It is imperative for the US NAVY that the submarine window/dome surfaces are free from sun glint and are water repellent so that visibility of the imaging sensors unit can properly operate during surveillance mission after surfacing. The goal of this proposal is to demonstrate the feasibility of producing hydrophobic, broadband, and wide-angle random nanostructured antireflection (RAR) coatings that will diminish sun glint down to 0.05 % over the hemispheric dome/window surfaces. The main technical objective is to develop a robust process to uniformly coat RAR nanostructures over the curved window/dome surfaces using a simple molding technique; nanoimprint lithography. RAR surface will be covered with a durable thin-layer coating for lasting durability and water-repellency.
Benefit: Anticipated demonstration of the hydrophobic nanostructured antireflective coating will be of immediate on the existing and future submarine hemispherical domes/windows. As the anti-reflective coating is used for numerous applications, the finding of this project will be applied to many exisiting applications including imaging and optics to improve the light transmissivity.
Keywords: hydrophobic nanostructure, hydrophobic nanostructure, nanoimprint, Anti-reflective, adiabatic gradient index nanostructures
