Author :
Pedrow, P.D. ; Sharmin, S. ; Freepons, S.R.
Author_Institution :
Sch. of EECS, Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA
Abstract :
Summary form only given. Intrinsic conducting polymer (ICP) is a new class of material. Fabrication of devices from ICP is a rapidly growing industry that has the potential to facilitate major changes in products such as flexible displays, RFID tags, sensors, smart packaging, electronic paper, membrane keyboards, smart fabrics (electronic textiles), and solar cells. Low-cost, high-speed, high-resolution ink jet printing will expedite the marketing of polymer electronics fabricated from ICP inks. Two issues associated with polymer electronic inks are: 1) the materials are new and little is known regarding their electrical properties and 2) wettability of the previously deposited dry polymer layer has a major influence on the coverage and adhesion properties of the liquid polymer being printed to the surface. Surface wettability is characterized by terms such as hydrophilic, hydrophobic, contact angle, surface tension, and surface energy. Many ICPs are classified by polypyrrole, polythiophene, polyaniline and their derivatives. The most important feature in ICPs is the presence of pi-conjugated molecules. Plasma-processed interlayers are known to effectively control wettability and other properties of polymer surfaces. Plasma will be used to etch the existing dry polymer electronic surface before the subsequent layer of polymer electronic material is deposited in the liquid phase. Plasma-polymerization will also be used to deposit interlayers during these processing steps. Influence of plasma-processed interlayers on electrical properties of sandwich structures will be measured. The HP4145B transistor parameter analyzer and the HP4192LF impedance analyzer will be used. The former will measure current-voltage (IV) characteristics while the latter will measure impedance spectra. From IV data, emission and conduction phenomena such as Schottky current, Poole-Frenkel conduction, field emission, space-charge-limited emissions, ohmic conduction, and percolation can be iden- ified. From impedance spectra, AC permittivity and AC conductivity will be measured as functions of frequency. Impedance spectra can also identify phenomenon such as conduction via hopping. Recent experimental results will be presented
Keywords :
Poole-Frenkel effect; Schottky effect; conducting polymers; contact angle; field emission; hopping conduction; percolation; permittivity; plasma materials processing; polymerisation; sandwich structures; space-charge-limited conduction; sputter etching; surface energy; surface tension; wetting; AC conductivity; AC permittivity; HP4145B transistor parameter analyzer; HP4192LF impedance analyzer; Poole-Frenkel conduction; RFID tags; Schottky current; adhesion; contact angle; current-voltage characteristics; electronic paper; electronic textiles; field emission; flexible displays; hopping conduction; hydrophilicity; hydrophobicity; impedance spectra; ink jet printing; intrinsic conducting polymer; liquid polymer; membrane keyboards; ohmic conduction; percolation; pi-conjugated molecules; plasma polymerization; plasma-modified interlayers; polyaniline; polymer electronic materials; polypyrrole; polythiophene; sandwich structures; sensors; smart fabrics; smart packaging; solar cells; space-charge-limited emissions; surface energy; surface tension; surface wettability; Conducting materials; Consumer electronics; Impedance measurement; Permittivity measurement; Plasma applications; Plasma displays; Plasma materials processing; Plasma measurements; Plasma properties; Polymers;
