Design and construction of instruments for exciton diffusion characterization and for patterning of thin films

Abstract

In this thesis the instruments explore two main aspects of organic optoelectronic devices. One instrument characterizes exciton diffusion and the other patterns organic thin films. Exciton diffusion characteristics are important to study in organic materials because excitons mediate the transport of energy. In this work, a fluorescence microscope is designed and built in order to image directly the triplet exciton diffusion in organic crystals. Patterning of organic thin films in industry is done by fine-metal masks, which are fragile and do not scale with substrate size. The second instrument is the first fully functional prototype for a new type of dry lithography technique invented in our research group which addresses the scalability and compatibility problems of past patterning methods. The proof-of-concept instrument replaces the traditional fine metal mask patterning method by patterning a sublimable mask with a micro-stamp.