Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Composite
Reexamination Certificate
1998-07-09
2001-12-18
Thibodeau, Paul (Department: 1773)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Composite
C428S419000, C428S446000, C428S457000, C428S461000, C428S620000, C438S099000, C438S149000, C438S197000, C257S192000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06331356
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to patterned electrically conducting polymers and methods of fabrication thereof. More particularly the present invention is directed to electronic devices having electrically conductive polymers as electrode contacts and active regions and patterned electrical contacts formed from electrically conductive polymers, in particular the application of these polymers as electrodes or electrical contacts for electro-optical transducers such as liquid crystal displays, electro-optical modulators, diodes, light emitting diodes, transistors, and the like.
BACKGROUND
The electrical contacts or electrodes in current electro-optical transducers and other devices are generally metals. Metals are deposited by evaporative or sputtering processes which require expensive tooling and overall are a cumbersome processes.
Electrically conducting polymers are a relatively new class of electronic materials which are taught herein as candidates for electrode materials. These polymers combine the electrical properties of metals with the processing advantages of polymers.
Herein we describe examples of electrically conductive polymers such as substituted and unsubstituted electrically conducting polyanilines, polyparaphenylenes, polyparapheylenevinylenes, polythiophenes, polyfurans, polypyrroles, polyselenophenes, polyisothianapthenes, polyphenylene sulfides, polyacetylenes, polypyiidylvinylenes, polyazines, combinations thereof and blends thereof with other polymers and copolymers of the monomers thereof.
In order for these polymers to be used as an electrode in a device they preferably have suitable electrical conductivity and be easily patternable. In addition, these polymers preferably do not outgas causing contamination of the devices to which they provide electrical contact. Furthermore, the conducting polymers are preferably patternable by lithography. Patterning preferably does not result in a decrease in the electrical conductivity of the polymer nor cause any deterioration of the properties of the electrically conducting polymer.
It is therefore desirable to develop methods of patterning these polymers so that they can be used on any conducting polymer system and without negatively impacting the conducting polymer so that the patterned electrically conductive polymer can be used as an electrical contact to a device. It is also desirable that the conducting polymer properties be controlled so that outgassing or contamination of the devices does not occur.
OBJECTS
It is an object of the present invention to provide improved electronic devices using electrically conductive polymers.
It is an object of the present invention to provide patterns of electrically conductive polymers and methods of fabrication thereof. In particular, a resist is first patterned and the resist pattern is subsequently transferred to the conducting polymer. Once the pattern is transferred to the conducting polymer, the result is removed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide patterns of electrically conductive polymers by the use of a resist which is applied to the conducting polymer.
In particular, the metal is first patterned and the metal pattern is subsequently transferred to the conducting polymer followed by removal of the metal.
It is another object of the present invention to provide patterns of electrically conducting polymers by the use of a metal which is applied to the conducting polymer.
It is another object of the present invention to provide patterns of electrically conducting polymers having high electrical conductivity.
It is another object of the present invention to provide patterns of electrically conducting polymers having high optical transmission.
It is another object of the present invention to provide patterns of electrically conducting polymers having good thermal stability.
It is another object of the present invention to provide electrically conducting polymers having high optical transmission and high electrical conductivity.
It is another object of the present invention to provide electrically conducting polymers and patterns of electrically conducting polymers that can be used as electrical contacts or electrodes.
It is another object of the present invention to provide electrically conducting polymers and patterns of electrically conducting polymers that can be used as electrical contacts or electrodes in electro-optical transducers and devices.
It is another object of the present invention to provide electrically conducting polymers and patterns of electrically conducting polymers that can be used as electrodes in liquid crystal displays.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a liquid crystal display comprising electrically conducting polymer electrodes.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a liquid crystal display comprising electrically conducting polymer electrode and a metal electrode
It is another object of the present invention to provide a liquid crystal display comprising electrically conducting polymer electrode and an indium tin oxide electrode.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an active matrix thin film transistor (TFT) liquid crystal display consisting of one or more electrically conducting polymer electrode.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a liquid crystal display comprising one or more electrically conducting polymer electrode which exhibits good charge retention.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a liquid crystal display comprising one or more electrically conducting polymer electrodes which exhibits good transmission/voltage characteristics.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a liquid crystal display comprising one or more electrically conducting polymer electrode which exhibits good image sticking characteristics.
It is another object of the present invention to provide electrically conducting polymers and patterns of electrically conducting polymers that can be used as one or more electrode in light emitting diodes.
It is another object of the present invention to provide organic or inorganic light emitting diodes comprising one or more electrically conducting polymer electrodes.
It is another object of the present invention to provide organic or inorganic light emitting diodes consisting of one or more patterned electrically conducting polymer electrodes.
It is another object of the present invention to provide light emitting diodes having hole injection and/or electron injecting regions formed from electrically conductive polymers.
It is another object of the present invention to provide electrically conducting polymers and patterns of electrically conducting polymers that can be used as electrical contacts to transistors such as one or more of the drain source and gate electrodes in field effect transistor (FET) devices and contacts to bipolar transistors.
It is another object of the present invention to provide patterns of electrically conducting polymers that exhibit good conductivity, good thermal stability, no outgassing, and in certain cases high optical transmission.
It is another object of the present invention to provide patterns of electrically conducting polymers by the application of a resist on the conducting polymer whereby the resist is exposed and developed forming a pattern in the resist. The resist pattern is transferred to the conducting polymer by etching followed by removal of the resist.
It is another broad aspect of the present invention to provide patterns of electrically conducting polymers by the application of a metal on the conducting polymer surface. The metal is patterned by the application of a resist which is exposed and developed. The resist pattern is transferred to the metal followed by pattern transfer to the conducting polymer by etching techniques.
It is another broad aspect of the present invention to provide patterns of electrically conducting polymers by the application of a patterned metal layer on the conducting polymer, etch
Angelopoulos Marie
Dimitrakopoulos Christos Dimitrios
Furman Bruce Kenneth
Graham Teresita Ordonez
Lien Shui-Chih Alan
International Business Machines - Corporation
Morris Daniel P.
Rickman Holly C.
Thibodeau Paul
LandOfFree
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