Fabrication of high-reliability silver nanowire transparent film heaters and the associated electromigration failure mechanism

•A flip-laminate silver nanowire (AgNW) heater was proposed.•An inverted T-type electrode was designed to replace the usual rectangular electrode.•This heater could achieve long-term outdoor application.•A plausible explanation for AgNW heater electromigration failure was proposed. The short lifetime of silver nanowire (AgNW) transparent film heaters (TFHs) hinders their application in the security industry. Currently, no commercial product satisfies the outdoor application standards. This study developed a flip-laminate AgNW-based TFH by analyzing the shortcomings of a traditional layer-by-layer stacked heater. To increase the overall thermal response rate and reduce the current density of a single electrode, an inverted T-type dual electrode heater was designed. Modification and innovation of the design of AgNW TFH led to the realization of their commercial prototype. We also demonstrated electromigration failure to be the cause of disconnection of the negative electrode at a square-wave input voltage. These findings elucidate the theoretical understanding of the electromigration field.