A General-Purpose Conjugated-Polymer Device Array for Imaging

Optical and chemical “cameras” are possible using the general purpose device array geometry presented. The device consists of an array of bridge pixels covered by a conjugated polymer layer suitable for sensing of optical or chemical stimuli. In this geometry the polymer is directly exposed to the environment, which allows the array to be used not only to read optical images but also to detect the distribution of chemical species or even to drive an optical display. Microfabricated arrays are demonstrated, and it is shown that these bridge arrays can perform as well as standard photodiode sandwich arrays.