Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 February 2011
An oxidative jet deposition process was used to deposit films of polythiophenes. The oxidative jet is created using two different methods, an ozone jet or a plasma jet. An ozone jet is created by forcing a gas mixture containing oxygen through a corona-discharge apparatus. A plasma jet is created by forcing an ionization gas through a radio-frequency plasma chamber. Polymerization and film deposition was achieved by rastering the jet over a substrate while a monomer was injected into the oxidative jet. The injected monomers include thiophene, 2-methylthiophene, 3-methylthiophene, and 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT). The resulting films were studied with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS). FTIR spectra of the jet deposited films were characteristic of undoped poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) PEDOT. FTIR spectra showed that parameter optimized plasma jet deposited films contained less overoxidation in the form of hydroxyl and carbonyl groups than films deposited through the ozone jet process. The fabrication of organic electronics could be improved by this technology because a jet process allows for inline processing. Inline processing offers practical industrial advantages over the batch process methods currently used for depositing films of polythiophenes.