Thermally stable antireflective coatings based on nanoporous organosilicate thin films

Thermally stable nanoporous organosilicate thin films were realized by the microphase separation of pore-generating polymers mixed with an organosilicate matrix to be antireflective coatings (ARCs), for which a thin film with a refractive index (n) of 1.23 for zero reflection is required. The refractive index of such nanoporous organosilicate films can be tuned from 1.39 down to 1.23 by incorporating nanopores within the films. With a nanoporous single layer with n approximately 1.23, the light transmittance of the glass above 99.8% was achieved in the visible range (lambda approximately 550 nm). To overcome the limitation on the narrow wavelength for high transmittance imposed by a single antireflective nanoporous thin film, bilayer thin films with different refractive indices were prepared by placing a high refractive index layer with a refractive index of 1.45 below the nanoporous thin film. UV-vis transmittance of a glass coated with the bilayer films was compared with nanoporous single-layer films and it is demonstrated that the novel broadband antireflection coatings in a wide range of visible wavelength can be easily obtained by the organosilicate bilayer thin films described in this study. Also, ARCs developed in this study demonstrate excellent AR durability owing to the hydrophobic nature of the organosilicate matrix.     

溶解氧及波长对光助阳极沉积CeO2薄膜的影响

本文主要研究在含有0.05 mol·L^-1硝酸铈、0.1 mol·L^-1乙酸铵和70%（体积比）乙醇的镀液中通过阳极电沉积法在316 L不锈钢电极表面上制备CeO₂薄膜,并讨论了三种单色光波长以及镀液中溶解氧对阳极沉积CeO₂的影响. 采用计时安培曲线、椭圆偏振光谱、扫描电子显微镜、掠角X射线衍射和拉曼光谱方法研究了薄膜的电镀行为、表面形貌及其结构. 结果表明,本研究中的有效光照射波长为365 nm和254 nm,415 nm的波长不足以将电子从导带激发到价带. 随着入射光波长从254 nm增加到415 nm,薄膜的厚度与结晶度均逐渐减小,波长的变化对CeO₂薄膜表面形貌的影响很小. 少量的氧气对光助阳极沉积CeO₂薄膜有积极作用,但会生成较多的铈的氧化物颗粒吸附在电极表面. 在光电化学系统中,O₂常用作电子捕获剂. 随着溶解氧含量的增加,O₂将捕获对沉积有积极作用的光生电子,进而抑制阳极沉积的反应速率.     

ZnO纳米棒薄膜的湿化学法制备及光致发光特性

在80 ℃水浴下, 采用简易的湿化学法在不导电玻璃基底上制备了ZnO纳米棒阵列, 利用X射线衍射仪(XRD)和场发射扫描电镜(FE-SEM)对样品的结构形貌进行了表征. 结果表明, 晶化30 min所得产物为六方纤锌矿相的ZnO纳米棒, 直径大约为80~90 nm. 为了分析不同的低温退火温度和退火气氛对其光致发光性能的影响, 研究了ZnO纳米棒薄膜在不同的后处理条件下的光致发光谱(PL). 实验结果表明, 在O₂气氛下于450 ℃退火1 h后, ZnO纳米棒薄膜的红光发射(约650 nm)强度相对在空气和5%H₂/95%N₂气氛下退火的样品变得更强, 而且该样品的激发波长范围(200~370 nm)与近紫外发光二极管(LEDs)的发射波长范围(350~420 nm)匹配得很好.     

Photochemical tuning capability of cholesteric liquid crystal cells containing chiral dopants end capped with menthyl groups

In order to investigate the photochemical tuning capability of chiral monomers and polymers containing end-capped menthyl groups, a new series of chiral dopants was synthesized and added to commercially available nematic liquid crystals to induce cholesteric liquid crystal (LC) phases. The addition of chiral dopants with azo structure led to phototunability of the reflection colour of the LC cells. Photochromic variation of the LC cells due to photoisomerization of the azo compound was investigated. After photopolymerization of the monomers inside the cholesteric LC cells, the centre wavelength of the reflected band of the incident light was found to be fixed and the reflected bandwidth was broadened, resulting in a red shift. A schematic representation of both the photoisomerization of the azo dopants and its effect on variation of twisting pitches is proposed. Real image recording was performed using 365 nm UV through a mask with text. The top and side views of the morphological network structures of a fabricated cholesteric LC cell were investigated using scanning electron microscopy. The results of this investigation demonstrated that RGB reflected colours of LC cells can easily be achieved through the addition of the menthyl-containing synthesized chiral compounds to nematic LCs. The addition of synthesized AzoM helped further in recording the patterns onto cholesteric LC films using 365 nm UV exposure.     

Photochemical tuning capability of cholesteric liquid crystal cells containing chiral dopants end capped with menthyl groups

In order to investigate the photochemical tuning capability of chiral monomers and polymers containing end‐capped menthyl groups, a new series of chiral dopants was synthesized and added to commercially available nematic liquid crystals to induce cholesteric liquid crystal (LC) phases. The addition of chiral dopants with azo structure led to phototunability of the reflection colour of the LC cells. Photochromic variation of the LC cells due to photoisomerization of the azo compound was investigated. After photopolymerization of the monomers inside the cholesteric LC cells, the centre wavelength of the reflected band of the incident light was found to be fixed and the reflected bandwidth was broadened, resulting in a red shift. A schematic representation of both the photoisomerization of the azo dopants and its effect on variation of twisting pitches is proposed. Real image recording was performed using 365 nm UV through a mask with text. The top and side views of the morphological network structures of a fabricated cholesteric LC cell were investigated using scanning electron microscopy. The results of this investigation demonstrated that RGB reflected colours of LC cells can easily be achieved through the addition of the menthyl‐containing synthesized chiral compounds to nematic LCs. The addition of synthesized AzoM helped further in recording the patterns onto cholesteric LC films using 365 nm UV exposure.     

Textured fluorine-doped tin dioxide films formed by chemical vapour deposition

The use of an aerosol delivery system enabled fluorine-doped tin dioxide films to be formed from monobutyltin trichloride methanolic solutions at 350-550 °C with enhanced functional properties compared with commercial standards. It was noted that small aerosol droplets (0.3 μm) gave films with better figures of merit than larger aerosol droplets (45 μm) or use of a similar precursor set using atmospheric pressure chemical vapour deposition (CVD) conditions. Control over the surface texturing and physical properties of the thin films were investigated by variation in the deposition temperature and dopant concentration. Optimum deposition conditions for low-emissivity coatings were found to be at a substrate temperature of about 450 °C with a dopant concentration of 1.6 atm% (30 mol% F:Sn in solution), which resulted in films with a low visible light haze value (1.74%), a high charge-carrier mobility (25 cm(2) V s(-1)) and a high charge-carrier density (5.7×10(20) cm(-3)) resulting in a high transmittance across the visible (≈80%), a high reflectance in the IR (80% at 2500 nm) and plasma-edge onset at 1400 nm. Optimum deposition conditions for coatings with applications as top electrodes in thin film photovoltaics were found to be a substrate temperature of about 500 °C with a dopant concentration of 2.2 atm% (30 mol% F:Sn in solution), which resulted in films with a low sheet resistance (3 Ω sq(-1)), high charge-carrier density (6.4×10(20) cm(-3)), a plasma edge onset of 1440 nm and the films also showed pyramidal surface texturing on the micrometer scale which corresponded to a high visible light haze value (8%) for light scattering and trapping within thin film photovoltaic devices.     

掺硼p型非晶硅薄膜的制备及光学性能的表征

以高氢稀释的硅烷(SiH₄ )为反应气体,硼烷(B₂H₆)为掺杂气体,利用RF-PECVD方法,在玻璃衬底上制备出掺硼的氢化非晶硅(a-Si:H)薄膜,研究了硼掺杂量对氢化非晶硅(a-Si:H)薄膜的光学性能的影响.利用NKD-7000 W光学薄膜分析系统测试薄膜的透射谱和反射谱,并利用该系统的软件拟合得出薄膜的折射率、消光系数、吸收系数等光学性能参数,利用Tauc法计算掺硼的非晶硅薄膜的光学带隙.实验结果表明,随着硼掺杂量的增加,掺杂非晶硅薄膜样品在同一波长处的折射率先增大后减小,而且每一样品均随着入射光波长的增加而减小,在波长500 nm处的折射率均达到4.3以上;薄膜的消光系数和吸收系数随着硼掺杂量的增大而增大,在500 nm处的吸收系数可高达1.5×10⁵cm^-1.在实验的硼掺杂范围内,光学带隙从1.81 eV变化到1.71 eV.     

Photochemical synthesis of gold nanoparticles in elastomer films of poly(butyl acrylate) latex

Gold particles are formed by photochemical reduction of HAuCl₄ in the bulk of poly(butyl acrylate) elastomer films under the action of monochromatic light with the wavelengths of 254 and 365 nm with direct participation of the ester chromophore group of the polymer having intrinsic photosensitivity in the near-UV range (254 nm). On irradiation at the wavelength of 365 nm, the reduction of HAuCl₄ is ineffective and stops at the stage of Au(I) formation. The physicomechanical properties of elastomer films modified with gold particles (tensile strength and relative elongation) were studied.     

Bottom-up and top-down approach for periodic microstructures on thin oxide films by controlled photo-activated chemical processes

Micropatterned oxide films were fabricated by controlling the photo-induced processes, such as buckling driven wrinkle formation and photomigration, in the photo monomer-oxide precursor hybrid films. The photo-induced process depended on the wavelength of the illuminated light, that is to say, the penetration depth of the UV light for polymerization; a uniform illumination of 254 nm light from the incoherent black light induces the surface buckling which resulted in the self-organized formation of a long-range ordered surface wrinkle structure (bottom-up process). On the other hand, 325 nm or 365 nm illumination enables us to fabricate a microstructure by the conventional photolithography technique, such as the mask method or holographic illumination (top-down process). The simultaneous illumination of the black light (uniform, 254 nm) and the He–Cd laser (holographic, 325 nm) resulted in the formation of a 2D micropattern in which the holographic gratings are formed by the holographic illumination together with the array of dots by surface buckling. This result indicates that the present microfabrication offers an integration of the top-down and bottom-up approach to realize the simultaneous fabrication of multi-scale and complex microstructured thin oxide films for photonic applications.     

Reversible photoswitching of dye-doped core-shell nanoparticles

We present a simple and versatile mechanism for the reversible photoswitching of dye-doped core-shell nanoparticles. Photochromic dithienylethenes are incorporated into the outer shell, close enough to the dyes entrapped in the core to efficiently quench them by energy transfer when photoconverted with UV light. The emission can be switched back on by irradiation with λ > 450 nm.     

多钼酸盐–柠檬酸复合膜的多色光致变色

制备了多钼酸盐–柠檬酸光致变色复合膜，紫外光照后发现不同摩尔比的复合膜呈现不同的颜色。当摩尔比为1.0，0.3和0.2时，变色后的薄膜分别显深蓝色，深黄褐色和淡海绿色。通过对薄膜的拉曼光谱分析证实呈现不同的颜色是由于在变色后的膜中生成了不同的物种。柠檬酸在光致变色过程中起着重要的作用, 在紫外光的照射下它作为空穴的捕获剂, 抑制了光生电子和空穴的复合, 使多钼酸盐呈现紫外光致变色现象。     

Sol–gel derived near-UV and visible antireflection coatings from hybridized hollow silica nanospheres

This paper reports a facile means to gradually tailor refractive index from an ultra-low-n of 1.10–1.45 based on hollow silica nanospheres hybridized with acid-catalyzed silica. The influences of the hybridization on refractive index, thin-film uniformity, and roughness were systematically investigated. The single-layered antireflection (AR) coatings and the three-layered AR coatings were prepared using the hybridized thin films as building blocks. The former showed the near-perfect transmittance and reflectance, 99.16 and 0.42 %, respectively, at a single wavelength of 600 nm, while the average transmittance (T _ave) and reflectance (R _ave) from the near ultraviolet (UV) to the visible region (300–800 nm) were moderate; the latter demonstrated an excellent AR capability in broadband that T _ave reaches 97.29 %, much higher than that of the single-layered AR coating, 95.86 %. More interestingly, the three-layered AR coating showed an average transmittance of 97.94 % in the near-UV wavelength range from 345 to 400 nm and it was 6.77 % higher than that of bare glass. Moreover, the three-layered AR coatings had the less degradation in transmission and surface morphology after the highly-accelerated temperature and humidity stress tests, and the wet abrasion scrub tests. The findings imply that both good optical performance and durability are likely to be achieved using the sol–gel derived multilayered AR coatings.     

Digital photoswitching of fluorescence based on the photochromism of diarylethene derivatives at a single-molecule level

Photochromic reactions of diarylethene derivatives were detected at a single-molecule level by using a fluorescence technique. Fluorescent photoswitching molecules in which photochromic diarylethene and fluorescent bis(phenylethynyl)anthracene units are linked through an adamantyl spacer were synthesized, and switching of fluorescence upon irradiation with UV and visible light was followed in solution as well as on polymer films at the single-molecule level. Although in solution the fluorescence intensity gradually changed upon irradiation with UV and visible light, digital on/off switching between two discrete states was observed at the single-molecule level. The "on"- and "off"-times were dependent on the power of UV and visible light. When the power of UV and visible light was increased, the average on- and off-times became short in proportion to the reciprocal power of the light. The response-times were found to show distribution. The distribution of the on- and off-times is considered to reflect the difference in the micro-environment as well as conformation of the molecules.     

Epoxy-based azo polymers with high chromophore density: Synthesis,characterization and photoinduced birefringence

Three epoxy-based azo polymers(PEP-AZ-Cl,PEP-AZ-CN and PEP-AZ-NT) with high chromophore density were synthesized by using post-polymerization azo-coupling reactions between epoxy-based precursor polymer(PEP-AN) and diazonium salts of 4-chloroaniline,4-aminobenzonitrile and 4-nitroaniline,respectively.The structures and properties of the azo polymers were characterized by using ~1H-NMR,FT-IR,UV-Vis and thermal analyses.The photoinduced birefringence of the azo polymers was studied by irradiating spin-coated films of the polymers with laser beam at three different wavelengths(488,532,and 589 nm).The results indicate that the photoinduced birefringence of the azo polymers is related with the electron-withdrawing group on azo chromophores and the excitation wavelength.The excitation wavelength that can cause the efficient responses is determined by the absorption band positions of the azo chromophores,which are mainly affected by the electron-withdrawing group on the chromophores.Therefore,the azo polymers containing chromophores with different electron-withdrawing groups show different responsive behavior to the irradiation light at different wavelengths.When irradiated with 488 nm light,PEP-AZ-Cl shows the shortest time to reach the saturated birefringence but with the lowest saturation birefringence level compared with the other two azo polymers.When irradiated with 532 nm light,PEP-AZ-CN shows the shortest time to reach the saturated birefringence.When irradiated with 532 and 589 nm light,PEP-AZ-NT shows the highest saturation birefringence level.     

Control of the microstructure of polymer network and effects of the microstructures on light scattering properties of UV‐cured polymer‐dispersed liquid crystal films

Polymer‐dispersed liquid crystals (PDLC) films were prepared from ultraviolet (UV) irradiation‐induced polymerization of the photopolymerizable monomers in photopolymerizable monomers/nematic liquid crystal (LC) mixtures. The effects of the composition of the mixtures, the curing temperature, and the UV light intensity on the microstructure of the polymer network in the PDLC films were investigated. Furthermore, the effects of the microstructures on the light scattering properties of the PDLC films in the wavelength region of 300–2500 nm were studied experimentally and theoretically based on the combination of three kinds of classical light scattering theories: the Rayleigh‐Gans (RG) approach, the anomalous diffraction (AD) approach, and the geometrical optics (GO) approach. It was found that the sizes of LC domain in PDLC films increased with the increase of the LC content as well as the decrease of the UV curing intensity, while increased at first and then decreased with the increase of the curing temperature. Moreover, smaller LC domain sizes could exhibit strong scattering properties in a smaller VIS wavelength region and the transmittance in NIR region (especially in the wavelength range of 1300–2500 nm) obviously decreased with the increasing sizes of LC domain. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 46: 2090–2099, 2008     

Investigations of MgF2 Optical Thin Films Prepared from Autoclaved Sol

MgF₂ thin films with ultra low refractive indices were obtained by sol–gel method using sols prepared from magnesium acetate and hydrofluoric acid. The sols were autoclaved in a Teflon cell at 100–180°C for 24 h and then coated on SiO₂ glass or CaF₂ crystal substrates by spin coating. Subsequently, the samples were heat treated at 150°C for 1 h. The optical properties of the thin films, such as refractive index and transmittance, were investigated in the UV region, especially in the deep UV (DUV, below 250 nm) region. Though the coatings consist of single layers, both samples exhibited high transmittance. In addition, they exhibit such antireflection effect over a very wide range of wavelength. Such a good antireflection effect was produced only by low refractive indices. It has also been confirmed that, even in the range of vacuum UV (VUV, 200–150 nm), CaF₂ samples with antireflection coatings could keep such a good antireflection effect.     

含三氟甲基偶氮生色团环氧树脂类聚合物合成和光致表面自结构研究

利用后重氮偶合反应,将4-(三氟甲基)苯胺的重氮盐与两种具有高苯胺残基密度的环氧树脂类前体聚合物在极性有机溶剂中反应,制备了两种具有高生色团密度的环氧树脂类偶氮聚合物PEP-AZ-CF3和PEP-35AZ-CF3.利用1H-NMR、FTIR、UV-Vis和DSC等分析方法对2种偶氮聚合物结构、热性能及吸收光谱性能进行了分析及表征.研究了在不同波长的激光(488、532及589 nm)照射下,2种偶氮聚合物薄膜光致表面自结构的形成.研究结果表明,入射激光的波长对偶氮聚合物表面自结构现象的形成有明显影响.仅在波长488 nm的偏振激光(线偏振光或圆偏振光)照射下,2种偶氮聚合物薄膜表面能观察到自结构现象.圆偏光比线偏光更有利于诱导表面起伏结构的形成,但形成的表面结构不具备长程取向有序性.聚合物生色团中偶氮键邻位的取代甲基对表面自结构的形成起到阻碍作用.     

Preparation of Ni–YSZ thin and thick films on metallic interconnects as cell supports. Applications as anode for SOFC

In this work, we propose the preparation of a duplex anodic layer composed of both a thin (100 nm) and a thick film (10 μm) with Ni–YSZ material. The support of this anode is a metallic substrate, which is the interconnect of the SOFC unit cell. The metallic support limits the temperature of thermal treatment at 800 °C to keep a good interconnect mechanical behaviour and to reduce corrosion. We have chosen to elaborate anodic coatings by sol–gel route coupled with dip-coating process, which are low cost techniques and allow working with moderate temperatures. Thin films are obtained by dipping interconnect substrate into a sol, and thick films into an optimized slurry. After thermal treatment at only 800 °C, anodic coatings are adherent and homogeneous. Thin films have compact microstructures that confer ceramic protective barrier on metal surface. Further coatings of 10 μm thick are porous and constitute the active anodic material.     

Study of tri-layer antireflection coatings prepared by sol–gel method

Antireflective coatings (ARCs) on tri-layer thin film stacks were studied in this paper. Silica sols have been prepared by acid-catalyzed or base-catalyzed hydrolysis and condensation reactions of tetraethyl orthosilicate. Antireflective nanometric SiO₂/TiO₂ films are formed on both sides of the glass substrates by combining the sol–gel method and the dip-coating technique. Seen from the transmittance spectra of different films, a maximum light transmittance of 99.9% was obtained at the band of 300–800 nm. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) confirm the well-covered surface morphology. By the SEM observations we can see that the films are full of coverage on glass surface and containing no voids or cracks. The image root mean square roughness of the two types of ARCs provided by the AFM is 1.21 and 3.04 nm, respectively. Furthermore, a surface profiler was used to determine the thickness of each layer in the obtained multi-layer coating system.     

Tin oxide coating on polytetrafluoroethylene films in aqueous solutions

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) films were successfully coated with tin oxide in aqueous solutions. Tin oxide was crystallized in the solution and formed nanocrystal coatings on the polymer films. The coatings consisted of SnO₂ and SnO crystals. They were assemblies of tin oxide nanosheet of about 10 to 50 nm in size and about 5 nm in thickness. The nanocrystal films can be exfoliated from the PTFE substrates. Tin oxide nanocrystal films had a rough liquid surface and a dense substrate‐side surface. Transparency of PTFE films coated with tin oxide was same as that of bare PTFE films in the range from 400 to 800 nm. The PTFE films coated with tin oxide nanocrystals can be pasted on desired substrates. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.