Moire-Free Imperceptible and Flexible Random Metal Grid Electrodes with Large Figure-of-Merit by Photonic Sintering Control of Copper Nanoparticles

Abstract

Flexible micro/nano metal grid transparent conductors emerged as an alternative to the fragile/rigid indium tin oxide electrode. They are usually fabricated by the combination of the conventional photolithography and the vacuum deposition of regular metal grid patterns, however, seriously suffer from moire and starburst problems induced by periodic regular pattern structures. In this paper, we demonstrated flexible and imperceptible random copper microconductors with an extremely high figure-of-merit (similar to 2000) by the thermal conduction layer-assisted photonic sintering of copper nanoparticles without damages in the plastic substrate. This process can be easily applied to complicated structures and surfaces including a random pattern which is imperceptible and free of interferences. As a proof-of-concept, a transparent windshield defogger in a car was demonstrated with a Cu transparent random conductor at an extreme and reversible fogging state.