Optical properties and durability performance of substance SiO2/Nb2O5 for multilayer thin films prepared by high-density plasma-assisted vapor deposition

Abstract

Optical lenses normally require an antireflection (AR) film to improve their characteristics of visibility and transmittance. The AR film is constructed with materials of various refractive indices and designed to obtain good optical properties by combining various materials to utilize light interference with controlled film thickness and number of layers. Therefore, in this study, we have fabricated an AR film consisting of multilayer thin films of SiO2 and Nb2O5 by high-density plasma-assisted vapor deposition to improve its environmental resistance, especially its mechanical properties, while maintaining its optical properties. We conducted the sand falling test to evaluate the damage to the multilayer we fabricated and found that the Nb2O5 layer located at a depth of about 200 nm from the outermost layer was plastically deformed and the layer absorbed the shock from the sand to reduce damage.