Evaporation process for solid phase materials

Abstract

Methods for evaporating (e.g., subliming) a material in the solid state. In one aspect, a mass of the material in the solid state is mixed with a plurality of packing units, wherein each of the packing units comprises an inert material. The structure of each of the packing units, or the structure of an aggregate of the packing units, comprises a plurality of non-smooth features. In one example, Pro-Pak™ metal meshes can be used, which have a plurality of various types of non-smooth features, including sharp edges, corners, and/or protrusions. These non-smooth features are believed to physically disrupt crust formation during the evaporation process. Also disclosed are other methods for evaporating a material and methods for fabricating an organic thin-film device.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.