Researchers Weld Nanowires With Light

In a paper just published in the journal Nature Materials, a team of engineers at Stanford has demonstrated a promising new nanowire welding technique that harnesses plasmonics to fuse the wires with a simple blast of light.

The research promises to lead to exceptional electrical throughput, low cost and easy processing for new generations of touch-screens, video displays, light-emitting diodes, and thin-film solar cells.

In processing, these delicate meshes must be heated or pressed to unite the crisscross pattern of nanowires that form the mesh, damaging them in the process.


In addition to making it easier to produce stronger and better performing nanowire meshes, the researchers say that the new technique could open the possibility of mesh electrodes bound to flexible or transparent plastics and polymers.

To demonstrate the possibilities, they applied their mesh on Saran wrap. They sprayed a solution containing silver nanowires in suspension on the plastic and dried it. After illumination, what was left was an ultrathin layer of welded nanowires.

“Then we balled it up like a piece of paper. When we unfurled the wrap, it maintained its electrical properties,” said co-author Yi Cui, an associate professor materials science and engineering. “And when you hold it up, it’s virtually transparent.”

This could lead to inexpensive window coatings that generate solar power while reducing glare for those inside, the researchers said.


Stanford University