Structural engineering of metal-mesh structure applicable for transparent electrodes fabricated by self-formable cracked template

Flexible and transparent conducting electrodes are essential for future electronic devices. In this study, we successfully fabricated a highly-interconnected metal-mesh structure (MMS) using a self-formable cracked template. The template—fabricated from colloidal silica—can be easily formed and removed, presenting a simple and cost-effective way to construct a randomly and uniformly networked MMS. The structure of the MMS can be controlled by varying the spin-coating speed during the coating of the template solution or by stacking of metal-mesh layers. Through these techniques, the optical transparency and sheet resistance of the MMS can be designed for a specific purpose. A double-layered Al MMS showed high optical transparency (~80%) in the visible region, low sheet resistance (~20 Ω/sq), and good flexibility under bending test compared with a single-layered MMS, because of its highly-interconnected wire structure. Additionally, we identified the applicability of the MMS in the case of practical devices by applying it to electrodes of thin-film transistors (TFTs). The TFTs with MMS electrodes showed comparable electrical characteristics to those with conventional film-type electrodes. The cracked template can be used for the fabrication of a mesh structure consisting of any material, so it can be used for not only transparent electrodes, but also various applications such as solar cells, sensors, etc.