Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/01/21

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Subject: [Leica] Improved optical coatings
From: Alexey Merz <alexey@webcom.com>
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 15:16:05 +0000

Thought that y'all might be interested in the following article from
today's issue of _Science_...

Nanophase-Separated Polymer Films as 
High-Performance Antireflection Coatings 
_Science_ 283:520-22.

Stefan Walheim, Erik Schäffer, Jürgen Mlynek, Ullrich Steiner * 

Fakultät für Physik, Universität Konstanz, D-78457 Konstanz, Germany.
www.uni-konstanz.de/FuF/Physik/Mlynek/Steiner/ 

Abstract:
Optical surfaces coated with a thin layer to improve light
transmission are ubiquitous in everyday optical applications 
as well as in industrial and scientific instruments. Discovered
first in 1817 by Fraunhofer, the coating of lenses became 
standard practice in the 1930s. In spite of intensive research, 
broad-band antireflection coatings are still limited by the lack
of materials with low refractive indices. A method based on the 
phase separation of a macromolecular liquid to generate nanoporous 
polymer films is demonstrated that creates surfaces with high 
optical transmission. 
..........................................................................
Alexey Merz | URL: http://www.webcom.com/alexey | email: alexey@webcom.com
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