High-Performance Flexible Transparent Electrodes Fabricated via Laser Nano-Welding of Silver Nanowires

Abstract

Silver nanowires (Ag-NWs), which possess a high aspect ratio with superior electrical conductivity and transmittance, show great promise as flexible transparent electrodes (FTEs) for future electronics. Unfortunately, the fabrication of Ag-NW conductive networks with low conductivity and high transmittance is a major challenge due to the ohmic contact resistance between Ag-NWs. Here we report a facile method of fabricating high-performance Ag-NW electrodes on flexible substrates. A 532 nm nanosecond pulsed laser is employed to nano-weld the Ag-NW junctions through the energy confinement caused by localized surface plasmon resonance, reducing the sheet resistance and connecting the junctions with the substrate. Additionally, the thermal effect of the pulsed laser on organic substrates can be ignored due to the low energy input and high transparency of the substrate. The fabricated FTEs demonstrate a high transmittance (up to 85.9%) in the visible band, a low sheet resistance of 11.3 Ω/sq, high flexibility and strong durability. The applications of FTEs to 2D materials and LEDs are also explored. The present work points toward a promising new method for fabricating high-performance FTEs for future wearable electronic and optoelectronic devices.

Effect of Morphological Changes due Conductivity Enhancing Post Treatment on the Absorption and Photoluminescence of AgNW Thin Films

“…Several annealing methods have been investigated like thermal treatment which however is not suitable for temperature sensitive flexible polymer substrates [19,20]. Other methods like rinsing the AgNW surface with ethanol to remove PVP [21], nano-welding by laser induced surface plasmon resonances or low temperature plasma beam to fuse the NW junctions together proved to enhance significantly the conductivity without damaging the substrate but need a considerable processing time [22][23][24][25][26][27].…”