Laser-direct fabrication of invisible Ag nanowire electrode pattern on flexible plastic substrate

We show that invisible Ag nanowire (AgNW) electrode pattern can be directly fabricated on plastic substrate using a laser. Our method, which is fundamentally based on the Rayleigh instability, is to block the current flow in selected areas by cutting nanowires. AgNW film spin-coated on a polyethylenetherephthalate substrate was selectively irradiated using a nanosecond-pulsed laser beam to produce a patterned structure consisting of spatially separated conducting and insulating regions. Since the laser-cut nanowires remain on the substrate, the electrode pattern fabricated by this approach can be invisible. Although Ag nanowires were instantaneously heated above 220 °C by the laser beam, a very short exposure time of 10^− 3–10^− 4 s prevented the substrate from being damaged.