Transparency and electrical properties of meshed metal films

Abstract Meshed silver/titanium films, deposited on a 1737 Corning glass substrate by radiofrequency (r.f.) magnetron sputtering and etched by wet process, have been studied. Sputtering parameters have been specifically optimized for thick Ag layer deposition (> 3 μm) and are discussed. An original excimer laser etching process is used for removing the resist for making the prototypes. Simple sheet resistance and optical transparency computings have been used for the theoretical study. A good agreement is obtained with the experimental results. Transparent and conducting samples have been realized with optical transmittances and sheet resistances ranging from 71% to 81% and from 0.023 Ω/□ to 1.03 Ω/□, respectively. Hence we demonstrate the independence between optical transparency and sheet resistance for this material AgGL (Ag Grid Layer). The relevance of the mesh structure has been highlighted by the achievement of samples with high level of transparencies and ultra-low sheet resistances.