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US 5,790,304 AGranted
Self-healing UV-barrier coating for flexible polymer substrate
AssigneeOptical Coating Laboratory, Inc.
InventorsMichael L. Sanders, Scott F. Rowlands, Paul G. Coombs
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Abstract
A protective composite thin film coating structure is disclosed which provides ultraviolet (UV)-protection to polymer components used in low earth orbit (LEO) environments. The structure protects such components from physical and optical degradation due to exposure to ultraviolet radiation and oxygen, in particular atomic oxygen.
Claims6
A UV-protected and oxygen-protected composite, comprising:
- a flexible polymer-containing substrate subject to deterioration by exposure to oxygen and ultraviolet radiation;
- a metal oxide barrier coating having a thickness lying substantially within a range of 500 Angstroms to 10,000 Angstroms comprising silicon oxide formed on the substrate for protecting the substrate from degradation by ultraviolet radiation and oxygen;
- and
- an intermediate silicon-containing coating for forming oxides in the presence of oxygen to repair breaches in the barrier coating and thereby protect the barrier coating from degradation by oxygen,
- the thickness of said silicon-containing intermediate coating being substantially within the range of 0.001 inch to 0.01 inch.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.