Antireflective nanopatterned surface treatment for glass

减反射(AR)玻璃表面是现代电子显示器、太阳能电池板、LED和OLED照明和透镜的关键组件。目前的技术采用的是AR薄膜，这种薄膜在不同的入射角度和波长上具有不同的性能，并且容易受到机械磨损。Edgehog公司总部设在蒙特利尔的孵化器TandemLaunch Inc.，是一家纳米技术初创公司，开始商业化受生物启发的防反射“蛾眼”纳米结构，这种纳米结构提供了一种可扩展的方法，可以大幅降低玻璃基板上整个可见光和近红外光谱的反射率(&gt；0.2%)，甚至在大角度入射时也是如此。他们的技术包括使用聚合物自组装对防护面具进行纳米刻蚀，在纳米掩膜内沉积金属，以及随后的等离子蚀刻以产生深度蛾眼图案。虽然这种方法创造了最优的宽波长减反射性能，适用于高性能应用，如高分辨率显示器和特种太阳能电池板，但等离子刻蚀的成本阻碍了它们在低成本设备中的部署。一种典型的降低制造成本的方法包括对大片玻璃进行功能化处理，以及随后对大片进行切割或加工。不幸的是，这种方法目前不适合于经过钢化或化学强化的铝硅酸盐，这是目前最先进的方法；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：加工和制作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.