Abstract
Studies on the physical properties of conjugated polymers have been hampered in the past by difficulties in purification and sample fabrication, arising from the intractibility associated with the presence of a rigid chain backbone. The use of a precursor-route synthesis, in which the processing is performed for a non-conjugated precursor polymer (that can subsequently be converted to the conjugated material through a thermal treatment) has greatly improved the possibilities for the preparation of samples in a variety of forms, including the homogeneous thin films required for optical and electro-optical processing applications.