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Materials Today: Proceedings 5 (2018) 6421–6425 www.materialstoday.com/proceedings

ICMPC 2017

Design and deposition of single and multilayer antireflection

coatings of glass substrate using electron beam deposition
Nancy Sharmaa, Mukesh Kumara, Neelam Kumaria, Vinod Karara, Amit L Sharmaa, *
a
CSIR-Central Scientific Instruments Organization, Sector -30 C ,Chandigarh,160030, India

Abstract

E-beam deposition technique offers many advantages compared to other physical vapour deposition techniques in terms of film
uniformity, reproducibility and its optical efficiency. In the present work, design and deposition of both single and multilayer
antireflection filter has been performed on optical grade glass substrates. Materials for coating were selected on basis of literature
review consisting mainly of oxides and fluorides. Thickness of individual layers was optimized using FilmstarTM software for
both single and multilayer antireflection coating. The performance of coatings was characterized using various spectroscopic
techniques such as UV–Vis spectrophotometer and Gonio spectrophotometer. The peak transmittance was found to be 96.41%
for single layer and 94.09% for multilayer antireflection coatings respectively. The performances for both antireflection coatings
are compared and analyzed for best possible results. These filters can be used for applications such as transparent industrial
display systems, relay optics in complex optical instruments and can further be customized for solar cell application.
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and/or Peer-review under responsibility of 7th International Conference of Materials Processing and Characterization.

Keywords:Optical thin films; antireflection; vapor deposition; filters; spectrophotometer

1. Introduction
Optical coating may be defined as the deposition of one or more layers on an optical surface such as lens, mirror in
the range of light incident on it. The phenomenon ofoptical coating ismainly based on the interference. Optical
coatings are primarily used for the purpose for altering the spectral reflectance or transmittance of optical
component. Optical coating is used to make LED collimator lenses, optical filters, display screens, head up displays,
beam splitters etc. Antireflection and high reflections are two types of optical coatings. As the name suggests,

* Corresponding author. Tel.: 919417850180;

E-mail address: amitsharma_csio@yahoo.co.in

2214-7853© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Selection and/or Peer-review under responsibility of 7th International Conference of Materials Processing and Characterization.
6422 Nancy Sharma et al.// Materials Today: Proceedings 5 (2018) 6421–6425

antireflection coatings are used to reduce the reflection and high reflection coating is used toenhance the
reflection.Antireflection coatings are commonly used on spectacles and photographic lenses. In complex systems
such as telescope, the reduction in reflections also improves the contrast of the image as its astronomical application.
Antireflection coatings can be of simple single layer coating giving nearly zero reflectance at one wavelength or
multilayer system, having virtually zero reflectance over a range of wavelength. In this paper, authors have designed
single and multilayer antireflection coating and fabricated the same on BK7 glass substrate. Materials such as oxides
and fluorides are used for realization of the coatings. Ebeam vacuum deposition technique is used for realization of
the design. For design of the coatings, FILMSTARTM software is used which provides built-in development tools
for specialized calculations and automation. The performance of the coating is checked using UV-visible
spectrophotometer and Gonio spectrophotometer. These can be used in monochromatic light applications and lenses.

2. Design Methodology
FilmstarTM design software was used for the designing of single and multilayer antireflection coating at normal and
oblique angle of incidence. The first and important step is the selection of materials to be coated. MgF2 material is
selected for single layer AR coating and Al2O3, TiO2, SiO2 for multilayer AR coating. All materials are procured
from Umicore, in palette form. MgF2 is used for antireflection coating because it behaves as transparent over wide
range of wavelengths[1]. SiO2 has good scratch resistant properties. It is also capable to withstand at elevated
temperatures. It behaves as transparent coating on glass substrate [2]. TiO2 also has various properties which are
suitable for antireflection coating i.e. less moisture absorption throughout the visible region and chemically stable
[3]. Al2O3 behaves as transparent, water repellent coating on glass substrate. These can be used in various
applications such as eyeglasses, cover glasses for solar cells, windshields of automobiles etc.[4] . The physical
thickness of MgF2 is taken as 95 nm in case of single layer. For multilayer AR coating materials, thickness of
Al2O3, TiO2 and SiO2 is 80 nm, 125 nm and 90 nm respectively.

2.1 Equation for single layer antireflection coating – Air /L/sub

To design the single layer AR coating for 525 nm wavelength, thickness (D) can becalculated using equation 1.

λ 1
D= . (1)
4 n
where n is the refractive index of material .
For λ=525 nm, refractive index of magnesium fluoride 1.38 thickness for single layer antireflection coating is
525 1
obtained as below.D = . = 95 nm (approx.)
4 1.38

2.2 Equation for multilayer antireflection coating- Air/Al2O3/TiO2/SiO2 /sub

For multilayer antireflection coating, thickness for material, Al2O3 having refractive index 1.63 and λ = 530 nm can
530 1
be obtained as below.D = . =80 nm (approx.)
4 1.63
530 1
For TiO2 coating having refractive index 2.1, thickness is D = . = 125 nm (approx.)
2 2.1
For SiO2 coating having refractive index 1.48, thickness is
530 1
D= . = 90 nm (approx.)
4 1.48
We can change the thickness of layers according to our requirement.

3. Experiment
3.1 Deposition of Antireflection coatings
The designs discussed in above section were realized on BK7 glass substrate having refractive index 1.52 of
dimensions 70 mm x70 mm using E-beam vacuum evaporation coating technique (Pfeiffer PLS 570) (Figure 1).
 Nancy Sharma et al./ Materials Today: Proceedings 5 (2018) 6421–6425 6423

Figure 1 Pictographic view of Electron Beam Coating facility

Substrates were cleaned by ultrasonication method by placing them in a stainless steel

tank containing the fluid (acetone medium) equipped with transducers at bottom or
sidewalls. After drying the substrate, Cerium oxide (CeO2) was used to clean the water
marks. Materials were crushed into powdered form using mortar and pestle. Molybdenum
boats were filled with required material and placed in the boat holder of equipment. Then,
degassing of materials was done to remove impurities. Various parameters like substrate
temperature, chamber pressure, oxygen partial pressure were controlled. Table 1 shows
the process parameters obtained during deposition for both single and multilayer coating

Table 1. Process Parameters

For Single layer coating →

S.No Material H.V. PWR (kW) Rate (nm/s) Thickness (nm) Time (min)
1 MgF2 6.11 1.7 0.982 95 1:30
For Multilayer coating →
1 Al2O3 7.5 5.8 0.292 80 3:24
2 TiO2 7.5 7.8 0.314 125 5:05
3 SiO2 6.1 3.5 1.010 90 1:38
6424 Nancy Sharma et al.// Materials Today: Proceedings 5 (2018) 6421–6425

4.Results

Coated samples were characterized using Gonio-spectrophotometer at normal and oblique angle of incidence.

Figure 2.Theoretically designed transmittance Figure3. Experimentally measured transmittance

spectra of MgF2 single layer coating. spectra of MgF2 single layer coating.
(Glass|MgF2|Air) (Glass|MgF2|Air)

Figure 2 and 3 shows the design and fabricated performance of single layer antireflection coating for both normal
and oblique incidence. A transmittance of 94.12% and 93.07% is obtained in 0° and 45° for design and 96.41% and
93.33% in case of fabrication. The fabricated results show that there is a deviation of 2.29% in case of normal and
0.26% in case of oblique angle of incidence from design.

Figure4. Theoretically designed transmittance Figure5. Experimental measured

spectra of multilayer coating. transmittance spectra of multilayer coating.
(Glass|Al2O3|TiO2|SiO2|Air) Glass|Al2O3|TiO2|SiO2|Air)

Figure 4 and 5 shows the transmittance performance in case of multilayer coating, a transmittance of 97% and
95.03% for normal and oblique angle of incidence in case of design and 92.28% and 90.03% in case of fabrication.
Table 2 summarizes the average, minimum and maximum reflectance and transmittance values for single layer and
multilayer antireflection coating in normal and oblique angle of incidence respectively.
 Nancy Sharma et al./ Materials Today: Proceedings 5 (2018) 6421–6425 6425

Table 2: Results of single and multilayer AR coating for AOI - 0º and AOI – 45º
For Single layer AR coating
%R (0º) %T(0º) %R (45º) %T (45º)
Ave 5.28 94.72 6.77 92.23
Min 9.49 90.51 8.65 91.35
Max 3.51 96.41 6.67 93.33
For Multilayer AR coating
Ave 8.97 91.03 11.01 88.99
Min 25.1 74.9 28.37 71.63
Max 7.72 92.28 9.97 90.03

5. Conclusion
Single layer and multilayer antireflection coatings were designed using FilmstarTM and fabricated for normal and
oblique angle of incidence. E-beam evaporation technique was used for the deposition. Films were characterized
using Gonio spectrophotometer and transmission spectra were obtained. Transmittance of 96.41% for single layer
and 94.09% for multilayer antireflection coating was obtained. These filters can be used in display application for
reducing ghost images and improving contrast of images.

Acknowledgement
Funding from CSIR through 12th FYP project grant OMEGA is gratefully acknowledged. Authors are thankful to
The Director,CSIR-CSIO Chandigarh for his support and cooperation.
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