Fabrication of flexible transparent Ag square-shaped mesh electrode by top-flat nanosecond laser ablation

We report a facile top-flat square nanosecond (ns) laser direct writing ablation technique in a thin silver film substrate to fabricate the silver square-shaped cell structure of flexible transparent electrodes. Square silver cell structures feature smooth surface morphology, excellent edge definition, mechanical stability, strong adhesion to the substrate, and favorable resistance and transparency. In particular, this strategy enables fabrication of a high square-shaped cell areal density (ablated square cell to the total area) Ag mesh, substantially improving transparency ($ {\gt} {85}\% $>85%) without considerably sacrificing conductivity ($ {\lt} {5}\;\Omega \;{{\rm sq}^{ - 1}}$<5Ωsq^-1 unit of resistance). Consequently, the proposed metallic square-shaped structure shows compatibility with a polyethylene naphthalate flexible substrate for silver-based wearable electronic devices without any protective layer over the electrodes.