Traditionally, various vacuum-based processes have been used for producing interference-type anti... more Traditionally, various vacuum-based processes have been used for producing interference-type anti-reflection (AR) coatings on large area substrates for different commercial applications. In this paper, the development of sol-gel derived AR coating on large plastic substrates for display application is presented. The sol-gel dip coating process was used to deposit thin films on large size plastic panels. By developing sols with different refractive indices, multi-layer thin-film AR coating stacks were designed and fabricated. These coatings possess good uniformity and meet stringent automotive specifications. This technology has been commercialized successfully for dashboard instrument panel application in Toyota's new hybrid engine car, named Prius. In this paper, AR coatings prepared by the sol-gel process are reviewed. The basic design concept for an AR coating, the coating preparation procedure, and important parameters of the solution coating process are discussed. Optical constants of the coating materials were characterized by using spectroscopic ellipsometry. Optical, mechanical and environmental tests were performed on the sol-gel derived AR coating stack. The sol-gel derived AR coating possesses equivalent or superior properties when compared to the major commercially available AR coating products.
Traditionally, various vacuum-based processes, depending on material systems and properties, and ... more Traditionally, various vacuum-based processes, depending on material systems and properties, and chemical etching process have been used for producing di!erent types of anti-re#ection (AR) coating on di!erent substrate materials. In this paper, the development of sol}gel derived AR coating on di!erent substrates for various applications in the past 40 years are reviewed. These coatings possess good uniformity in thickness and properties which have met requirements for various applications. The major approaches to fabricate AR coating and their characteristics have been discussed. This paper outlines the major solution coating processes and design principles of AR coatings. Major fabrication processes used in AR coating technologies have been compared. Di!erent solution chemistries developed for producing di!erent materials for AR coating preparation have been extensively reviewed. The optical performance of di!erent types of sol}gel-derived AR coatings have been summarized and comparison to the commercial AR coating produced by traditional technologies have been discussed. The sol}gel AR coating has been shown to possess comparable or superior performance to those produced by vacuum-based processes.
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Papers by Dinguo Chen