Granted Patent B2

US 7,790,498 · App. 11/406,619 · Granted Sep 7, 2010

Abstract

Claims (32)

1. A process comprising:

(a) providing a gelable composition comprising a gelable semiconductor polymer and a liquid, wherein the polymer is at a low concentration in the liquid;

(b) gelling the gelable composition to result in a gelled composition;

(c) breaking the gelled composition to result in a flowable, broken gelled composition, wherein the viscosity of the flowable, broken gelled composition is at least about 10 times greater than the viscosity of the liquid; and

(d) liquid depositing the flowable, broken gelled composition.

2. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the flowable, broken gelled composition is free of a gelatinizer.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the gelable semiconductor polymer is selected from the group consisting of:

and mixtures thereof, wherein R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 are independently selected from hydrogen, alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, alkylaryl, arylalkyl, a nitrogen containing moiety, alkoxy, a heterocyclic system, alkoxyaryl, and arylalkoxy; and n is the degree of polymerization and is from 2 to about 200.

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein the gelable composition further comprises a gelatinizer.

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein the gelled composition has a viscosity of greater than 3000 centipoise.

6. A process to fabricate a semiconductor layer comprising:

(a) gelling a gelable composition comprising a gelable semiconductor polymer and a liquid, wherein the polymer is at a low concentration in the liquid, to form a gelled composition having a viscosity of greater than 3,000 centipoise;

(b) breaking the gelled composition to obtain a flowable, broken gelled composition having a viscosity at least about 10 times greater than the viscosity of the liquid;

(c) liquid depositing a layer of the flowable, broken gelled composition upon a substrate; and

(d) drying the deposited layer to result in the semiconductor layer.

7. The process of claim 6 , wherein the low concentration of the gelable semiconductor polymer corresponds to about 0.1% to about 5% by weight of the polymer.

8. The process of claim 6 , wherein the low concentration of the gelable semiconductor polymer corresponds to about 0.1% to about 1% by weight of the polymer.

9. The process of claim 6 , wherein the viscosity of the flowable, broken gelled composition is about 10 to 100 times greater than the viscosity of the liquid.

10. The process of claim 6 , wherein the gelable semiconductor polymer is selected from the group consisting of polythiophenes, triarylamine polymers, polyindolocarbazoles, and a mixture thereof.

11. A process comprising:

(a) providing a gelable composition comprising a gelable semiconductor polymer and a liquid, wherein the polymer is at a low concentration in the liquid;

(b) gelling the gelable composition to result in a gelled composition having a viscosity greater than 3,000 centipoise;

(c) breaking the gelled composition to result in a flowable, broken gelled composition, wherein the viscosity of the flowable, broken gelled composition is at least about 10 times greater than the viscosity of the liquid; and

(d) liquid depositing the flowable, broken gelled composition.

12. The process of claim 11 , wherein the low concentration of the gelable semiconductor polymer corresponds to about 0.1% to about 5% by weight of the polymer.

13. The process of claim 11 , wherein the low concentration of the gelable semiconductor polymer corresponds to about 0.1% to about 1% by weight of the polymer.

14. The process of claim 11 , wherein the viscosity of the flowable, broken gelled composition is about 10 to 100 times greater than the viscosity of the liquid.

15. The process of claim 11 , wherein the gelable semiconductor polymer forms interdigitation between polymer chains.

16. The process of claim 11 , wherein the gelable semiconductor polymer is selected from the group consisting of polythiophenes, triarylamine polymers, polyindolocarbazoles, and a mixture thereof.

17. The process of claim 11 , wherein the gelable semiconductor polymer is selected from the group consisting of:

and a mixture thereof, wherein R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 , which are the same or different from each other, are independently selected from the groups consisting of a hydrogen, a hydrocarbon group and a heteroatom-containing group, and n is the degree of polymerization from 2 to about 200.

18. The process of claim 11 , wherein the gelling occurs in the absence of agitation of the gelable composition.

Assignments (9)