Breath figure pattern formation as a means to fabricate micro-structured organic light-emitting diodes

We demonstrate a procedure for fabricating micro-structured organic light-emitting diodes (micro-LEDs) based on so-called breath figure (BF) pattern formation. In the latter process water vapour is condensed on the surface of a spread polymer solution to form droplets that close pack into ordered arrays and that transfer the BF pattern into the resulting solid thin polymer film. Here, we generate a silicone elastomer negative replica of the BF pattern and use it as a master for solvent-assisted micro-moulding of an insulating polymer layer deposited on top of a PEDOT:PSS covered indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated glass substrate. By spin coating a light-emitting polymer blend film on top of the micro-structured insulator, we obtain micro-structured polymer LEDs with dimensions defined by the BF pattern. © IOP Publishing Ltd.