title: Dip-pen patterning of poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene) chain-conformation-based nano-photonic elements.
abstract: Metamaterials are a promising new class of materials, in which sub-wavelength physical structures, rather than variations in chemical composition, can be used to modify the nature of their interaction with electromagnetic radiation. Here we show that a metamaterials approach, using a discrete physical geometry (conformation) of the segments of a polymer chain as the vector for a substantial refractive index change, can be used to enable visible wavelength, conjugated polymer photonic elements. In particular, we demonstrate that a novel form of dip-pen nanolithography provides an effective means to pattern the so-called β-phase conformation in poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene) thin films. This can be done on length scales ≤500 nm, as required to fabricate a variety of such elements, two of which are theoretically modelled using complex photonic dispersion calculations.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Physics and Centre for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BZ, UK [2] Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BZ, UK.
authors.forename: Aleksandr
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Perevedentsev
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BZ, UK.
authors.forename: Yannick
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sonnefraud
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Centre for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BZ, UK.
authors.forename: Colin R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Belton
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Sanjiv
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Anthony E G
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Cass
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BZ, UK.
authors.forename: Stefan A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Physics and Centre for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BZ, UK [2] Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BZ, UK.
authors.forename: Ji-Seon
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Physics and Centre for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BZ, UK [2] Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BZ, UK.
authors.forename: Paul N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Stavrinou
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Physics and Centre for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BZ, UK [2] Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BZ, UK.
authors.forename: Donal D C
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Bradley