The Fabrication of Antireflective Coatings by the Self-Assembly of Silica Nanopartical and Polycation Bilayers (thesis)

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Author
Burks, Edward Calohill
Subject
Washington and Lee University -- Honors in Physics
Anti-reflective coatings
Self-assembly (Chemistry)
Thin films -- Surfaces
Nanoparticles
Thin films, Multilayered -- Optical properties
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Thesis; [FULL-TEXT RESTRICTED TO WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY LOGIN] Edward Calohill Burks is a member of the Class of 2010 of Washington and Lee University. This study examines several factors that affect the quality of antireflective coatings
created by the self-assembly of alternating layers of silica (SiOz) nanoparticles an poly(allylamine hydrochloride) or poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PAH and PDDA respectively) polycation on glass substrates. We employ a factorial experimental design to investigate the effects of the molarity of the nanoparticle solution, the size of the nanoparticles, the pH of the SiOz and polycation solutions, the number of silica-polycation bilayers, and the significance of an RCA cleaning process on the optical properties of the films. We examine the first order effects of these factors, as well as their interactions, on the reflectance, transmittance and uniformity of the coatings Edward Burks