Novel pathways for the preparation of silica antireflective films: Improvement in mechanical property

Silica antireflective films by the base catalyzed sol–gel process show poor mechanical property. In this study, silica antireflective films with good mechanical property have been prepared by the acid catalyzed templating sol–gel process. The single-layer film was deposited from an acid-catalyzed silica sol solution with polymer F127 incorporation. The silica sol was first dip deposited onto substrate to form films on both sides of the substrate and then subjected to thermal treatment at 500 °C. After thermal treatment, the abrasion resistant antireflective film was achieved due to the formation of porous structure in the resultant film as a result of decomposing F127. Optical spectroscopic measurement shows that the coated glass with maximum transmittance of 99.5% has been obtained. Nanoindenter measurement shows that the elastic modulus and hardness of films are 16 GPa and 1.3, respectively, which are much better than those films derived from base-catalyzed silica sols. The high transmittance and good mechanical property make such films potential in both military and civil applications.