ION-BOMBARDMENT EFFECTS IN CONDUCTING POLYMERS

The modification of properties of conducting polymers by ion bombardme nt offers interesting possibilities for their application in the field of microelectronics and electrochemistry. Therefore foils of intrinsi cally conducting polymers (polypyrrole and polythiophene) were modifie d by noble gas ion implantation. By ion bombardment the resistivity ca n be increased by several orders of magnitude. This effect depends on the species, energy and ion fluence. Cyclovoltammetric experiments sho w the same electrochemical features for the modified foils as the untr eated polymers, but the observed currents are smaller by two orders of magnitude. The conductivity of the virgin foil (sigma = 100 S/cm) is sufficient for galvanic metal deposition. The bombardment induced chan ge of resistivity causes an inhibition of electrochemical deposition. By using masks lateral structures in the range of several mum can be p roduced. During implantation the black colour of the untreated foil ch anges to brown depending on the implanted dose. The associated changes of the chemical structures, investigated by XPS, are discussed.