ARC

Special Properties

• Very low residual reflection
• High light transmittance in the visible range
• Low absorption
• Color neutral in transmission
• Broad-band multi-layer coating
• Significant light loss reduction
• Abrasion resistant to MIL-M-13508 C
• Adherence to MIL-C-675 C

Typical Applications

• Anti-reflection coated optical windows
• Laser scanner devices
• Contrast enhancement
• Display covers
• Optics for sensor technology
• Vision systems
• Non-reflective camera windows and lens systems
• Holography applications
• Automotive cockpit window
• AR-coating for photography optics
• Optical laser window
• Camera lens optics

AR-coatings are omnipresent

Anti-reflection coatings are used to reduce glare effects in many everyday life products like eye-glasses, magnifying lenses, camera lenses, optical lenses, quality displays, automotive cockpit windows etc. However, the type of AR–coating used for such applications usually does not provide the high effectiveness and quality that our ARC coating design can offer. All our ARC materials are using premium-quality glass substrates and their primarily use is for technical optics applications in the visible wavelength spectrum.

 

Suppression of reflections by the help of physics

Our anti-reflection coatings are consisting of alternating thin-film-coated layers, each with a different refractive index, which are coated on glass substrates. The thickness and the refractive index of each coating layer is chosen to generate a self-extinguishing interference for the light reflected by the surface and to cause constructive interference in the associated transmitted light beam for a determinated wavelength range. The highly efficient optical thin films are adapted to the refractive index of air, so the coating can drastically reduce reflections, which for physical reasons arise from any uncoated or blank glass surface.

 

Eliminating ghosting & increasing light transmission

The aforementioned reflective surfaces of uncoated, transparent glass cause secondary reflections, that superimpose a transmitted image. This undesirable effect is almost completely suppressed by our anti-reflection coating. The natural reflectivity of an uncoated glass surface is about 4,25 %. This can be reduced by our standard ARC-multi-layer coating in partial ranges of the visible wavelength spectrum to even below 0,2 %. Compared to an ordinary single-layer AR-coating which has residual reflections of up to 2 % per surface for example, this is a significant improvement. Such a difference can be clearly seen by bare eye. In addition the coating strongly increases the light transmissivity of a glass or a glass lens, because most of the light, which is normally reflected can be transmitted.

 

Immediately available anti-reflection coatings from stock

Our always available ARC anti-reflective coating is vacuum deposited on flat, premium grade white float glass material. The ARC-B series is based on high quality BOROFLOAT® glass substrates. The AR-layer construction of the coatings are matched to the index of refraction of the respective glass used and to the one of air. Both double side ARC-coating materials are always available at several thicknesses, since we manufacture them on a regular basis. Same applies to our our single-side anti-reflective coating called ARC–1S, which is based on the same high quality substrate as the double side coated ARC-coating.

 

Custom-made AR-coatings

We are not restricted to the substrate materials mentioned before and also custom substrate thicknesses are possible if the quantity is sufficient for one coating run. The ARC-coating can be applied to virtually any suitable glass material and it can be adapted to the corresponding refractive index of the substrate material used. Of course, our ARC multi-layer anti-reflection coating can be applied to glass lenses and all of our anti-reflection coatings can be optimized for other wavelength ranges, a different index of refraction or specific laser lines. Even a further reduced residual reflection of the coatings can be realized. Please use our inquiry form to request a quote for your customized anti-reflection coated glass component.

 

How can I order stock sizes?

You might be wondering why we do not have a shop system on our website. For this, there is a simple reason: We are not dependent on a few stock dimensions. We specialized to manufacture and supply customized dimensions as fast as commonly catalog items can ship.

In order to quickly get a quotation for individually sized ARC, ARC-B or ARC-1S anti-reflection coatings, please push the button below or follow the link to the listed thickness in the technical data area of this page to be redirected to our inquiry page.

 

Request for Quotation

48-h Express Optics Service available

 

 

Note: We often get requests to coat eye-glasses with anti-reflective layers for better vision quality. We do not coat eye-glasses or glass parts like ophthalmic lenses at all. We only make technical grade coatings for optical windows, lenses and substrates used in optical applications. Also, it is not practicable to apply a coating to a single lens or a single piece of material. The deposition of lenses and any kind of custom coating is possible only, if the production quantity is large enough for at least one small coating run. Please use our information request page form to ask whether the quantity of your glass or lenses will qualify for a custom deposition run.

 

Specifications

 

View rest-reflection of the ARC-anti-reflection coating

 

Product Codes

• ARC (double side BBAR-coated, index matched
  to selected float)
  (BBAR = Broad-band AR-coating)
• ARC-1S (single side BBAR-coated, index matched to
  selected float)
• ARC-B (double side AR-coated, index matched to BOROFLOAT® material)
  

Substrate Materials

• ARC : Selected float Glass
• ARC-1S : Selected float glass
• ARC-B : BOROFLOAT® borosilicate glass
• Other glass substrates or custom coatings for
  lenses per enquiry

Coating Construction

• ARC: Double side multilayer coated
• ARC-1S: Single side multilayer coated
• ARC-B: Double side multilayer coated
• Modified anti-reflection coating design as well as single layer coating design per enquiry

Spectral Characteristics

• Absolute reflection Rabs </= 0,6 % at wavelength
  range 450-650 nm (i=0°) for unpolarized light
  (reflected light per surface, matched to air)
• Average reflection Ravg < 0,3 % at wavelength
  range 430-660nm (i=0-15°) for unpolarized light
  (reflected light per surface, matched to air)
• Coatings for other wavelengths per inquiry

Flatness

• Depending on substrates and thickness
• Other on request

Surface Quality

• typ. 80-50 scratch & dig (MIL-0-13830A)
• Other on request

Standard Thicknesses

(click on desired thickness for a quote)

• ARC : 1,10 mm / 2,00 mm / 3,00 mm thickness
• ARC-1S : 2,00 mm thickness
• ARC-B : 1,10 mm / 2,00 mm / 3,30 mm thickness
• Other thickness possible per inquiry

Other Specifications

• Adhesion according to MIL-C-675 C
• Abrasion resistance according to MIL-M-13508 C

 

All given details and specifications are mean reference values and are not guaranteed. In addition, please consider our "Notes on specifications"