Electrical transport in metal wire networks: experimental strategies and theoretical insights

Abstract

The thesis work pertains to experimental investigations and theoretical efforts towards understanding electrical and thermal conduction properties of metal wire networks and their effective usage as optically transparent conductors. As background to the subject matter, Chapter 1 introduces various patterning tools and lithography in device fabrication while citing examples of interconnected patterns in nature. The discussion then extends to crack networks used as templates to obtain fine metal meshes, their importance in transparent conducting electrode (TCE) devices as well as literature efforts in modelling network based TCEs including an introduction to Graph theory approach and electrical percolation.