Antireflex
Antireflex refers to coatings and surface treatments designed to minimize reflections from optical surfaces and thereby maximize transmitted light. The coatings rely on thin-film interference: by applying one or more layers with specific thicknesses and refractive indices, reflected waves from the air–coating and coating–substrate interfaces interfere destructively over a target wavelength range.
Common implementations are multi-layer anti-reflective coatings for visible light, with typical designs using materials such as
Applications include eyeglasses, camera and binocular lenses, display screens, solar panels, and architectural glass. In practice,
Manufacture commonly uses vacuum deposition methods, such as physical vapor deposition or sputtering, to deposit precisely
Durability and environmental resistance depend on the material system and sealing, with trade-offs among cost, hardness,
Limitations include wavelength and angle dependence: performance declines away from design wavelength or at large incident
Historically, anti-reflective coatings were developed in the 20th century and have become standard in consumer optics