Self-aligned, vertical-channel, polymer field-effect transistors

The manufacture of high-performance, conjugated polymer transistor circuits on flexible plastic substrates requires patterning techniques that are capable of defining critical features with submicrometer resolution. We used solid-state embossing to produce polymer field-effect transistors with submicrometer critical features in planar and vertical configurations. Embossing is used for the controlled microcutting of vertical sidewalls into polymer multilayer structures without smearing. Vertical-channel polymer field-effect transistors on flexible poly(ethylene terephthatate) substrates were fabricated, in which the critical channel length of 0.7 to 0.9 micrometers was defined by the thickness of a spin-coated insulator layer. Gate electrodes were self-aligned to minimize overlap capacitance by inkjet printing that used the embossed grooves to define a surface-energy pattern.