Patterning organic luminescent materials by solvent-assisted dewetting and polymer-bonding lithography

A combined approach of solvent-assisted dewetting and polymer-bonding lithography was employed to pattern the luminescent materials on the polymer-coated substrate. In saturated solvent vapor atmosphere, light-emitting material films (e.g., Alq(3)/PVK, PhE-PdI4/PS) on the polydimethylsiloxane mold could dewet and form isolated micropatterns directed by the mold. Then, the microstructures were transferred to the polymer-coated substrates based on the surface adhesion to generate the useful isolated and well-defined light-emitting patterns. The optical property of Alq(3)/PVK remains almost unaffected in the patterning process. The combined approach is applicable to other organic functional materials and polymer-coated surfaces with different physical and chemical properties and has potential applications in organic microelectronics fabrication. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics.