Method for preparing an article having surface layer of uniformly oriented, crystalline, organic microstructures

Abstract

Method of preparing an article comprising a substrate bearing a microlayer which comprises uniformly oriented, crystalline, solid, organic microstructures. The microstructures may be mono- or polycrystalline. In the preferred embodiment, the microstructures are of uniform shape and size. The articles can be prepared by (1) vapor-depositing an organic compound as a thin, continuous film onto a substrate to provide a composite, and (2) annealing the composite in a vacuum sufficiently to induce a physical change in the original deposited film to form the microstructures. The microlayer can be overcoated with other materials to provide desired properties to the article. Articles of this invention are useful for many forms of light trapping, energy absorption, imaging, data transmission and storage, and gradient index applications.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.