Communications of the ACM
Penn Develops Computer Model That Will Help Design Flexible Touchscreens
A new method for designing transparent conductors using metal nanowires could make touchscreens more flexible and less expensive.
Credit: Samsung
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Duke University have developed a method for designing transparent conductors using metal nanowires that could result in less expensive and more flexible touchscreens.
Previously, Pennsylvania professor Karen Winey had worked on simulating nanowire networks in three-dimensional nanocomposites. Duke professor Benjamin Wiley then asked Winey to develop two-dimensional simulations that could be applied to data from silver nanowire networks. Wiley provided the nanowire length, diameter, and area fraction of the networks, and Winey used the simulation to work backward from the network's overall electrical resistance to find the contact resistance.
"In playing with this simulation, we can see how much better our networks get when we increase the length of the nanowires, for example," say Pennsylvania graduate student Rose Mutiso.
The researchers say the simulation provides more evidence for each variable's role in the overall network's performance, which enables them to find the right balance of traits for specific applications. "We can now make rational comparisons between different wires, as well as different processing methods for different wires, to find the lowest contact resistance independent of nanowire length, diameter, and area fraction," Winey says.
From Penn News
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