Abrasion resistant and optical thin film coatings for ophthalmic lenses

摘要

The application of thin films to plastic ophthalmic lens substrates enables attributes such as abrasion resistance and antireflection to be achieved. Surface modification techniques include direct modification of substrates, as well as the application of coatings. A wide variety of abrasion resistant coatings are applied to ophthalmic lenses, generally using solvent based coating processes, whereas antireflection is generally achieved by the physical vapor deposition of multilayer inorganic oxides. However, there is considerable movement in the development of vacuum based hard coatings for and plasma modification of plastic surfaces. One example of a promising fast and high quality coating method for the future is PECVD. The attributes achieved by surface modification add significant value to an ophthalmic lens product and as such is of fundamental importance to the viability of the ophthalmic lens industry. As part of this paper, the importance of the mechanical characteristics of ophthalmic surfaces will be described, including testing protocols and methodologies.