into the temperature control flow channel, and cooling each probe to promote the adhesion material to be adhered to the probe needle; step E: then, the transfer unit is moved to the upper part of the plurality of micro-components, so that each probe is aligned with the micro-components and pressed down, and the micro-components are adhered in batch by the adhesive material on the probe tip; step F: finally, the transfer unit is moved to the position above the target substrate, and the micro component is aligned to the position to be placed and pressed down; g: the heating operation is performed again under the pressing condition, so that the adhesive material flows onto the substrate after being melted, and the substrate is controlled at a low temperature, so that the adhesive material is condensed between the micro element and the substrate, namely, the transfer is completed.

Further, in step E, each of the micro devices is moved onto a platform with a specific distribution pitch in advance, and after the adhesive material on the probe head adheres to each of the micro devices and the transfer unit is moved up, each of the micro devices is carried up from the platform.

Furthermore, in step E, the bottom of the probe head of the transfer unit is provided with a first bonding portion, and the top of each micro component is provided with at least one second bonding portion correspondingly embedded with the first bonding portion, so that the probe and the micro component are temporarily embedded together.

Further, in step B, the temperature of the hot water in the waterway of the temperature control channel is between 50 ℃ and 140 ℃.

Further, in step D, the temperature of the cold water in the water path of the temperature controlled flow channel is between 0 ℃ and 30 ℃.

Further, after step a, the probes on the transfer unit may be leveled so that each probe at the bottom of the transfer unit is level.

Further, in step C, the adhesive material is one of a flux, an adhesive, and an underfill.

Further, in step E, the shape of the first and second bonding portions is any one of trapezoidal, square-cone, polygonal, circular, and circular arc, and the probe and the micro-device are temporarily and stably fitted to each other by fitting the corresponding shapes.

An apparatus for batch transferring fine components, comprising: a transfer unit having a transfer head and an upper cover on the transfer head; a plurality of probes which are arranged in an array and penetrate through the transfer head, and a needle head of each probe penetrates out of the bottom of the transfer head; the temperature control flow passage is arranged on the shifting unit and is provided with a water path winding around the probe, the water path is also provided with an inlet end and an outlet end which penetrate and extend out of the top of the shifting unit, and hot water or cold water is introduced through the water path to heat or cool the probe.

Preferably, the shape of the probe head is any one of trapezoid, square cone, polygon, circle and circular arc.

Preferably, the inlet end of the temperature control flow passage is further provided with a control valve for switching the introduction of hot water or cold water.

By adopting the technical means, the method and the device for transferring the Micro elements in batches utilize the temperature control flow channel in the transferring unit for heating and cooling, so as to wet the bonding material, transfer the Micro elements after cooling, and then heat so as to melt the bonding material to ensure that the Micro elements are transferred onto the substrate.

Summarizing the above, the problems of slow production speed and low yield caused by adopting the SMT technology or the COB technology in the prior Micro LED are solved. The invention uses the temperature control flow channel on the transfer unit to heat the probe, the needle head is adhered with the adhesive material, then the probe is cooled, the adhesive material is cooled to be adhered on the probe needle head, the transfer unit is driven to the upper part of the micro element to be adhered, then the adhesive material on the probe is adhered on the micro element by pressing down, then the micro element is taken up from the platform and moved to the upper part of the substrate, then the transfer unit is heated again, the adhesive material on the needle head flows into the substrate by hot melting, and the substrate is controlled to be at low temperature, so that the adhesive material is condensed between the micro element and the substrate, and the micro element is adhered on the substrate, thus quickly completing batch transfer operation. Therefore, the invention wets the adhesive material by the temperature control mode in the transfer unit, transfers the Micro element after cooling, and heats the adhesive material to melt so as to ensure that the Micro element is transferred to the substrate, thereby not only having simple and rapid operation, but also stably and reliably transferring the Micro LED so as to accelerate the production speed, simultaneously improving the yield and having the advantage of reducing the manufacturing cost.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a flowchart of a method for transferring fine components in bulk according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the method and apparatus for transferring micro devices in bulk according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the method and apparatus for transferring micro-components in bulk according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing the materials to be adhered to the probes.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of each probe being attached with a material.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing that each micro-device is mounted on a stage, and a probe stuck with an adhesive material is in contact with the micro-device.

Fig. 7 is a schematic view showing each fine element attached to the needle.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the micro device being displaced over the substrate.

Fig. 9 is a schematic view showing that the adhesive material is melted and then flows into the substrate to transfer the micro-components onto the substrate in bulk.

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of the probe and the micro-device fitted together in a one-to-one manner.

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of a probe and a micro device in a many-to-one fitting manner.

Fig. 12 is a schematic view showing the transfer of a red micro-component onto a substrate.

FIG. 13 is a schematic view of red and green micro devices being transferred onto a substrate.

FIG. 14 is a schematic view showing that the red, green and blue micro devices are all transferred onto the substrate.

Fig. 15 is an assembled perspective view of the apparatus for transferring fine components in batch according to the present invention.

[ notation ] to show

10. Probe 11 needle

111. First joint 20 transfer unit

21. Upper cover of transfer head 22

30. Temperature control runner 31 waterway

32. Inlet end 33 outlet end

34. Bonding material of control valve 40

50. Second bonding part of fine element 51

52. Second bonding portion 53 red minute element

54. Green micro-device 55 blue micro-device

60. The platform 70 is a substrate.

Detailed Description

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, a preferred embodiment of the method for transferring micro components in batch according to the present invention comprises the following steps:

step A: as shown in fig. 2, a plurality of probes 10 are arranged in an array on a transfer unit 20, and a needle 11 of each probe 10 extends out of the bottom of the transfer unit 20. Next, the probes 10 on the transfer unit 20 may be leveled so that each probe 10 on the bottom of the transfer unit 20 is flush with the height. In this embodiment, the planarization operation can be achieved by a polishing technique. The leveling operation is not performed every time, and the execution frequency can be adjusted as required.

And B: as shown in fig. 3, the temperature of the probe 10 is then raised by introducing hot water into the temperature-controlled flow path 30 through a temperature-controlled flow path 30 inside the transfer unit 20. In this embodiment, the temperature-controlled flow passage 30 is formed by a winding water path 31 surrounding the probe 10, and an inlet end 32 and an outlet end 33 of the water path 31 respectively protrude out of the top of the transferring unit 20, so that hot water flows through the water path 31 to heat the probe 10. In this embodiment, the temperature of the hot water in the water path 31 ranges from 50 ℃ to 140 ℃.

And C: as shown in fig. 4, the transfer unit 20 is driven to make the tip 11 of the probe 10 wet an adhesive material 40, as shown in fig. 5. The adhesive material 40 may be one of flux, adhesive, and underfill (under fill), and in this embodiment, flux is the best option.

Step D: then, cold water is introduced into the temperature-controlled flow passage 30 to appropriately cool each probe 10, so as to promote the adhesive material 40 to be condensed on the needle 11 of the probe 10, thereby enhancing the adhesion. In addition, in the embodiment, referring to fig. 3, a control valve 34 is disposed at the inlet 32 of the temperature control flow channel 30, and cold water can be introduced into the water channel 31 timely by switching the control valve 34, so as to promote the temperature of the probe 10 to be lowered back to low temperature. In this embodiment, the temperature of the cold water in the water path 31 ranges from 0 ℃ to 30 ℃.

Step E: as shown in fig. 6, the transfer unit 20 is moved to above the micro-devices 50, and is pressed down to make the probes 10 stick to the micro-devices 50 in batch by the adhesive material 40. Incidentally, in this step, since each of the fine elements 50 is peeled off from the adhesive film (Blue Tape) in advance and expanded to a target pitch, and is transferred onto a stage 60 having a specific distribution, when the adhesive material 40 on the probe 10 sticks to the fine element 50, and the transfer unit 20 moves up, the fine element 50 is carried up from the stage 60, as shown in fig. 7.

Step F: finally, as shown in fig. 8, the transfer unit 20 is moved to above a substrate 70, and the heating operation (heating method in step B) is performed again to melt the adhesive 40 and flow it onto the substrate 70, and the substrate 70 is controlled at a low temperature to condense the adhesive 40 between the micro-device 50 and the substrate 70, thereby completing the transfer of the micro-device 50, as shown in fig. 9. The low temperature of the control substrate 70 is set to be in a range of 0 to 30 ℃.

As shown in fig. 10, the transfer unit 20 further has a first connecting portion 111 at the bottom of the probe 10 tip 11, and at least one second connecting portion 51 correspondingly fitting with the first connecting portion 111 at the top of each micro component 50, so that in step E, the probe 10 and the micro component 50 are temporarily fitted together to prevent the micro component 50 from rotating during the transfer process and to increase the stability of the probe 10 in grasping the micro component 50.

Next, in fig. 2 to 10, in mass transfer operation of the probe 10 and the fine component 50, the probe 10 and the fine component 50 are mated with each other by the first bonding portion 111 of each probe 10 and the second bonding portion 51 of each fine component 50 in a one-to-one manner, and the probe 10 and the fine component 50 are mated with each other by the first bonding portion 111 of the tip 11 of each probe 10 and the second bonding portion 51 of each fine component 50 in a one-to-one manner. In addition, the probe 10 and the micro device 50 can be embedded by many-to-one, one-to-many or many-to-many ways, for example, in fig. 11, the probe 10 and the micro device 50 are embedded by many-to-one, and the first combining parts 111 on the needle heads 11 of the two probes 10 and the two second combining parts 52 on each micro device 50 are matched and embedded, so that the better stability of the adhesion and the grabbing can be achieved.

The first bonding portion 111 of the probe 10 is trapezoidal, and the second bonding portion 51 of the micro-device 50 is rectangular, but the first bonding portion 111 and the

second bonding portions

51, 52 may be any of a square cone, a polygon, a circle, and an arc, and the probe 10 and the micro-device 50 may be temporarily and stably engaged with each other by matching the shapes.

It should be noted that, as shown in fig. 12, 13 and 14, in the mass transfer operation, in the process of manufacturing Micro LEDs in three primary colors of red (R), green (G) and blue (B), transfer units are respectively prepared for the three colors of R, G and B, and the red Micro element 53 → the green Micro element 54 → the blue Micro element 55 is performed step by step according to the above transfer operation, so that the packaging operation of adhering and printing Micro LEDs can be rapidly completed in mass, and the red Micro element 53, the green Micro element 54 and the blue Micro element 55 can be rapidly transferred onto the substrate 10 in mass.

In addition, as shown in fig. 15, the apparatus for transferring micro components in batch according to the present invention comprises a transferring unit 20, a plurality of probes 10 and a temperature controlled flow path 30.

The transfer unit 20 has a transfer head 21 and an upper cover 22 on the transfer head 21.

The probes 10 are arranged in an array and penetrate the transfer head 21, and a needle 11 of each probe 11 is made to penetrate and extend out of the bottom of the transfer head 21. As described above, the shape of the tip 11 of each probe 10 is any of a square cone, a polygon, a circle, and a circular arc.

The temperature control channel 30 is disposed on the transfer unit 20, and has a water path 31 winding around the probe, the water path 31 further has an inlet end 32 and an outlet end 33 penetrating the top of the upper cover 22 of the transfer unit 20, and the inlet end 32 is further connected to a control valve 34 for switching to introduce hot water or cold water, so that the hot water or cold water can flow in through the water path 31 to heat or cool the probe 10.

Summarizing the above, the problems of slow production speed and low yield caused by adopting the SMT technology or the COB technology in the prior Micro LED are solved. The present invention utilizes the temperature control flow channel 30 in the transfer unit 20 to heat the probe 10, so that the needle 11 can be adhered with the adhesive material 40, and controls the heating temperature to control the adhering dosage each time, then, the temperature control flow channel 30 is reduced to make the adhesive material 40 be condensed on the needle 11 of the probe 10, and continuously, the transfer unit 20 is controlled to be above the micro component 50 to be adhered, and the adhesive material 40 on the probe 10 is pressed down to be adhered with the micro component 50, and then the micro component 50 is taken up from the platform 60, and is moved to be above the substrate 70, and then the water path 31 is controlled again to perform the heating action, so that the adhesive material 40 on the needle 11 flows into the substrate 70 through hot melting, and the substrate 70 is controlled to be at a low temperature, so that the adhesive material 40 is condensed between the micro component 50 and the substrate 70, and the micro component 50 is adhered on the substrate 70, thereby quickly completing the batch operation. Therefore, the present invention utilizes the temperature control method to adhere the bonding material 40, transfer the Micro device 50 after cooling, and heat to melt the bonding material 40 to ensure that the Micro device 50 is transferred onto the substrate 70, which not only has simple and rapid operation, but also can stably and reliably transfer the Micro LED to accelerate the production speed, and simultaneously can improve the yield, and has the advantage of reducing the manufacturing cost. Further, the probe 11 and the micro-component 50 can be more stably transferred and used effectively by the mating and fitting of the first bonding portion 111 and the

second bonding portions

51 and 52.

In addition, in fig. 2 to fig. 15, the disclosed Micro devices are applied to Micro LEDs as an example, but the batch transferring method of the Micro devices is not limited to electronic devices, and may be applied to various types of Micro devices such as jewels, and the application method and effect thereof are the same as the above, and will not be described further.

While the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for transferring micro components in batch, comprising the steps of:

step A: arranging a plurality of probes on a shifting unit in an array manner, and enabling the needle heads of the probes to penetrate and extend out of the bottom of the shifting unit;

and B: the transfer unit is internally provided with a temperature control flow passage, and the temperature of the probe is increased by leading hot water into the temperature control flow passage;

step C: driving the transfer unit to make the probe head wet with a bonding material;

step D: then introducing cold water into the temperature control flow channel, and cooling each probe to promote the adhesion material to be adhered to the probe needle;

and E, step E: then, the transferring unit is moved to the upper part of the plurality of micro devices, so that each probe is aligned with the micro device and pressed down, and each micro device is adhered in batch by the adhesive material on the probe tip;

step F: finally, the transfer unit is moved to the position above the target substrate, and the micro component is aligned to the position to be placed and pressed down;

step G: the heating operation is performed again under the condition of pressing down, so that the adhesive material flows onto the substrate after being melted, and the substrate is controlled at a low temperature, so that the adhesive material is condensed between the micro element and the substrate, namely, the transfer is completed.

2. The method for transferring fine components in bulk according to claim 1, comprising: in step E, each micro device is moved to a platform with a specific distribution pitch in advance, and each micro device is taken up from the platform after the adhesive material on the probe head is adhered to each micro device and the moving unit is moved up.

3. The method for transferring fine components in bulk according to claim 1, comprising: in step E, the bottom of the probe head of the transfer unit is provided with a first bonding portion, and the top of each micro component is provided with at least one second bonding portion correspondingly embedded in the first bonding portion, so that the probe and the micro component are temporarily embedded together.

4. The method for transferring fine components in bulk according to claim 1, comprising: in step B, the temperature of the hot water in the waterway of the temperature control channel is between 50 ℃ and 140 ℃.

5. The method for transferring fine components in bulk according to claim 1, comprising: in step D, the temperature of the cold water in the water channel of the temperature control flow channel ranges from 0 ℃ to 30 ℃.

6. The method for batch transferring fine components according to claim 1, comprising: after step a, the probes on the transfer unit may be leveled so that each probe on the bottom of the transfer unit is level.

7. The method for transferring fine components in bulk according to claim 1, comprising: in step C, the adhesive material is one of flux, adhesive and underfill.

8. The method for transferring fine components in bulk according to claim 3, wherein: in step E, the first and second bonding portions have any shape of trapezoid, pyramid, polygon, circle, and arc, and the probe and the micro device are temporarily and stably engaged with each other by matching the shapes.

9. An apparatus for transferring fine components in batch, comprising:

a transfer unit having a transfer head and an upper cover on the transfer head;

a plurality of probes which are arranged in an array and penetrate through the transfer head, and a needle head of each probe penetrates out of the bottom of the transfer head; the needle head is wetted with an adhesive material;

a substrate for bearing the micro element, wherein the probe is arranged corresponding to the micro element;

a temperature control flow passage arranged on the transfer unit and provided with a water path winding around the probe, and the water path is also provided with an inlet end and an outlet end penetrating and extending out of the top of the transfer unit; hot water is introduced through the water path to heat the probe, so that the bonding material is attached to the probe or flows onto the substrate after being melted; cold water is introduced through the waterway to cool the probe, so that the bonding material is condensed on the needle head.

10. The apparatus for batch transferring fine components according to claim 9, wherein: the shape of the needle head of the probe is any one of trapezoid, square cone, polygon, circle and circular arc.