Anti-reflective coatings comprising ordered layers of nanowires and methods of making and using the same

Abstract

A composition includes a substrate (a) including a surface and (b) a multi-layer coating of nanowires positioned on at least a portion of the surface. The coating includes three or more laminar layers of nanowires and a bottom layer of nanowires affixed to the surface and a top-most layer of nanowires. A nanowire within a laminar layer is oriented substantially parallel to another nanowire within the same laminar layer. Nanowires within adjacent laminar layers are not substantially parallel to one another. The top-most layer of nanowires has a refractive index of about 5% to about 70% of the refractive index of the bottom layer of nanowires, and the refractive index of the three or more laminar layers of nanowires is decreases by about 10% or more per laminar layer from the bottom layer of nanowires to the top-most layer of nanowires.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.