Optical Surfaces Based on Arrays of Microscopic Pillars

Surfaces would be textured with dense arrays of pillars characterized by micron and submicron dimensions, according to a proposal, in order to impart desired optical properties to the surfaces. In an important class of potential applications, suitably shaped and dimensioned microscopic pillars would be etched into the surfaces of lenses or photodetectors to suppress reflections and thereby also increase the proportion of light utilized. In another important class of potential applications, surfaces would be so textured in order to obtain both absorption and low reradiation in a wavelength range of interest.