Direct sub-20nm patterning on the flexible substrates by secondary sputtering phenomenon and application for flexible transparent electrode and devices

Abstract

Flexible transparent electrodes with the combination of high transmittance, electrical conductivity and flexibility are essential for the flexible organic solar cell, light-emitting diodes. Currently, indium tin oxide (ITO) coated film is most often used because ITO has high transparency to visible light and low sheet resistance for electrical current conduction. However, ITO is costly due to limited resources, is brittle.Recently, advances in nano materials research have opened the door for other transparent conductive materials like CNT, graphene, and nanowire. Here we report alternativemetallic line pattern for flexible transparent electrodes. This sub 20nm metallic nanopattern on the PDMS is fabricated by secondary sputtering phenomenon with low angle ion milling step and it almostcorrespondsto transmittance and conductivity compared to the ITO.And metal nanowire has higher flexibility than ITO. So it is expected to be high performance transparent electrode.