The largest need in organic electronic devices is a universal method to produce micro- to nano-scale features for devices from semiconducting polymers cheaply, and at scale. We recently developed a solution method to optically pattern conjugated polymers with resolution that exceeds the linear Abbe diffraction limit. We examine the relationship between optical write intensity, write speed, and write wavelength on the resulting pattern fidelity. Finite element modeling reveals that nearly all patterning occurs as a result of local heating and superlinear resolution is a result of a highly non-linear dissolution rate for the polymer as a function of temperature. This result is general to any conjugated polymer. We used this new technique to fabricate P3HT/F4TCNQ nanowires We also demonstrate that a P3HT nanowires can be doped and de-doped from solution without changing the dimension of the wire.
Organic electronics promise to provide flexible, large-area circuitry such as photovoltaics, displays, and light emitting diodes that can be fabricated inexpensively from solutions. A major obstacle to this vision is that most conjugated organic materials are miscible, making solution-based fabrication of multilayer or micro- to nanoscale patterned films problematic. Here we demonstrate that the solubility of prototypical conductive polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) can be reversibly “switched off” using high electron affinity molecular dopants, then later recovered with light or a suitable dedoping solution. Using this technique, we are able to stack mutually soluble materials and laterally pattern polymer films using evaporation of dopants through a shadow mask or with light, achieving sub-micrometer, optically limited feature sizes. After forming these structures, the films can be dedoped without disrupting the patterned features; dedoped films have identical optical characteristics, charge carrier mobilities, and NMR spectra as as-cast P3HT films. This method greatly simplifies solution-based device fabrication, is easily adaptable to current manufacturing workflows, and is potentially generalizable to other classes of materials.
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