Adaptive fabrication of a flexible electrode by optically self-selected interfacial adhesion and its application to highly transparent and conductive film.

A novel adaptive electrode fabrication method using optically self-selected interfacial adhesion between a laser-processed metal layer and polymer film is introduced to fabricate cost-effectively a high-resolution arbitrary electrode with high conductivity. The quality is close to that from vacuum deposition on a highly heat sensitive polymer film, with active response to various design requirements. A highly conductive metal film (resistivity: 3.6 µΩ cm) below a 5 µm line width with a uniform stepwise profile and mirror surface quality (R(rms) : 5-6 nm) is fabricated on a cheap polymer film with a heat resistance limit of below 100 °C. Severe durability tests are successfully completed without using any adhesion promoters. Finally, a highly transparent and conductive electrode with a transparency above 95% and sheet resistance of less than 10 Ω sq⁻¹ is fabricated on a polymer film and on glass by using this method. These results can help realize a potential high-throughput, low-cost, solution-processable replacement for transparent conductive oxides.