The patterning of sub-500 nm inorganic oxide and semiconducting polymeric structures

The Pattern Replication In Non-wetting Templates (PRINT) technique has been extended to patterning of isolated features as well as embossed films of sub-500 nm "hard" inorganic oxides and nanocrystalline semiconductors and "soft" semiconducting polymers including TiO₂, SnO ₂, ZnO, ITO, BaTiO₃, CdSe, poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), Poly[2-methoxy-5-(3′,7′-dimethyloctyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MDMO-PPV), and other polythiophene derivatives. The low surface energy, chemically resistant, air permeable elastomeric perflouropolyether (PFPE) based molds allow for numerous materials to be patterned on a variety of substrates including glass, transparent conductive oxides, and thin films of conducting polymer for a wide range of electronic and optical applications. Additionally, PRINT has been employed to pattern features with aspect ratios greater than 1, deposit a second layer of features on top of an initial layer without pattern destruction, and replicate sub-100 nm sized features for photovoltaics applications. Materials and patterns generated in this work were characterized using a variety of techniques including: Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and X-ray Diffraction (XRD).