Wire grid polarizer with phosphonate protective coating
A wire grid polarizer (WGP) can have a phosphonate conformal-coating to protect the WGP from at least one of the following: corrosion, dust, and damage due to tensile forces in a liquid on the WGP. The conformal-coating can include a chemical: where R 1 can include a hydrophobic group, Z can include a bond to the ribs, and R 5 can be any suitable chemical element or group. A method of applying a phosphonate conformal-coating over a WGP can include exposing the WGP to (R 1 ) i PO(R 4 ) j (R 5 ) k , where: i is 1 or 2, j is 1 or 2, k is 0 or 1, and i+j+k=3; each R 1 can independently include a hydrophobic group; R 4 can include a phosphonate-reactive-group; each R 6 can independently include an alkyl group, an aryl group, or combinations thereof; and each R 5 , if any, can independently be any suitable chemical element or group.
1. A wire grid polarizer (WGP) comprising:
a) ribs located over a surface of a transparent substrate, wherein the ribs are elongated and arranged in a substantially parallel array;
b) gaps between at least a portion of the ribs;
c) a conformal-coating located over the ribs, wherein the conformal-coating includes a phosphonate chemical:
where:
i) each R 1 independently includes a hydrophobic group;
ii) Z includes a bond to the ribs;
iii) R 5 includes a phosphonate-reactive-group, R 1 , R 6 , or Z;
iv) the phosphonate-reactive-group is —Cl, —OR 6 , —OCOR 6 , —N(R 6 ) 2 , or —OH; and
v) each R 6 independently includes an alkyl group, an aryl group, or combinations thereof.
2. The WGP of claim 1 , wherein the hydrophobic group comprises a carbon chain with a perfluorinated group including at least 1 and less than 30 carbon atoms.
3. A wire grid polarizer (WGP) comprising:
a) ribs located over a surface of a transparent substrate, wherein the ribs are elongated and arranged in a substantially parallel array;
b) gaps between at least a portion of the ribs;
c) a conformal-coating located over the ribs, wherein the conformal-coating includes a phosphonate chemical:
where:
i) each R 1 independently includes a hydrophobic group;
ii) Z includes a bond to the ribs; and
iii) R 5 is a chemical element or a group.
4. The WGP of claim 3 , wherein:
a) R 5 includes a phosphonate-reactive-group, R 1 , R 6 , or Z;
b) the phosphonate-reactive-group is —Cl, —OR 6 , —OCOR 6 , or —OH; and
c) each R 6 independently includes an alkyl group, an aryl group, or combinations thereof.
5. The WGP of claim 3 , wherein each R 5 is independently —N(R 6 ) 2 or —OR 6 , where each R 6 independently is an alkyl group with ≤2 carbon atoms.
6. The WGP of claim 3 , wherein the hydrophobic group includes a carbon chain.
7. The WGP of claim 3 , wherein each hydrophobic group is independently CF 3 (CF 2 ) n (CH 2 ) m , where n and m are integers within the boundaries of: 0≤n≤20 and 0≤m≤5.
8. The WGP of claim 3 , wherein each hydrophobic group is independently CF 3 (CF 2 ) n (CH 2 ) m , where n and m are integers within the boundaries of: 4≤n≤10 and 2≤m≤5.
9. The WGP of claim 3 , wherein:
a) the conformal-coating is a distal conformal-coating;
b) the WGP further comprises a proximal conformal-coating and a middle conformal-coating;
c) the proximal conformal-coating is distinct from the ribs, includes a metal oxide, and is located between the distal conformal-coating and the ribs;
d) the middle conformal-coating is located between the proximal conformal-coating and the distal conformal-coating and includes a metal oxide comprising a material different from the metal oxide of the proximal conformal-coating.
10. The WGP of claim 9 , wherein the proximal conformal-coating includes aluminum oxide and the middle conformal-coating includes hafnium oxide.
11. The WGP of claim 9 , wherein:
a) the proximal conformal-coating includes aluminum oxide, silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, silicon carbide, or combinations thereof; and
b) the middle conformal-coating includes hafnium oxide, zirconium oxide, or combinations thereof.
12. The WGP of claim 1 , wherein a material of an exterior surface of the ribs has solubility in water of at least 0.5 grams per liter at 25° C.
13. The WGP of claim 12 , wherein the material of the exterior surface of the rib includes germanium oxide.
14. A method of making a wire grid polarizer (WGP), the method comprising:
a) obtaining ribs located over a surface of a transparent substrate, wherein the ribs are elongated and arranged in a substantially parallel array with gaps between at least a portion of the ribs; and
b) exposing the WGP to a phosphonate chemical to form a conformal-coating over the ribs, the phosphonate chemical including (R 1 ) i PO(R 4 ) j (R 5 ) k ,
where:
i) i is 1 or 2, is 1 or 2, k is 0 or 1, and i+j+k=3;
ii) each R 1 independently includes a hydrophobic group;
iii) R 4 is a phosphonate-reactive-group; and
iv) each R 5 , if any, is independently any chemical element or group.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein:
a) each phosphonate-reactive-group is independently selected from: —Cl, —OR 6 , —OCOR 6 , —N(R 5 ) 2 , and —OH; and
b) each R 6 independently includes an alkyl group, an aryl group, or combinations thereof.
16. The method of claim 14 , wherein exposing the WGP to the chemical is done by vapor-deposition.
17. The method of claim 14 , wherein:
a) the conformal-coating is a distal conformal-coating; and
b) the method further comprises applying a proximal conformal-coating before applying the distal conformal-coating, the proximal conformal-coating including hafnium oxide, zirconium oxide, aluminum oxide, silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, or combinations thereof.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the proximal conformal-coating includes hafnium oxide.
19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the proximal conformal-coating includes aluminum oxide.
20. The method of claim 17 , wherein applying the proximal conformal-coating includes applying by atomic layer deposition, vapor-deposition, anhydrous deposition, or combinations thereof.
21. The WGP of claim 1 , wherein each R 6 independently includes the alkyl group with ≤2 carbon atoms.