Formation Mechanism of a Surface Silver Nanonetwork and Its Electrical and Optical Properties

A theoretical model for the formation mechanism of a surface silver nanonetwork (NNW) on a conductive template was built. The influences of illuminated light, ambient humidity, template crystal polarity, and doping condition on the Ag NNW formation rate were analyzed. Then, the effects of a morphology change of a Ag NNW on the optical properties were carried out by the finite element method (FEM). Finally, based on the proposed Ag NNW pattern, the sheet resistance was calculated, in order to find the optimized structure with high transmittance in the ultraviolet (UV) and near-infrared (NIR) ranges while keeping the sheet resistance at a low level. The proposed structure is expected to shed some light on the design and fabrication of conductors with low sheet resistance and high transparency in the UV and NIR spectral ranges.

Automated summary

A theoretical model for the formation mechanism of a surface silver nanonetwork (NNW) on a conductive template was constructed, and the influences of illuminated light, ambient humidity, template crystal polarity, and doping condition on the Ag NNW formation rate were analyzed. The effects of a morphology change of Ag NNW on optical properties were investigated using the finite element method (FEM) and the sheet resistance of the proposed structure was calculated to find the optimized structure with high transmittance in the ultraviolet (UV) and near-infrared (NIR) ranges while keeping the sheet resistance at a low level. The proposed structure is expected to provide insights for the design and fabrication of conductors with low sheet resistance and high transparency in the UV and NIR spectral ranges.