AR Coatings

Antireflective or anti-reflection (AR) coating is a type of optical coating applied to the surface of lenses and other optical devices to reduce reflection. This improves the efficiency of the system since less light is lost. In complex systems such as a telescope, the reduction in reflections also improves the contrast of the image by elimination of stray light. This is especially important in planetary astronomy. In other applications, the primary benefit is the elimination of the reflection itself, such as a coating on eyeglass lenses that makes the eyes of the wearer more visible to others, or a coating to reduce the glint from a covert viewer's binoculars or telescopic sight.

Single Wavelength AR Coatings

The simplest interference AR coating consists of a single quarter-wave layer of transparent material whose refractive index is the square root of the substrate's refractive index; this, theoretically, gives zero reflectance at the center wavelength and decreased reflectance for wavelengths in a broad band around the center.

Dual Wavelength AR Coatings

Broadband AR Coatings