Conductor and method of manufacturing the same

Abstract

A conductor includes a plurality of metal nanostructures and an organic material, where a portion of the organic material surrounding each of the metal nanostructures is selectively removed, and the conductor has a haze of less than or equal to about 1.1, a light transmittance of greater than or equal to about 85% at about 550 nm, and a sheet resistance of less than or equal to about 100 Ω/sq. An electronic device includes the conductor, and a method of manufacturing a conductor includes preparing a conductive film including a metal nanostructure and an organic material, and selectively removing the organic material from the conductive film using a cluster ion beam sputtering.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A conductor comprising:
 a plurality of metal nanostructures; and   an organic material,   wherein a portion of the organic material surrounding each metal nanostructure is selectively removed, and   the conductor has a haze of less than or equal to about 1.1, a light transmittance of greater than or equal to about 85% at about 550 nanometers, and a sheet resistance of less than or equal to about 100 ohms per square.   
     
     
         2 . The conductor of  claim 1 , wherein adjacent metal nanostructures of the metal nanostructures are in direct contact with each other. 
     
     
         3 . The conductor of  claim 2 , wherein
 the adjacent metal nanostructures are physically connected to each other via a junction.   
     
     
         4 . The conductor of  claim 1 , wherein
 the metal nanostructure comprises a silver nanostructure, and   the organic material comprises polyvinyl pyrrolidone.   
     
     
         5 . An electronic device comprising the conductor of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         6 . The electronic device of  claim 5 , further comprising a liquid crystal display, an organic light emitting diode device, a touch screen panel, a solar cell, an optoelectronic device, or a sensor. 
     
     
         7 . The electronic device of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 a polymer substrate disposed under the conductor,   wherein a chemical composition change between a surface of the polymer substrate overlapping the conductor has and a surface of a polymer substrate not overlapping the conductor is less than or equal to about 5%.   
     
     
         8 . The electronic device of  claim 7 , wherein
 the polymer substrate comprises a polycarbonate substrate, and   a carbon/oxygen ratio difference between the surface portion of the polymer substrate overlapping the conductor has and the surface portion of the polymer substrate not overlapping the conductor is less than or equal to about 5%.   
     
     
         9 . A method of manufacturing a conductor, the method comprising:
 preparing a conductive film comprising a metal nanostructure and an organic material; and   selectively removing the organic material from the conductive film using a cluster ion beam sputtering.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the cluster ion beam sputtering comprises a gas cluster ion beam sputtering, C60 cluster ion beam sputtering, a metal cluster ion beam sputtering or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the gas cluster ion beam sputtering comprises argon gas cluster ion beam sputtering, nitrogen gas cluster ion beam sputtering, fluorine-containing gas ion beam sputtering, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the selectively removing the organic material comprises performing the cluster ion beam sputtering at an acceleration voltage of about 5 electron volts to about 20 electron volts. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the selectively removing the organic material comprises performing the cluster ion beam sputtering for about 1 minute to about 60 minutes. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the preparing the conductive film comprises:
 applying an ink comprising the metal nanostructure and the organic material on a polymer substrate; and   drying the polymer substrate on which the ink is applied.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein a surface of the polymer substrate is not substantially damaged by the cluster ion beam sputtering. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the surface of the polymer substrate has a chemical composition change of less than or equal to about 5% before and after using the cluster ion beam sputtering. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein
 the polymer substrate comprises a polycarbonate substrate, and   a carbon/oxygen ratio difference between a surface of the polymer substrate overlapping the conductive film has and a surface of the polymer substrate not overlapping the conductive film is less than or equal to about 5%.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the organic material comprises an organic material coated on a surface of the metal nanostructure, an organic material disposed between the metal nanostructures, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the selectively removing the organic material comprises measuring how much of the organic material is removed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein
 the metal nanostructure comprises a silver nanostructure, and   the organic material comprises polyvinyl pyrrolidone.