It's kind of strange to me that when reading topics like "components of cellphone screen", people often mention an outermost anti-reflecting coating which takes advantage of destructive interference.
There're few mentions for using DLC-coating as a cellphone screen outermost coating but there're indeed many researchers using DLC-coatings which are highly transparent, anti-reflective and anti-scratch for other scenarios, e.g. silicon solar cell. However the properties just mentioned seem perfect to be used for cellphone screens and I haven't yet found prominent usage of DLC-coating for cellphones especially for the touch-screens.
Is DLC-coating popular in display industry? If not what makes it not popular given all those good properties?
Article Fabrication of Highly Transparent Diamond-like Carbon Anti-R...
I am guessing the problem with DLC is the high refractive index which gives high reflectivity. Glass alone reflects enough on a sunny day but DLC would be worse. Texturing the surface to add an anti-reflective effect wont work as the mechanical abrasion/scratch resistance requirements for cellphones and such is very high. Any roughness of the surface would compromise the mechanical properties and as you lower reflectivity of the surface even very tiny scratches become highly visible.
Thanks Martin. Do you mean that for a single layer of DLC coating, one has to trade off between "anti-reflective" and "anti-scratch"? If so what if one puts the DLC coating layer under a conventional anti-reflective layer and above the protective glass for a cellphone screen? Could one take advantages of both layers?
Actually I have several pieces of cellphone screens with an outermost DLC coating layer(by magnetron sputtering), a right-beneath anti-reflective layer and the protective glass under the two. I don't notice uncomfortable reflections in daily use but according to you I should put it under serious reflection tests from tomorrow on.
It is my understanding that DLC coatings may suffer from particularly difficult adhesion issues on many substrates due to stress induced by lattice mismatch, but I'm not sure if this is the case on glass.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Physical Sciences
- Materials Science
- Materials
- Composites
- Nanocomposites