Transparent gold nanowire electrodes

Transparent electrodes are used to provide electrical contacts to the active layers of opto-electronic devices such as organic light emitting diodes, flat panel displays and solar cells. These electrodes should possess high optical transparency and low sheet resistance. Traditionally, tin doped indium oxide (ITO) is used for this purpose. Unfortunately, there is increasing concern over the availability of indium leading to a rapid increase in prices. Additionally, ITO is very fragile causing lifetime and yield problems with touch screens and flexible devices. One possible alternative to ITO is an electrode which consists of metal nanowires and is either lithographically defined or dispensed from solution. This paper describes lithographically patterned transparent gold nanowire electrodes which exhibit sheet resistances between 3 and 30 Ωm^-1 for transmittances of 83 and 95% respectively.