Antireflective nanopatterned surface treatment for glass

抗反射（AR）玻璃表面是现代电子显示器、太阳能电池板、LED和OLED照明和透镜的关键部件。目前的技术采用的AR薄膜在不同的入射角和波长上具有不一致的性能，并且容易受到机械磨损的影响。Edgehog总部设在总部位于华盛顿的孵化器TandemLaunch Inc.，是一家纳米技术初创公司，开始商业化生物启发，抗反射“蛾眼”纳米结构，提供了一种可扩展的方法，大大减少反射（> 0.2%）在整个可见光和近红外光谱的玻璃基板上，即使在大角度的入射。他们的技术包括使用聚合物自组装来进行保护性掩模的纳米图案化，在纳米掩模内沉积金属，以及随后的等离子体蚀刻来创建深蛾眼图案。虽然这种方法产生了最佳的最佳宽波长抗反射性能，适用于高性能应用，如高分辨率显示器和专业太阳能电池板，但等离子体蚀刻的成本阻止了它们在低成本设备中的部署。不幸的是，这种方法目前不适用于回火或化学强化的铝硅酸盐，这是目前最先进的;当试图加工这种具有内在复杂应力状态的材料时，它很容易破碎。因此，拟议的研究项目将有助于解决阻碍Edgehogc制造的抗反射纳米结构商业应用的主要困难：加工和图案化钢化或化学强化玻璃的能力。

Antireflection (AR) glass surfaces are key components of modern electronic displays, solar panels, LED, and OLED lighting and lenses. Current technology employs AR thin-films that have inconsistent performance across different incident angles and wavelengths, and are susceptible to mechanical wear. Edgehog, based at the Montreal-based incubator TandemLaunch Inc., is a nanotechnology start-up beginning to commercialize bio-inspired, anti-reflective "moth-eye" nanostructures that provide a scalable approach to drastically reducing reflections (> 0,2%) on glass substrates over the entire visible and near-IR spectrum, even at large angles of incidence. Their technology includes the use of polymer self-assembly for nanopatterning of a protective mask, metal deposition within the nano-mask, and subsequent plasma etching to create deep moth-eye patterns. While this method creates the best optimum broad-wavelength anti-reflection performance suitable for high-performance applications, such as high-resolution displays and specialty solar panels, the cost of plasma etching prevents their deployment in low-cost devices.One method typically employed to lower the cost of fabrication includes the functionalization of large sheets of glass and subsequent cutting or machining of the large sheets. Unfortunately, this approach is currently unsuitable for tempered or chemically strengthened aluminosilicate, the current state-of-the-art; when attempting to machine this material that has an intrinsically complex stress-state, it easily shatters.The proposed research project will therefore help address the main difficulty preventing the commercial application of anti-reflective nanostructures, as fabricated by Edgehogc: the ability to machine and pattern tempered or chemically-strengthened glass.