Laser or Flood Exposure Generated Electrically Conducting Patterns in Polymers

Abstract

Electrically conducting patterns can be generated in insulating polymers or composites either via UV-flood exposure through a mask or via laser irradiation. Various lithographic concepts starting either from conventional or custom tailored polymers or from special composites have been developed and tested. Thereby electrically conducting polymers are photogenerated either directly from a self-developing photosensitive precursor or via a twocomponent redox approach using one of the components as a vapor in an otherwise dry process. The electrically conducting patterns so obtained may be reinforced by plating them with metals electrogalvanically. These processes may also be combined with laser induced ablation, whereby the intensity of the laser beam may be gated to either induce electrical conductivity of the substrate or to ablate it without rendering it conductive. Analogously, thin films of electrically conducting polymers on top of insulating polymer layers can be patterned directly using excimer laser ablation.