MICROMETER-SIZED AND NANOMETER-SIZED POLYMERIC LIGHT-EMITTING-DIODES

A method for the fabrication of micrometer- and submicrometer-sized polymeric light-emitting diodes is presented. Such diodes have a variety of applications. Light sources of dimensions around 100 nanometers are required for subwavelength, near-field optical microscopy. Another possible application is patterning on the micrometer and nanometer scale. The diodes have been made in the form of a sandwich structure, with the conductive polymer poly(3,4-ethylene-dioxythiophene) polymerized in the pores of commercially available microfiltration membranes defining the hole-injecting contacts, poly[3-(4-octylphenyl)-2,2'-bithiophene] as the light-omitting layer, and a thin film of calcium-aluminum as the electron injector.