Consistent melting behavior induced by Joule heating between Ag microwire and nanowire meshes

The melting behavior of an Ag microwire mesh induced by Joule heating was numerically investigated and compared with that of the corresponding Ag nanowire mesh with the same structure but different geometrical and physical properties of the wire itself. According to the relationship of melting current and melting voltage during the melting process, a similar repetitive zigzag pattern in melting behavior was discovered in both meshes. On this basis, a dimensionless parameter defined as figure of merit was proposed to characterize the current-carrying ability of the mesh. The consistent feature of figure of merit in both meshes indicates that the melting behavior of the Ag nanowire mesh can be predicted from the present results of the corresponding Ag microwire mesh with the same structure but made from a different wire (e.g., different size, different material) through simple conversion. The present findings can provide fundamental insight into the reliability analysis on the metallic nanowire mesh-based transparent conductive electrode.