OPTICUS Technical Terms Optical Coatings
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| Anti-Reflective (AR) Coating: |
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Reduction in reflectivity of polished glass surfaces. The anti-reflective coating eliminates distracting reflections which can occur in various situations such as driving at night. Anti-reflective coatings also increase contrast providing a person wearing glasses with clear and unimpeded vision in all light conditions. |
Cleaning:
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Preparatory cleaning phase prior to subsequent treatment. |
| Dip coating: |
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Process by which a layer is applied to an object by immersing it in a solution |
| Drying: |
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Phase during which the lacquers applied to eyeglass lenses are hardened. |
| Evaporation: |
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Process that applies an anti-reflective coating to eyeglass lenses during which a material is melted and vaporized in a vacuum. This vapor condenses uniformly, forming a thin layer that coats the surface of an object. |
| Hard Coat: |
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First layer applied during the refinement of synthetic eyeglass lenses. The wear- and scratch-resistance of eyeglass lenses is improved and the durability thereby enhanced. |
| Clean Coat: |
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Clean coating preventing the adhesion of dust and other contaminants on the lens surface. The Clean Coat layer reduces the frequency of eyeglass lens cleaning during daily use. Alternative terms for clean coating are hydrophobic (water repellent) coating, super hydrophobic coating and top coating. |
| Lacquering: |
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Process by which the hard coat layer is applied during dip coating or spin coating |
| Mineral Glass: |
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Created in a melting process from quartz, potash, soda and oxides. Characterized by the hardness of its surface. |
| PECVD: |
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Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition - Process by which the hard coat and clean coat layers are applied to eyeglass lenses. Complex gas molecules are dispersed by using a plasma. The material produced by this reaction is deposited onto the surface of the substrate resulting in the formation of a thin film coating. |
| Refinement: |
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Improvement of the optical and mechanical properties of eyeglass lenses by coating with multiple functional thin film layers. |
| Shaping: |
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Forming the lens geometry to correct vision impairments. |
| Spin-Coating: |
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Process by which a layer is applied by spinning off a liquid lacquer |
| Sputtering: |
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Process by which a thin film is applied to a substrate through deposition of a material in a vacuum. If a material is bombarded by charged particles (ions) accelerated by electrical fields, particles of the coating material are detached and are deposited under vacuum on the surface of a substrate to form a thin film. |
| Plastic lenses: |
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A fully synthetic, glass-like material. Characterized by its light weight and shatter-resistant properties. |
| Tempering: |
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Heat treatment of eyeglass lenses in preparation for subsequent production steps |
