Integration of Surface-Mount Devices in Microsystems Using Tracks Consisting of Nanoparticles

The success of semiconductor industry, providing a high- volume, high-accuracy fabrication method of sensor chips, has caused sensors to be omnipresent in everyday consumer products. Typically, these sensors are enclosed into sensor packages and further integrated onto printed circuit boards since, for the connection to the outer world, several length scales have to be bridged. In this work, we show how surface-mount devices (SMDs) can be directly integrated onto poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) chips through the use of open microchannels. To this end, the SMDs are directly placed onto structured PMMA plates with open microchannels connecting them to dedicated liquid reservoirs. When introducing conductive inks to those reservoirs, capillary forces draw the liquid toward the SMDs and ensure the electrical connection between the liquid reservoir and the SMDs themselves. With the addition of crossings and meandering conductive lines, this process can be used for the fabrication of electrical networks out of individual SMD components directly on a PMMA substrate.