Development of hard, anti-reflective coating for mid wave infrared region

Abstract

In the 3-5 mu m Mid Wave Infrared (MWIR) thermal imaging region, the number of alternative transparent optical substrate materials are quite limited. Silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge) are among the common optical materials used in the MWIR region. However, these materials and the thin film coatings on them, suffer from low hardness and brittleness hence need to be protected against scratches and hard flying particles like sand, dust, etc.. In industry, a single layer amorphous Diamond Like Carbon (DLC) coating is used to protect the outer layer while transmitting MWIR energy. This paper suggests single layer Boron Nitride (BN) and Boron Carbide (B4C) coatings as alternatives to commercial DLC coating, providing the necessary protection and transmission efficiency with anti-reflective properties. The proposed boron-contained coatings also have an advantage of greater temperature resistance over DLC. Finally, a two-layer anti-reflective coating containing Boron Carbide layer as an outer protective coating is demonstrated.