Processing and Fabrication of Polyaniline Micro-Devices Using Photolithography

Date of Graduation

Summer 2005

Degree

Master of Science in Materials Science

Department

Physics, Astronomy, and Materials Science

Committee Chair

Ryan Giedd

Abstract

Conducting polymers have unique optical, electrical, and mechanical properties which have opened up new possibilities for microelectronic devices. However, patterning of polymers using the same processing technique as inorganic materials for device fabrication has proved to be a challenge. Overcoming this problem and developing an alternative patterning process for the polymers are the main objective of this research work. Ten percentage of weight of polyaniline solution has been spincoated onto silicon substrate with thickness of 1500Å. The polyaniline film has been patterned using photolithography technique and standard deposition – etching processes. The patterned polymer is in the form of an array consisting of various rectangular areas. Since, uniformity of the film is very important, it has been studied using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The results show that scaling of the polymer is possible. Electrical characterization has also been carried out on these devices using a standard four-probe method. From the current-voltage curves the resistivity of the devices has been calculated. The final results show that polyaniline can be successfully patterned onto silicon substrate by photolithography process and the patterned units are scalable.

Keywords

microelectronics, conducting polymers, polyaniline, polymer electronics, photolithography

Subject Categories

Materials Science and Engineering

Copyright

© Shabana Sultana

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Dissertation/Thesis

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