PROTECTIVE LAYERS FOR OPTICAL COATINGS

摘要

An optical coating on a transparent substrate (1) is provided with a temporary layer of carbon (3) as protection during manufacturing against scratches and corrosive environments. When the optical coating and/or substrate are tempered in an atmosphere reactive to carbon, such as air, the layer of carbon is removed as a carbon containing gas. For an optical coating with a brittle, glassy, outermost layer (2a) furthest from the substrate (1), additional protection is provided by a scratch propagation blocker layer (4) between the outermost layer (2a) and the carbon protection layer (3).