Abstract:
A transparent conductor which can generate high temperatures finds important applications in optoelectronics. In this article, a wire network made of Au on quartz is shown to serve as an effective high temperature transparent heater. The heater has been fabricated by depositing Au onto a cracked sacrificial template. The highly inter-connected Au wire network thus formed exhibited a transmittance of similar to 87% in a wide spectral range with a sheet resistance of 5.4 Omega square(-1). By passing current through the network, it could be joule heated to similar to 600 degrees C within a few seconds. The extraordinary thermal performance and stability owe much to the seamless junctions present in the wire network. Furthermore, the wire network gets self-annealed through joule heating as seen from its increased crystallinity. Interestingly, both transmittance and sheet resistance improved following annealing to 92% and 3.2 Omega square(-1), respectively.
