Flexible Polymeric Material with Metal-Like Conductivity for Next Generation Organic Electronic Devices (Printed Electronics USA 2012)

• Overview of the conductive polymer PEDOT

• Vapor phase polymerisation (VPP) of the conducting polymer PEDOT

• Optimisation of the VPP process leads to ITO equivalent conductivity (20Ω/□)

• PEDOT as a flexible transplant thin-film for organic and opto-electronic applications

Rick Fabretto received his degree in physics from Flinders University in 1988, after which he spent 10 years in private industry as an instrumentation physicist for a multinational. He worked on numerous international projects involving companies in Australia, India, Africa, and South America.

 

In 2004 he was awarded his PhD from the Ian Wark Research Institute at the University of South Australia. He joined the Mawson Institute in 2004 as Research Fellow working with conducting polymers. His work includes fundamental investigations concerned with synthesis and structure, as well as applied aspects conducive with the needs of the private sector.

The research group focuses on the application of organic and inorganic thin film coatings onto substrates, and uses its expertise to bridges the gap between fundamental materials science and applied surface engineering to produce high-tech devices and products for use in the real world. It has a multidisciplinary approach which involves aspects of material science, physics, and chemistry, with most of its senior academics having come from private industry. Currently its two main areas of interest are (i) plasma deposition of materials for optical applications, and (ii) vacuum deposition of conducting polymers for organic and opto-electronic applications.