Optical solar reflectors

Abstract

An method, and method of production thereof, which provides excellent performance, reduced cost, and reduced breakage due to reduced manual handling. The present invention comprises a substrate, a bond layer coating the substrate, a reflective layer coating the bond layer, and a radiative layer coating the reflective layer. Preferably, the radiative layer comprises SiO2, Si3N4 or SiOxNy, low absorbency of electromagnetic radiation having wavelengths of approximately 200 nm to approximately 2500 nm and high absorbency and emissivity electromagnetic radiation having wavelengths of approximately 2.5 μm to approximately 25 μm. Preferably, the bond layer comprises chromium, titanium, or titanium-tungsten and the substrate comprises aluminum, aluminum alloys, polyimide, carbon-filled polyimide, or carbon composite. The present invention may further comprise a barrier layer between the reflective layer and the radiative layer, preferably comprising MgF2, which improves adhesion between the reflective layer and the radiative layer during thermal cycling. The present invention may further comprise a surface-leveling layer between the substrate and the bond layer, preferably comprising a silicone hardcoat material, which improves surface smoothness of the substrate. The radiative layer may have a modulated refractive index profile. The parameters of the modulated refractive index profile of the radiative layer may control amplitude, bandwidth and wavelength of rejection bands of the radiative layer.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.