Metal-nanowall grating transparent electrodes: Achieving high optical transmittance at high incident angles with minimal diffraction

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2013-01-28
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Liu, Geyuan
Ye, Zhuo
Chaudhary, Sumit
Lynch, David
Ho, Kai-Ming
Constant, Kristen
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Constant, Kristen
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Chaudhary, Sumit
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Materials Science and Engineering
Materials engineers create new materials and improve existing materials. Everything is limited by the materials that are used to produce it. Materials engineers understand the relationship between the properties of a material and its internal structure — from the macro level down to the atomic level. The better the materials, the better the end result — it’s as simple as that.
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Abstract

A novel architecture has been employed to fabricate transparent electrodes with high conductivity and high optical transmittance at high incident angles. Soft lithography is used to fabricate polymer grating patterns onto which thin metallic films are deposited. Etching removes excess metal leaving tall walls of metal. Polymer encapsulation of the structure both protects the metal and minimizes diffraction. Transmission is dependent upon the height of the walls and encapsulation and varies from 60% to 80% for structures with heights of 1400 nm to 300 nm. In encapsulated structures, very little distortion is visible (either parallel to or perpendicular to standing walls) even at viewing angles 60° from the normal. Diffraction is at characterized through measurement of intensity for zeroth through third order diffraction spots. Encapsulation is shown to significantly reduce diffraction. Measurements are supported by optical simulations.

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This article is from Optics Express 21 (2013): 2393–2401, doi:10.1364/OE.21.002393. Posted with permission.

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Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 UTC 2012
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