Development of anti-reflection (AR) coating on plastic panels for display applications

Traditionally, various vacuum-based processes have been used for producing interference-type anti-reflection (AR) coatings on large area substrates fo r different commercial applications. In this paper, the development of sol- gel derived AR coating on large plastic substrates for display application is presented. The sol-gel dip coating process was used to deposit thin film s on large size plastic panels. By developing sols with different refractiv e indices, multi-layer thin-film AR coating stacks were designed and fabric ated. These coatings possess good uniformity and meet stringent automotive specifications. This technology has been commercialized successfully for da shboard instrument panel application in Toyota's new hybrid engine car, nam ed Prius. In this paper, AR coatings prepared by the sol-gel process are reviewed. Th e basic design concept for an AR coating, the coating preparation procedure , and important parameters of the solution coating process are discussed. O ptical constants of the coating materials were characterized by using spect roscopic ellipsometry. Optical, mechanical and environmental tests were per formed on the sol-gel derived AR coating stack. The sol-gel derived AR coat ing possesses equivalent or superior properties when compared to the major commercially available AR coating products.