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Nanoporous Films with Low Refractive Index for Large‐Surface Broad‐Band Anti‐Reflection Coatings
Author(s) -
Wicht Gaëtan,
Ferrini Rolando,
Schüttel Stefan,
Zuppiroli Libero
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
macromolecular materials and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.913
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1439-2054
pISSN - 1438-7492
DOI - 10.1002/mame.201000045
Subject(s) - nanoporous , materials science , refractive index , high refractive index polymer , coating , photonics , broadband , polymer , optoelectronics , reflection (computer programming) , optics , specular reflection , anti reflective coating , substrate (aquarium) , nanotechnology , composite material , oceanography , physics , geology , computer science , programming language
Nowadays, nanoporous films are widely employed in biochemical applications or in opto‐photonic devices such as displays, solar cells, or light‐guiding systems. In particular, the technological feasibility of nanoporous layers with low refractive indices has recently enabled the development of high‐efficiency anti‐reflection coatings. In this paper, we report on hybrid polymer nanoporous films that can be fabricated in a single coating step with an industrial aqueous‐based method on very large surfaces. Both high transparency and low refractive index are simultaneously achieved over the entire visible spectrum. We eventually demonstrate the potential of such films for broadband AR applications by combining them in a graded‐index multilayer that reduces the surface reflectivity of a polymer substrate from 10% to few ‰.