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Sol-gel synthesis of TiO2-SiO2 hybrid films with tunable refractive index for broadband antireflective coatings covering the visible range

  • Original Paper: Sol-gel and hybrid materials for optical, photonic and optoelectronic applications
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Abstract

A series of TiO2-SiO2 composite sols have been synthesized using titanium (IV) isopropoxide and tetraethyl orthosilicate as precursors under acidic conditions. The stability of the binary sols is improved by a prehydrolysis step of tetraethyl orthosilicate. Assisted by heat treatment, the refractive index of the TiO2-SiO2 hybrid films obtained can be tuned in a wide range. On the basis of film optical constants derived from fitting of transmittance spectrum, two types of antireflection coatings with quarter-half and quarter-half-quarter multilayer structures are designed, and ordered mesoporous SiO2 film and dense SiO2 film are proposed to be used as the top layer, respectively. According to theoretical design requirements, the two antireflection coatings are successfully constructed by selecting the TiO2-SiO2 films with appropriate refractive index as the other layers. The average transmittance of the triple-layer coating at 400–800 nm is 98.74%, and that of the double-layer coating even reaches 99%. Meanwhile, the two types of multilayer coatings show good mechanical properties, which benefit from the tough skeleton of each layer. X-ray reflectivity measurements were also performed on the multilayer structures and the obtained thickness of each layer is consistent with that in the theoretical design. The results show that precise control of film thickness and refractive index is achievable using sol-gel techniques. Owing to excellent control on sol composition, the practical sol-gel route has high potential for the production of antireflective coatings.

The double-layer and triple-layer broadband antireflection coatings are successfully constructed based on the optimal combination of TiO2-SiO2 hybrid films and SiO2 films by dip coating.

Highlights

  • Stable TiO2-SiO2 binary sols with wide range of Ti/Si ratio were obtained by a facile sol-gel process.

  • TiO2-SiO2 hybrid films can satisfy the design requirements of the λ/4-λ/2 double-layer and λ/4-λ/2-λ/4 triple-layer antireflection coatings.

  • Both double-layer and triple-layer antireflection coatings present excellent performance over the entire visible region.

  • The high transmittance and the good abrasion-resistance endow the two multilayer coatings with great potential for practical applications.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Foundation of Liaoning Educational Committee (Grant no. 2019LNJC17 and 2017LNQN03).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Science, University of Science and Technology Liaoning, Anshan, 114051, China

    Wenping Zhao, Hongbao Jia, Jingxuan Qu, Ying Wang, Jiang Zhu & Henan Wu

  2. Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhangjiang Campus, Shanghai, 201204, China

    Chunming Yang

  3. School of Material and Metallurgy, University of Science and Technology Liaoning, Anshan, 114051, China

    Gaobin Liu

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  1. Wenping Zhao
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  2. Hongbao Jia
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Correspondence to Hongbao Jia.

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Zhao, W., Jia, H., Qu, J. et al. Sol-gel synthesis of TiO2-SiO2 hybrid films with tunable refractive index for broadband antireflective coatings covering the visible range. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 107, 105–121 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-021-05719-3

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