Deposition and spectral performance of an inhomogeneous broadband wide-angular antireflective coating
Applied Optics
30
45
7851-7857
2006
Type: Zeitschriftenaufsatz (reviewed)
DOI: 10.1364/AO.45.007851
Abstract
Gradient index coatings and optical filters are a challenge for fabrication. In a round-robin experiment, basically the same hybrid antireflection coating for the visible spectral region, combining homogeneous refractive index layers of pure materials and linear gradient refractive index layers of material mixtures, has been deposited. The experiment involved three different deposition techniques: electron-beam evaporation, ion-beam sputtering, and radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The material combinations used by these techniques were Nb2O 5/SiO2 , TiO2/SiO2 , and Ta2O 5/SiO2, respectively. The spectral performances of samples coated on one side and on both sides have been compared to the corresponding theoretical spectra of the designed profile. Also, the reproducibility of results for each process is verified. Finally, it is shown that ion-beam sputtering gave the best results in terms of deviation from the theoretical performance and reproducibility.