Article abstract
Nature Materials 3, 171 - 176 (2004)
Published online: 8 February 2004 | doi:10.1038/nmat1073
Subject Categories: Polymers | Electronic materials | Surface and thin films
Dewetting of conducting polymer inkjet droplets on patterned surfaces
J. Z. Wang1, Z. H. Zheng1, H. W. Li2, W. T. S. Huck2 & H. Sirringhaus1
Abstract
The manufacture of high-performance electronic devices with micrometre or even submicrometre dimensions by solution processing and direct printing, requires the ability to control accurately the flow and spread of functional liquid inks on surfaces. This can be achieved with the help of surface-energy patterns causing inks to be repelled and dewetted from pre-defined regions of the substrate. To exploit this principle for the fabrication of submicrometre device structures, a detailed understanding of the factors causing ink droplets to dewet on patterned surfaces is required. Here, we use hydrophobic surface-energy barriers of different geometries to study the influence of solution viscosity, ink volume, and contact angle on the process of dewetting of inkjet-printed droplets of a water-based conducting polymer. We demonstrate polymer field-effect transistor devices with channel length of 500 nm fabricated by surface-energy-assisted inkjet printing.
- Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK
Correspondence to: H. Sirringhaus1 e-mail: hs220@phy.cam.ac.uk
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS
These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.
NEWS AND VIEWS
Conducting polymers Fine printingNature Materials News and Views (01 Mar 2004)
Electronic devices Single electrons in silicon dropsNature News and Views (11 Jun 1998)
See all 4 matches for News And ViewsRESEARCH
Downscaling of self-aligned, all-printed polymer thin-film transistorsNature Nanotechnology Article (01 Dec 2007)
Supplementary InformationNature Materials Article (01 Nov 2008)
See all 43 matches for Research
