Method for fabrication of layered heterojunction polymeric devices

Abstract

Method for growing multilayer polymer based heterojunction devices which uses selective breaking of C—H or Si—H bonds without breaking other bonds leading to fast curing for the production of layered polymer devices having polymer heterojunctions deposited by the common solution-based deposition methods. In one embodiment, a hydrogen plasma is maintained and protons are extracted with an electric field to accelerate them to an appropriate kinetic energy. The protons enter into a drift zone to collide with molecular hydrogen in gas phase. The cascades of collisions produce a high flux of hyperthermal molecular hydrogen with a flux many times of the flux of protons extracted from the hydrogen plasma. The nominal flux ratio of hyperthermal molecular hydrogen to proton is easily controllable by the hydrogen pressure in the drift zone, and by the length of the drift zone. The extraction energy of the protons is shared by these hyperthermal molecules so that average energy of the hyperthermal molecular hydrogen is easily controlled by extraction energy of the protons and the nominal flux ratio. Since unlike protons the hyperthermal molecular hydrogen projectiles do not carry any electrical charge, the high flux of hyperthermal molecular hydrogen can be used to engineer surface modification of both electrical insulating products and conductive products. In a typical embodiment, organic precursor molecules (or silicone, or silane molecules) with desirable chemical functionality or a set of functionalities and with desirable electrical properties are condensed on a substrate with a solution-based deposition method. The molecular layer is bombarded by the high flux of hyperthermal molecular hydrogen derived from a hydrogen plasma. The C—H or Si—H bonds are thus cleaved preferentially due to the kinematic selectivity of energy deposition from the hyperthermal hydrogen projectiles to the hydrogen atoms in the precursor molecules. The induced cross-linking reactions produce a stable molecular layer retaining the desirable chemical functionality/functionalities and electrical properties carried to the substrate by the precursor molecules. The molecular layer is thus cured and ready for additional molecular layer formation for the production of polymer devices which typically comprise one or more than one polymer heterojunction.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.