Soft molding lithography of conjugated polymers

We report on the nanopatterning of conjugated polymers by soft molding, and exploit the glass transition of the organic compound in conformal contact with an elastomeric element. We succeeded in printing different compounds with resolution down to 300 nm at temperatures up to 300 degreesC in vacuum. No significant variation of the photoluminescence (PL) spectra nor heavy degradation of the PL quantum yield was observed after the lithography process. Based on the high resolution achieved and on the well-retained luminescence properties of the patterned compounds, we conclude that high-temperature soft lithography is a valid, flexible and straightforward technique for one-step realization of organic-based devices. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.