Antireflective Materials for High-Efficiency Lighting

Reflections at optical surfaces reduce the efficiency of solid-state lighting products by up to 5% and result in unpleasant glare light. Glint is developing a new low-cost process antireflective technology for injection-molded plastic optics. The technology imparts nano-scale structures on the optic surface that mimic the naturally-occurring antireflective properties of moth eyes. During Phase I, Glint confirmed the performance benefits of antireflective surfaces by applying existing antireflective materials to the planar surfaces of luminaire optics. Glint also developed a new procedure for creating antireflective surfaces onnon-planar optics and undertook proof-of-concept fabrication work. During Phase II, Glint will optimize the fabrication process for creating antireflective surfaces during injection molding of complex optical parts. Demonstration optics formed using the new process will be built into lighting fixtures to validate the performance improvements. When applied to solid-state lighting components, these antireflective materials can increase system efficiency by up to 5% without requiring any other design changes.This improvement reduces electrical energy use in lighting, saves money for lighting customers, and provides improved lighting quality by reducing undesirable glare. The technology is also valuable in other industries that use injection-molded optics, such as telecommunications, machine vision, and medical devices.