Microfabrication of conducting polymer devices by ink-jet stereolithography

An ink-jet stereolithographic technique for polymer device microfabrication is described. It exploits the simple working principle of an ink-jet printing head in order to build conjugated polymer devices for electronic, sensing, or actuating applications. The polymer, dissolved in a volatile solvent, is ejected drop by drop onto the substrate. This mechanism allows the deposition of polymeric patterns onto different surfaces without the drawbacks, in terms of time, cost, and process flexibility, that could derive from other classical techniques (spin-coating and photolithography). In addition, three-dimensional structures can be fabricated by means of this technique, by simply depositing different layers of polymer, one on top of the other.