Optics without Fogging and Reflections

A new optical coating from Fraunhofer IOF enables optics that do not fog up and hardly reflect at all. The novel coating system is based on the AR-plas2 technology and was adapted together with Leica Geosystems to meet their requirements. The new technology allows multiple nanostructures to be created on top of each other. One nanostructure is etched into the anti-fog layer and then a second nanostructure is produced on top of it. With this technology, it is possible to adjust the refractive indices of the nanostructures and to design the double nanostructure to achieve very low reflection over a wide spectral range.