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Resonant infrared pulsed laser deposition of cyclic olefin copolymer films

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Abstract

Barrier materials on thin-film organic optoelectronic devices inhibit the uptake of water, oxygen, or environmental contaminants, and fabricating them is a major challenge. By definition, these barrier layers must be insoluble, so the usual routes to polymer- or organic-film deposition by spin coating are not problematic. In this paper, we report comparative studies of pulsed laser deposition of cyclic olefin copolymer (COC), an excellent moisture barrier and a model system for a larger class of protective materials that are potentially useful in organic electronic devices, such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Thin films of COC were deposited by resonant and nonresonant infrared pulsed laser ablation of solid COC targets, using a free-electron laser tuned to the 3.43 μm C–H stretch of the COC, and a high-intensity nanosecond Q-switched laser operated at 1064 nm. The ablation craters and deposited films were characterized by scanning-electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry, atomic-force microscopy, high-resolution optical microscopy, and surface profilometry. Thermal-diffusion calculations were performed to determine the temperature rise induced in the film at the C–H resonant wavelength. The results show that resonant infrared pulsed laser deposition (RIR-PLD) is an effective, low-temperature thin-film deposition technique that leads to evaporation and deposition of intact molecules in homogeneous, smooth films. Nonresonant PLD, on the other hand, leads to photothermal damage, degradation of the COC polymers, and to the deposition only of particulates.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Professor D.M. Bubb (Rutgers University-Camden) for the temperature-dependent IR absorption measurements and Professor D. Kranbuehl (College of William and Mary) for measuring the specific heat of the COC samples. Research at AppliFlex LLC and at Vanderbilt University is supported by the National Science Foundation Phase 2 STTR program (IIP-0924043). The Jefferson Lab FEL is supported by the Office of Naval Research, the Army Night Vision Laboratory, the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Joint Technology Office, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and by the US Department of Energy, under contract No. DE-AC05-060R23177.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, 23529, USA

    S. Singaravelu

  2. Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, VA, 23606, USA

    S. Singaravelu, J. M. Klopf & M. J. Kelley

  3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37235, USA

    K. E. Schriver & R. F. Haglund Jr.

  4. AppliFlex LLC, Nashville, TN, 37211, USA

    S. Singaravelu, K. E. Schriver & H. K. Park

  5. Applied Science Department, The College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, 23185, USA

    M. J. Kelley

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  1. S. Singaravelu
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  2. J. M. Klopf
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  3. K. E. Schriver
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  4. H. K. Park
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  5. M. J. Kelley
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  6. R. F. Haglund Jr.
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Correspondence to S. Singaravelu.

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Singaravelu, S., Klopf, J.M., Schriver, K.E. et al. Resonant infrared pulsed laser deposition of cyclic olefin copolymer films. Appl. Phys. A 114, 1285–1293 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-013-7933-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-013-7933-7

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