Nanocomposite dielectric coatings

1. A nanocomposite coating material deposited on the surface of a substrate, the nanocomposite coating material consisting of nanostructures embedded in an amorphous silicon oxide matrix, wherein:

the nanostructures range from about 10 nm to about 25 nm in size;

the nanostructures consist of materials selected from the list comprising amorphous SiC, amorphous SiO 2 , amorphous carbon, amorphous CN, nanocrystalline SiC, nanocrystalline carbon, nanocrystalline CN, and combinations thereof; and

the amorphous silicon oxide matrix consists of amorphous silicon oxide containing between about 1 atomic % and about 20 atomic % of nitrogen and less than 1 atomic percent hydrogen.

2. The coating material of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is selected from the group consisting of quartz, glass, silicon, stainless steel, plastic, aluminum, titanium, germanium, polyethylene terephtalate, a hydrogel, a zeolite, an aerogel, a xerogel, an ambigel, a ceramic, a polymer, silicon dioxide, silicon carbide, silicon carboxide, aluminum oxide, gallium nitride, gallium arsenide, indium tin oxide, titanium oxide, lead oxide, lead sulfide, lead selenide, lead telluride, a transition metal oxide, a lanthanide oxide, a transition metal chalcogenide, a transition metal chalcogenide alloy, a lanthanide chalcogenide, and mixtures thereof.

3. The nanocomposite coating material of claim 1 , wherein the nanocomposite coating material has a breakdown field ranging from about 3 MV/cm to about 8 MV/cm.

4. The nanocomposite coating material of claim 1 , wherein the nanocomposite coating material is substantially crack-free when applied to the substrate at a thickness of up to about 50 μm.

5. The nanocomposite coating material of claim 1 , wherein the nanocomposite coating material is non-porous and scratch-resistant.

6. The nanocomposite coating material of claim 1 , wherein the nanocomposite coating material has a hardness ranging from about 4 GPa to about 14 GPa.

7. The nanocomposite coating material of claim 1 , wherein the nanocomposite coating material fluoresces when excited by ultra violet light.

8. The nanocomposite coating material of claim 1 , wherein the nanocomposite coating material has a refractive index ranging from about 1.4 to about 1.8.

9. The nanocomposite coating material of claim 1 , wherein the nanocomposite coating material has a dielectric constant ranging from about 5 to about 6.

10. The nanocomposite coating material of claim 1 , wherein the nanocomposite coating is included in a device selected from the group consisting of surgical instruments, aircraft windshields, automobile windshields, optical devices, eyeglass lenses, window glass, laboratory glassware, semiconductors, MOSCAP devices, thin-film electrical insulators, light-emitting diodes, extremely small-scale capacitors, high breakdown voltage capacitors, dental brackets, bearings, electronic devices, high energy density capacitors, scratch-resistant plastic parts, scratch-resistant faucets, scratch-resistant shower heads, nuclear batteries, drill bits, milling machine heads, and milling machine cutters.