Sol-Gel preparation of PHFBMA/PFG/silica coatings with durable shortwave-band antireflective performance

A new silica shortwave-band antireflective (AR) coating with durable optical performance on fused silica substrate was prepared by a base-catalyzed Sol-Gel process using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as a precursor. 1H, 1H, 12H, 12H-perfluoro-dodecane-1, 12-diol (simplified as PFG) was used to control the structure and size of the silica particles in the sols, and hence decreased the refractive indices of the coatings. After Poly (2,2,3,4,4,4-hexafluorobutyl) methacrylate (PHFBMA) being introduced into the silica sols, the AR coatings could retain a transmission about 99.9% at about 300 nm. At the same time, the transmission stability of the coatings was improved significantly, which were tested in a moisture environment and an organic-containing vacuum chamber, respectively.