Broadband biomimetic antireflection fabricated via colloidal self-assembly

This study reports the usage of a colloidal self-assembly technique that is used for templates in order to create anti-reflection coatings (ARCs). The colloidal self-assembly takes advantage of Langmuir-Blodgett assembly at a water-air interface. The self-assembled layer formed is a close-packed hexagonal monolayer. These layers can be formed simply and relatively quickly. In this study, these layers will be used as a template to form moth-eye anti-reflecting inspired coatings on silicon substrates. Silicon is a material interest because of its use in photovoltaics and high-efficiency IR spectroscopy. The idea is to increase the efficiency of these devices by modifying their optical properties. Work has been done on looking at different regions of the electro-magnetic including visible, near- mid- and far-infrared. Different etching methods are also investigated to find alternatives for creating ARCs. These include various reactive ion etching methods and metal assisted chemical etching. Additional work related to using these self-assembled monolayers and creating 2D inverse opals in polymers is explored. These polymer materials are of interest for their optical and sensing applications.