Sol-Gel Derived Nanocomposites for Optical Applications

This paper provides a selective description of the development of nanostructured materials and the fabrication of the devices for optical applications. Examples are interference coatings, refractive and diffractive lenses, and macro‐ and micro‐GRIN (graded refractive index) optical elements. Hybrid...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Advanced engineering materials 2010-05, Vol.12 (5), p.349-361
Main Authors: de Oliveira, Peter W., Becker-Willinger, Carsten, Jilavi, Mohammad H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coatings
Deposition
Diffraction
Flexibility
Materials selection
Nanocomposites
Nanoparticles
Optical properties
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This paper provides a selective description of the development of nanostructured materials and the fabrication of the devices for optical applications. Examples are interference coatings, refractive and diffractive lenses, and macro‐ and micro‐GRIN (graded refractive index) optical elements. Hybrid materials containing nanoparticles are of particular interest for the production of optical elements because, by exploiting the intrinsic solid state properties of the nanoparticles, nanocomposites can be tailored to exhibit the desired properties. A particular advantage of wet chemical processing lies in its great flexibility for depositing functional coatings. In this paper, the application of nanocomposites and nanostructured materials for the fabrication of optical elements is reviewed. It is focused on the productions of nanocomposites and nanostructured materials which are based on wet chemical sol–gel process. After describing the background of topics, the production of these materials which are developed and improved at INM are reported, summarized, and discussed. The selected topics for reviewing include polymer matrix nanocompoites, GRIN composite materials for diffractive optics, refractive optical elements with intrinsic scratch resistance, interference coatings, GRIN optical components, and micro‐optic embossing.
ISSN:1438-1656
1527-2648
DOI:10.1002/adem.201000116