Elastomer Surfaces with Directionally Dependent Adhesion Strength and Their Use in Transfer Printing with Continuous Roll-to-Roll Applications

1. Sang Yoon Yang², 
2. Andrew Carlson²,
3. Huanyu Cheng³, 
4. Qingmin Yu⁴, 
5. Numair Ahmed⁵, 
6. Jian Wu⁶, 
7. Seok Kim⁵, 
8. Metin Sitti⁷,
9. Placid M. Ferreira⁵, 
10. Yonggang Huang³,
11. John A. Rogers^1,*

Article first published online: 19 MAR 2012

DOI: 10.1002/adma.201104975

In this paper we present mechanics and materials aspects of elastomeric stamps that have angled features of relief on their surfaces, designed to enable control of adhesion strength by peeling direction, in a way that can be exploited in schemes for deterministic assembly by transfer printing. Detailed mechanics models capture the essential physics of interface adhesion in this system. Experiments with cylindrical stamps that have this design demonstrate their potential for use in a continuous, roller mode of operatio