Dual-phase Nanostructured Optical Hard Coatings

Description

Hard coatings are commonly used in decorative applications due to their attractive colors and high wear resistance, especially in the terms of communication industry. The use of metallic materials, which is widely used now, will gradually be replaced by non-metallic materials due to the advent of the 5G communication. Plastic materials is easily to be scratched and color films on-top will conceivably be detached and deformed due to poor adhesion. On the contrary, glass and ceramic materials are often fragile or easily cracked due to their low strengths and deformation ability. Here we propose to use an economical, green and efficient coating method to prepare a dual-phase nanostructured optical film with high hardness, scratch resistance and corrosion resistance, enabled with vibrant colors. As a thin film preparation method, magnetron sputtering ensures the film can be densely grown on various substrates, including materials with complex shapes such as 3D printed glass/ceramics, with good adhesion. This method is industrial compatible, automatically controllable, low cost, high performance and environmental friendly for large-scale production with wide applicability. The as-prepared dual-phase nanostructured optical films will be applied in the next generation of 5G communication devices, with advantages of low cost, high performance, high durability and diverse colors.