Sol-gel based formulations and methods for preparation of hydrophobic ultra low refractive index anti-reflective coatings on glass

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention relate generally to methods and compositions for forming porous low refractive index coatings on substrates. In one embodiment, a method of forming a porous coating on a substrate is provided. The method comprises coating a substrate with a sol-gel composition comprising at least one self assembling molecular porogen and annealing the coated substrate to remove the at least one self assembling molecular porogen to form the porous coating. Use of the self assembling molecular porogens leads to the formation of stable pores with larger volume and an increased reduction in the refractive index of the coating. Further, the size and interconnectivity of the pores may be controlled via selection of the self assembling molecular porogens structure, the total porogen fraction, polarity of the molecule and solvent, and other physiochemical properties of the gel phase.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.