A Mini Review: Antireflective Coatings Processing Techniques, Applications and Future Perspective

Antireflective coatings (AR) are widely applied to eliminate the unwanted surface reflections from the AR coated substrate. In different optoelectronic devices, AR coatings have potential usage in photovoltaic solar cells, sensors, display devices, automobile industries to reduce reflectance, glare and enhance light transmittance. Natural phenomenon inspires researchers, and they generate bionic AR coatings copying the nature such as moth eyes, or cicada wings to fabricate efficient light harvesting AR coatings. In the current review article, we analyse and evaluate critically the progress and recent development in the fabrication of AR thin films comprising organic coatings, inorganic coatings, polymer AR coatings and bionic AR coatings. We predominantly emphasise the AR coatings fabrication by different methods and pinpoints the technological challenges in their real-world reliability. Finally, we address the future challenges and potential strategies for their upcoming prospect.