Super black is a surface treatment developed at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in the United Kingdom. It absorbs approximately 99.6% of visible light at normal incidence, while conventional black

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absorbs about 97.5%. At other angles of incidence, super black is even more effective: at an angle of 45°, it absorbs 99.9% of light.

Technology

The technology to create super black involves chemically etching a nickel- phosphorus alloy. Applications of super black are in specialist optical instruments for reducing unwanted reflections. The disadvantage of this material is its low optical thickness, as it is a surface treatment. As a result, infrared light of a wavelength longer than a few micrometers penetrates through the dark layer and has much higher reflectivity. The reported spectral dependence increases from about 1% at 3 µm to 50% at 20 µm. In 2009, a competitor to the super black material, Vantablack, was developed based on carbon nanotubes. It has a relatively flat reflectance in a wide spectral range. In 2011, NASA and the US Army began funding research in the use of nanotube-based super black coatings in sensitive optics. Nanotube-based superblack arrays and coatings have recently become commercially available.

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External links

* * * * {{cite web , url= http://www.acktar.com/category/VacuumBlack , title= Magic Black, Vacuum Black , publisher= Acktar , work= Advanced coatings , quote= Inorganic, thin coating, deposited using vacuum deposition technology Materials science Optical materials Shades of black

Technology

See also

References

External links