Continuous Silver over Dielectric Nanoyurt Arrays for Transparent Conductive Film

Transparent conductive films (TCFs) are desired for information and energy optoelectronic devices. Noble metal films exhibit excellent electrical conductivity, but the poor optical transparency hampers their application as TCFs. In this paper, a novel approach is presented to design and fabricate a TCF based on continuous silver film over hexagonal dielectric nanoyurt arrays (HDNAs) with colloidal lithography and reactive-ion etching technology. Surface profile inheriting from HDNAs enables enhanced optical transmission through the silver film mediated by surface plasmon polaritons in a broadband spectrum of more than 200 nm. Meanwhile, the continuity of the silver film ensures a better electrical performance than other TCFs based on transparent conductive oxides, metal nanowires, or carbon nanotubes. Simultaneous high transmission of T = 85.5% at lambda = 570 nm and low sheet resistance of R-sh = 1.10 Omega/sq are experimentally demonstrated and in good agreement with the finite-difference time-domain method simulations. Continuous silver over an HNDA reported here may open conductive electrodes as well as applications in light emission or detection devices.