Surface ablation thresholds of femtosecond laser micropatterning silver nanowires network on flexible substrate

Abstract In order to achieve high precision laser patterning of silver nanowires (AgNWs) network on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate, the ablation morphology of AgNWs on PET flexible substrate by femtosecond (fs) laser is analyzed. The ablation threshold of AgNWs and PET are evaluated by investigating the dependency of the diameters versus laser pulse energy. The single-pulse ablation threshold of PET and AgNWs are 1.50 J/cm2 and 0.55 J/cm2, respectively. The ablation mechanism of AgNWs is discussed in terms of laser-induced surface plasmon polariton. By controlling the energy of laser irradiation, AgNWs can be effectively removed with slightly damage to the thermally sensitive PET substrate. Furthermore, The AgNWs can be welded in an energy range below the ablation threshold of AgNWs. This study provides a deeper understanding for fs patterning of AgNWs network and represents a promising strategy for fabricating high performance flexible AgNWs-based electronics.