Search results for "Optical coating"
showing 10 items of 10 documents
Thin-shell plastic lenses for space and laboratory applications
2004
We have identified an inexpensive, readily available, mechanically stable, extremely smooth, elastic, and mechanically uniform plastic suitable for thin film X-ray optics. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is easily deformed without losing its elastic properties or surface smoothness. Most important, PET can be coated with mono- or multilayers that reflect X-rays at grazing incidence. We have used these properties to produce X-ray optics made either as a concentric nest of cylinders or as a spiral. We have produced accurately formed shells in precisely machined vacuum mandresl or used a pin and wheel structure to form a continuously wound spiral. The wide range of medical, industrial and sci…
Carbon coatings for soft-x-ray reflectivity enhancement
2007
In X-ray astronomical telescopes, the focalization of the radiation is achieved by means of grazing incidence Wolter I (parabola + hyperbola) optics in total reflection regime. In general, high density materials (e.g. Au, Pt, Ir, W) are used as reflecting coatings, in order to increase as much as possible the cut-off angles and energies for total reflection. However these materials present an important reduction of the reflectivity between 0.2 and 5 keV, due to the photoabsorption, and this phenomenon is particularly enhanced in correspondence of the M absorption edges (between 2 and 3.5 keV). In general, this determines a strong decrease of the telescope effective area. To overcome the pro…
Mechanical behavior and limits to the microhardness testing of hard multilayer coatings on soft substrates
2000
Multilayer coatings of (Ti, Al) N x , (Ti, C)N x and (Nb, C)N x with bilayer thickness of 0.8-8 nm have been deposited by reactive sputtering on stainless steel substrates. Vickers microhardness measurements in the load range of 3.10 -3 to 1 N were performed using a self-adjusting tester. It has been shown that in order to obtain the true hardness of multilayer coatings on a softer substrate, the indentation depth should not exceed about 10% of the coating thickness. Indentation criteria for polycrystalline, amorphous and nanostructured multilayer coatings are compared. The obtained criterion for multilayer coatings is close to that for amorphous films.
Electric breakdown of dielectric thin films for high-voltage display applications
2016
Smectic A liquid crystal is one of the most promising material for smart glass application due to infinite bistability and low haze at clear state. Voltage is needed to switch from scattering to transparent and it is likely for dielectric breakdown to occur. In order to reduce the probability of dielectric breakdown to occur, a dielectric insulating coating is usually employed. In this work we have compared electrical and optical properties of SiO2 thin films with thickness up to 500 nm coated by flexographic printing and reactive magnetron sputtering. IV characteristics and dielectric breakdown values show sputtered coatings to have higher dielectric strength. For sputtered coatings with t…
Dielectric breakdown of fast switching LCD shutters
2017
Fast liquid crystal optical shutters due to fast switching, vibrationless control and optical properties have found various applications: substitutes for mechanical shutters, 3D active shutter glasses, 3D volumetric displays and more. Switching speed depends not only on properties of liquid crystal, but also on applied electric field intensity. Applied field in the shutters can exceed >10 V/micron which may lead to dielectric breakdown. Therefore, a dielectric thin film is needed between transparent conductive electrodes in order to reduce breakdown probability. In this work we have compared electrical and optical properties of liquid crystal displays with dielectric thin films with thickne…
Metamaterial coatings for subwavelength-resolution imaging
2011
Coating lenses are membranes made of materials exhibiting negative index of refraction and deposited on other media with high dielectric constant e 3 . Unfortunately far-field imaging suffers from centrosymmetric aberrations. We propose a simple procedure to compensate partially deviations from ray-tracing perfect imaging in asymmetric metamaterial lenses. We also show that, under some circumstances, coating superlens may recover subwavelength information transmitted in a relative spatial spectrum ranging from 1 to √e 3 .
<title>Performance problems of electrochromic coatings</title>
2003
The performance is actual problem of electrochromic coatings. The service and shelf life and cycling capacity are main performance characteristics. By solid-state ionics point of view any electrochromic cell based on phenomena with ion insertion - extraction processes is functioning as solid-state rechargeable battery. The main performance characteristics of electrochromic cells are similar. Performance of electrochromic coatings based on amorphous WO3 films and protons conducting electrolytes is limited by reversibility of ion insertion-extraction reactions, which causes degradation of cell components. The migration of water in the cell and hydration together with ion insertion-extraction …
Simbol-X Mirror Module Thermal Shields: I-Design and X-Ray Transmission
2009
The Simbol‐X mission is designed to fly in formation flight configuration. As a consequence, the telescope has both ends open to space, and thermal shielding at telescope entrance and exit is required to maintain temperature uniformity throughout the mirrors. Both mesh and meshless solutions are presently under study for the shields. We discuss the design and the X‐ray transmission.
<title>Properties of ITO transparent electrode thin films on different substrates</title>
2003
Indium tin oxide (ITO) is optically transparent semiconductor that finds extensive applications in liquid crystal displays, photovoltaic cells, touch screen displays, electrochromic smart windows and more. As with all such electrode materials, there is a compromise between conductivity and optical properties. Different substrate materials and underlying layers are playing important role in transparency (better contrast and less absorption, increased brightness), surface morphology (smoothness, homogeneously) and conductivity of the ITO films. We compared optical, electrical and morphology properties of ITO films onto polymer substrate, obtained from company "SIDRABE Inc." (Latvia) and ITO f…
Void superlattice formation in electron irradiated CaF2: Theoretical analysis
2010
Abstract CaF2 is widely adopted as deep-UV window material and thin film optical coating. The void superlattice was observed experimentally under electron irradiation at room temperature. We performed kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) simulations of the initial stages of the process when short- and intermediate-range order of defects in small Ca colloids and larger interstitial aggregates (F2 gas voids) is created. The kMC model includes fluorine interstitial–vacancy pair creation, defect diffusion, similar defect attraction and dissimilar defect recombination. Special attention is paid to the statistical analysis of the defect aggregate distribution functions under different conditions (dose rate,…