Evaporative Printing of Organic Materials at Ambient Pressure using a Micromachined Printhead

We present a MEMS-enabled technique for evaporative printing of organic materials which doesn't require a vacuum ambient, has a fast printing rate (1 kHz), and can be scaled up to an array of individually addressable nozzles. By depositing the materials directly from the gas phase, without liquid phase coming in contact with the substrate, we aim at avoiding the limitations encountered when ink-jet printing organic materials. The MEMS printhead comports an array of 2 micron pores and an integrated thin film platinum heater on a silicon membrane for local evaporation of the materials. This printhead was used, together with ink-jet technology for the delivery of material to the pores, to print molecular organic semiconductors. Our technique enables printing of organic optoelectronics over large areas, and is thus a critical element in the realization of large-area, high-speed, and low-cost printing of optoelectronics.