Resonant infrared pulsed laser ablation for the deposition of polymer and polymer composite films for conformal optical coating on plastic substrates

ABSTRACT: This project will apply resonant infrared pulsed laser ablation techniques to deposit environmentally-durable, adherent and conformal anti-reflection (AR) coating on a plastic (polycarbonate) substrate. The proposed broadband AR coating is based on a multilayer architecture of low-refractive index polymer and high-refractive index polymer or polymer hybrid materials. High quality polymer films can be deposited by resonant infrared pulsed laser deposition (RIR-PLD) method while polymer composite films can be deposited by resonant infrared matrix assisted pulsed laser evaporation (RIR-MAPLE) and their combinations. Model material systems will be designed and compared by appropriate mathematical modeling. Optical transmission, reflection and scattering will be measured with standard optical metrology techniques. The flexibility of RIR-MAPLE and RIR-PLD allows the deposition of a wide variety of materials including chemically resistant (insoluble) barrier polymers and nanoparticles embedded in polymer matrix to enhance durability and engineer the refractive index. A hybrid scheme with RIR-MAPLE and RIR-PLD along with a multi-target carousel further enlarges the palette of materials that can be deposited in vacuum for achieving unprecedented optical and mechanical coating properties. BENEFIT: The anticipated result of the proposed approach is an environmentally durable AR coating on polymer substrates. Specifically, the outcome of this project will allow the deposition of adherent and non-delaminating coatings onto polymer surfaces. If proven successful, it is possible to enhance significantly the quality of AR-coating on widely used plastic substrates, as more than a half of population wears corrective eyewear and/or sunglasses. In addition, the outcome of this project will have a proof of concept for commercialization of this novel technique for thin-film organic opto-electronics devices such as organic light emitting diode (OLED) and light management films for displays. The success of this project will have an impact to the America"s competitiveness in manufacturing and job creation.