Conducting polymer nanowires and nanodots made with soft lithography

The conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) doped with poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT-PSS) was patterned by micromolding in capillaries (MIMIC), in the form of nanowires on a glass or a Si wafer. The periods of the molded nanowires were 833 or 278 nm. By applying force on top of the stamp during MIMIC, the height of these nanowires could be changed. An alternative method of preparing structured surfaces is the liquid embossing technique, used to pattern polymers deposited from dispersion. Nanowires (278 nm) and 2-D nanodots on semiconducting polymer (poly(3-(2'-methoxy-5'-octyphenyl) thiophene)) POMeOPT were also achieved by another soft lithography technique-soft-embossing. The possibility to pattern both semiconducting and metallic conjugated polymers from aqueous solutions or organic solvents on a submicron level makes it possible to use these materials in flexible optoelectronic devices where light propagation and electronic paths are defined by patterning.