Making glass disappear

Abstract

To reduce the annoying glare from the surfaces of cell phones and eyeglasses, manufacturers often coat them with antireflective films. Yet these coatings are limited because they reduce the reflection of light only at certain optimal wavelengths.Now, by directly changing the morphology of glass in a process called nanotexturing, researchers can fabricate glass that cuts down on reflection from light across wide swaths of visible and infrared wavelengths, making the material close to invisible. The new glass could be useful in devices such as laser systems and solar cells, in which light loss causes inefficient performance. The researchers, led by Charles Black, a materials scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory, began by creating a patterned polystyrene-b-poly(methyl methacrylate) block copolymer template. When placed over top of glass, the template enables the transfer of its pattern to the material via plasma etching. In this process, which the team had previously developed for silicon,