The integration of high-performance microscale/nanoscale materials and devices onto non-native substrates enables new kinds of heterogeneously integrated systems with desirable architectures and functionalities that are inaccessible by conventional means. There is strong interest in manipulating mesoscaled components (ranging from millimeters to micrometers) containing assemblies of some of the down to nanoscale devices, to position them precisely onto host substrates with sub-micrometer accuracy for applications such as widely distributed sensors and other networked devices. Throughput in robotic pick-and-place operations has increased dramatically in recent years and the component dimensions capable of being handled by industrial robots is approaching the micrometer-scale size of cells and microorganisms. Micro-assembly technologies are the practical ways to enable heterogeneous integration and combinations possible. The aim of this symposium is to address the state-of-the-art and challenges of micro assembly technologies available in diverse research fields including but not limited to robotics, 3D printing, system-in-package (SiP), 3D MEMS, and flexible/wearable electronics. This symposium also deals with microstructures created by bottom-up technologies such as directed/undirected self-assembly and phase separation with synthetic polymers or natural biopolymers like DNA. Microassembly enables 3D microsystem assembly/packaging and heterogeneous material integration with a variety of strategies depending on different size scales down to micrometers or even smaller. Challenges in the current micro assembly technologies encompass scalable assembly with high precision and high throughput, efficient interconnection and functionalization of assembled devices, and enhanced interfacial properties between heterogeneous materials to ensure not only strong mechanical bonding but also desired electrical, thermal or optical contact. This symposium brings the researchers from both academia and industry across different research fields such as robotics/automation, LSI, MEMS, Si photonics/LED, bioengineering/biomedical devices, and flexible/wearable electronics to bridge the gap between different sectors and to share the current trends, challenges, and future directions in micro assembly technologies including materials, processes, devices, and their characterization.

biomimetic (assembly) bonding microstructure polymer self-assembly soldering