Fabrication of a Patterned Assembly of Semiconducting Organic Nanowires

A new active semiconducting material, namely, 1-cyano-trans-1,2-bis-(3',5'- bis-trifluoromethyl-biphenyl)ethylene (CN-TFMBE), and a simple method for patterning it using an elastic stamp was studied. CN-TFMBE was synthesized by means of the Suzuki coupling and the Knoevenagel reaction. The soft lithography process, MIMIC was used to form well-defined stripe patterns of these entangled nanowires. Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) was used as an elastomeric stamp with parallel protruding micrometer lines for patterning. The atomic force microscopy (AFM) image shows that the nanowires are aligned in a single direction. The effects of rotating the patterned microwire on the plate of the optical microscope under crossed polarization was also obtained. The electrical characteristics of the micropatterned wires were also studied by means of direct current-voltage (I-V) measurements performed using two-electrode devices. An aligned microwires was obtained that showed uniaxial orientation with birefringence and polarized fluorescent emission.