Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Composite – Of quartz or glass
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-18
2003-07-01
Jones, Deborah (Department: 1775)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Composite
Of quartz or glass
C428S216000, C428S336000, C428S698000, C428S701000, C428S702000, C359S586000, C359S588000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06586101
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is related to an optically effective layer system used for plastic and/or glass substrates, whereby the layer system has a high anti-reflection effect. More specifically the invention is related to a layer structure which contains a transparent conductive oxide as a surface layer and has a photopic reflectance below 0.5%.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,760 discloses a multi-layer anti-reflection coating with excellent adhesion between a CeO
2
layer and a synthetic resin. The layer system includes CeO
2
, Al
2
O
3
, ZrO
2
, SiO
2
, TiO
2
and Ta
2
O
5
. All of the thin films of the layer system a materials. There are 3 to 5 thin layers in the layer system. For a given example, the total thickness of the 5 layer structure is about 3580 Angstroms. The material of the surface layer of the layer system is SiO
2
which has a low-refractive index of about 1.46 at 550 nm.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,310 discloses a multi-layer anti-reflection coating designed for deposition in an in-line coating machine by reactive sputtering. The layer system includes TiO
2
, SiO
2
, ZnO, ZrO
2
and Ta
2
O
5
. All of the thin films of the layer system are oxide materials. There are 4 to 6 thin layers in the layer system. For a given example, the total thickness of the 6-layer structure is about 4700 Angstroms. The material of the surface layer of the layer system is SiO
2
, which has a low-refractive index of about 1.46 at 550 nm.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,091,244 and 5,407,733 disclose a new type electric conductive light-attenuating anti-reflection coating. The major claim is an article comprising nitrides of certain transition metals to provide an electrically-conductive, light-attenuating, anti-reflection surfaces. The layer system includes TiN, NbN, SnO
2
, SiO
2
, Al
2
O
3
, and Nb
2
O
5
. The thin films of the layer system are nitride and oxide materials. There are 3 to 4 thin layers in the layer system. For a given example, the total thickness of the 4 layer structure is about 1610 Angstroms. The transmission of visible light of these two layer systems is below 50%. The material of the surface layer of the layer system is SiO
2
which has a low-refractive index of about 1.46 at 550 nm.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,125 discloses a multi-layer, anti-reflection coating using zinc oxide to provide UV rejection for wave-lengths shorter than 380 nm. The layer system includes TiO
2
, SiO
2
, ZnO, and MgF
2
. All of the thin films of the layer system are oxides and a fluoride. There are 4 to 6 thin layers in the layer system. For a given example, the total thickness of the 5 layer structure is about 7350 Angstroms. The material of the surface layer of the layer system is MgF
2
which has a low-refractive index of about 1.38 at 550 nm.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,291 discloses a 4 layer system which is optically effective and has a high anti-reflective effect. The layers can be formed by either a pyrolytic method, a plasma-supported chemical vapor deposition method, a sputtering method or a chemical deposition method. The layer system includes SiO
2
, TiO
2
, Al
2
O
3
, ZnS, MgO and Bi
2
O
3
. For a given example, the total thickness of the 4 layer structure is about 2480 Angstroms. The material of the surface layer of the layer system is SiO
2
which has a low-refractive index of about 1.46 at 550 nm.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,542 discloses a 5 layer coating with a high anti-reflection effect. The process uses an adhesive layer of Ni, Cr or NiCr metal with a thickness of about 12 nm (nanometer). The other four layers are composed of SnO
2
, ZrO
2
, ZnO, Ta
2
O
5
, NiO, CrO
2
, TiO
2
, Sb
2
O
3
, In
2
O
3
, Al
2
O
3
, SiO
2
, TiN and ZrN. For a given example, the total thickness of the 5 layer structure is about 2337 Angstroms. The transmission of visible light of this layer system is below 30%. The material of the surface layer of the layer system is SiO
2
which has a low-refractive index of about 1.46 at 550 nm.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,770 discloses a light attenuating anti-reflection coating including electrically conductive layers. This system is a four or five layer system. A light absorption high refractive index metal such as Cr, Mo and W was used as an optically effective thin film in the layer system. The other three or four layers are TiO
2
, ITO, Al
2
O
3
, SiO
2
and TiN. The patent shows that the majority materials of the layer system are oxide and nitride, only one metal film was used as an optically effective thin film in the anti-reflection coating. For a given example, the total thickness of the 5 layer structure is about 1495 Angstroms. The transmission of visible light of this layer system is below 60%. The material of the surface layer of the layer system is SiO
2
which has a low-refractive index of about 1.46 at 550 nm.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,552 discloses a 6-layer anti-reflection coating that includes three layers of electrically conductive metal oxide. The layer system includes SiO
2
, ITO, Nb
2
O
5
, and Ta
2
O
5
. Up to a total optical thickness of about one-wavelength of visible light of the electrically conductive metal oxide may be included in the coating. For one given example of a 6 layer structure, the materials and thickness of the major two layers within this 6 layer system are SiO
2
, 854 Angstroms and ITO, 1975 Angstroms. The material of the surface layer of the layer system is SiO
2
which has a low-refractive index of about 1.46 at 550 nm.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,162 discloses a 4-layer anti-reflection coating for a temperature sensitive substrate such as plastic. One layer is a DC reactively sputtered metal oxide which may be deposited quickly and without imparting a large amount of heat to the substrate. The layer system includes SnO
2
, SiO
2
and ITO. For one given example of the 4 layer structure, the materials and thickness of the majority two layers within this system are SnO
2
, 763 Angstroms and SiO
2
, 940 Angstroms. The material of the surface layer of the layer system is SiO
2
which has a low-refractive index of about 1.46 at 550 nm.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,728,456 and 5,783,049 disclose an improved way to deposit an anti-reflection coating on plastic film. The multi-layer thin films are coated by a roller coating with a sputtering process. The layer system includes ITO, SiO
2
and a thin lubricating over-layer which is a solvent-soluble fluoropolymer. For a given example, the total thickness of the 6 layer system is about 2630 Angstroms. The material of the surface layer of the layer system is SiO
2
which has a low-refractive index of about 1.46 at 550 nm.
The above description clearly shows that the material of the thin surface layer of the conventional optical layer system is SiO
2
or MgF
2
, which have a low refractive index of 1.46 and 1.38 at 550 nm, respectively.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an anti-reflection coating layer system composed of 4 oxide layers. The material of the surface layer is a transparent conductive coating and has a high refractive index between 1.9 to 2.1.
The process of manufacturing oxide thin films in volume production is high, reliable, and routinely used in industries such as semiconductor, disc head, LCD, CRT, architecture glass, touch sensor, screen filter and plastic web coating manufacturing for tens of years.
It is well known that the conventional layer structure for an anti-reflection optical coating has a surface layer of the optical coating that is a material of low refractive index such as SiO
2
with refractive index of 1.46 or MgF
2
with refractive index of 1.38. However, when the anti-reflection coating is applied in the display industry, for example, screen filters for computer monitors, or low reflection glass for flat CRTs, there are some bottlenecks in the process of high volume mass production. The basic reason is in the conventional optical layer structure, the conductive layer is buried by an insulating layer, for example SiO
2
or MgF
2
.
In the general design rule of an anti-reflection coating, the first layer deposited on a substrate surface
Applied Vacuum Coating Technologies Co., Ltd.
Jones Deborah
Rosenberg , Klein & Lee
Sperty Arden
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