Combination Moisture Resistant and Antireflection Plasma Polymerized Thin Films for Optical Coatings

The technique of plasma polymerization under vacuum conditions at ~0.1 Torr has been employed to produce highly moisture resistant, thin polymer films on hygroscopic alkali metal halide crystal materials. The polymer film is fluorocarbon in nature. In addition to the moisture resistance, the films also exhibit antireflection properties and have only one absorption band over the range 25,000-250 cm(-1) centered at 1200 cm(-1).