It may be time for space telescopes to ditch their old coatings and adopt a more mysterious look that helps them blend into the dark space and capture better images of the universe.
A team of researchers at Shanghai University has developed an ultra-black thin film coating for magnesium alloys, a cast material made for telescopes and optical instruments, which they say absorbs nearly all light, while still being durable enough to survive in harsh environments. space.
As detailed in a recent article study Published on Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A, The researchers used a manufacturing technique called atomic layer deposition, in which the target is placed in a vacuum chamber and exposed to a specific type of gas.
To create the ultra-black coating, the team used alternating layers of aluminum-doped titanium carbide (TiAlC), which acts as an absorber layer, and silicon nitride (SiO2), which creates an anti-reflective surface. When combined together, these two materials prevent virtually all light from reflecting from the coated surface. Research shows that during testing, the ultra-black coating absorbed 99.3% of light across various wavelength ranges.
Existing telescopes are covered with a reinforced aluminum coating, reflect About 92% to 95% light. This is pretty close to reflecting almost all light, but not quite there yet.
Black coating, on the other hand, is great at absorbing light. However, it is often too fragile to survive in space.”It is also difficult to apply coatings inside tubes or other complex structures with many other coating methods,” said Cao Yunzhen, a co-author of the new study and a professor at the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. In a statement.
Thanks to its manufacturing technology, the newly created ultra-black coating can be applied to complex surfaces such as cylinders, pillars and trenches. “This is important for their application in optical devices, as they often have significant curvature or complex shapes,” Cao added. “More importantly, the film exhibits excellent stability in harsh environments and is tough enough to withstand friction, high temperatures, humid conditions and extreme temperature changes.”
Researchers hope to improve the ultra-black coating and further enhance its light-absorbing capabilities, thereby improving the performance of space telescopes and providing us with more fascinating images of the universe.
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