Development, Processing and Applications of a UV-Curable Polymer with Surface Active Thiol Groups

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel UV-curable polymer with surface-active thiol groups, enabling micro- and nanoscale patterning, surface modifications, and improved electrical properties in graphene devices, with potential for versatile applications.

Contribution

The development of a UV-curable polymer with surface thiol groups that can be patterned and chemically modified for advanced electronic and surface applications.

Findings

Polymer is highly transparent and hydrophilic.

Surface thiol groups enable direct thiol-ene chemistry.

Improves electrical performance of graphene FETs.

Abstract

We present here a novel resist formulation with active thiol groups at the surface. The material is UV curable, and can be patterned at the micro- and nanoscale by UV nanoimprint lithography. The resist formulation development, its processing, patterning and surface characterization are presented here. In addition, a possible application, including its use to modify the electrical properties of graphene devices is shown. The cured material is highly transparent, intrinsically hydrophilic and can be made more hydrophilic following a UV-ozone or an O2 plasma activation. We evaluated the hydrophilicity of the polymer for different polymer formulations and curing conditions. In addition, a protocol for patterning of the polymer in the micro and nanoscale by nanoimprinting is given and preliminary etching rates together with the polymer selectivity are measured. The main characteristic and unique advantage of the polymer is that it has thiol functional groups at the surface and in the bulk after curing. These groups allow for direct surface modifications with thiol-based chemistry e.g., thiol-ene reactions. We prove the presence of the thiol groups by Raman spectroscopy and perform a thiol-ene reaction to show the potential of the easy click chemistry. This opens the way for very straightforward surface chemistry on nanoimprinted polymer samples. Furthermore, we show how the polymer improves the electrical properties of a graphene field effect transistor, allowing for optimal performance at ambient conditions.