Double-sided anti-reflection nanostructures on optical convex lenses for imaging applications

Abstract

Anti-reflection coatings (ARCs) from the cornea nipple array of the moth-eye remarkably suppress the Fresnel reflection at the interface in broadband wavelength ranges. ARCs on flat glass have been studied to enhance the optical transmittance. However, little research on the implementation of ARCs on curved optical lenses, which are the core element in imaging devices, has been reported. Here, we report double-sided, bio-inspired ARCs on bi-convex lenses with high uniformity. We theoretically optimize the nanostructure geometry, such as the height, period, and morphology, since an anti-reflection property results from the gradually changed effective refractive index by the geometry of nanostructures. In an experiment, the transmittance of an ARCs lens increases up to 10% for a broadband spectrum without distortion in spot size and focal length. Moreover, we demonstrate ~30% improved transmittance of an imaging system composed of three bi-convex lenses, in series with double-sided ARCs (DARCs).