Vapour Deposition and Evaluation of Conducting Polymeric Thin Films

In this work an apparatus was designed to perform oxidative chemical vapour deposition (oCVD) of polymeric films. The minimization of reactant waste was a major design consideration. This resulted in several key features not common in literature including: a static deposition phase, quick-loading precursor holders, a double wall vacuum, and a hot wall deposition chamber. The base pressure of the system was below 20mTorr and its upper temperature limit was 200°C.Employing the system, poly(3,4-hexyldioxythiophene) (PEDOT) was synthesized via vapour phase polymerization (VPP). These samples, along with an in-situ polymerized (ISP) PEDOT control group, were characterized using SEM, AFM, four-point probe, FTIR, and UV-vis. Results showed that the VPP films were thicker, less rough, and more conductive than their ISP counterparts with values of 380 nm, 2 nm, and 1130 S/cm respectively. Spectroscopic tests indicated high levels of conjugation and minimal polymer damage.