Colloidal subwavelength nanostructures for antireflection optical coatings

A two-dimensional (2D) subwavelength nanostructure for antireflection coating is fabricated upon a transparent substrate. Self-assembled 2D colloidal crystals are used as a nanoscale composite material with controlled thickness and low refractive index. The feature size of the structure is similar to 105 nm. The structure is used for antireflection coating, and the measured reflectivity of a glass substrate is reduced to 0.3%. Enhanced transmission through the substrate is also observed. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America.