阅读说明：本技术 黑色制品 (Black product ) 是由 J·拜拉特 E·法夫尔 于 2020-02-21 设计创作，主要内容包括：黑色制品(1),其不是光伏器件,其包含：-基本透明基底(3)；-在所述基底的第一表面(3a)上提供的基本透明纹理层(5),所述纹理层(5)具有背向所述基底(3)的纹理表面(5a)；-包含硅-锗合金的吸收层(7),所述吸收层(7)位于所述纹理层(5)的所述纹理表面(5a)上。(A black article (1), which is not a photovoltaic device, comprising: -a substantially transparent substrate (3); -a substantially transparent texturing layer (5) provided on a first surface (3a) of said substrate, said texturing layer (5) having a textured surface (5a) facing away from said substrate (3); -an absorption layer (7) comprising a silicon-germanium alloy, the absorption layer (7) being located on the textured surface (5a) of the textured layer (5).)

1. A black article (1), which is not a photovoltaic device, comprising:

-a substantially transparent substrate (3);

-a substantially transparent texturing layer (5) provided on a first surface (3a) of said substrate, said texturing layer (5) having a textured surface (5a) facing away from said substrate (3);

-an absorption layer (7) comprising a silicon-germanium alloy, the absorption layer (7) being located on the textured surface (5a) of the textured layer (5).

2. Black article (1) according to claim 1, wherein said silicon-germanium alloy comprises at least 2% germanium, preferably at least 10% germanium, more preferably at least 20% germanium, more preferably from 20% to 40% germanium, more preferably substantially 30% germanium.

3. The black article (1) according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising an anti-reflective layer (11) interposed between said substrate (3) and said texture layer (5), said anti-reflective layer (11) preferably exhibiting a refractive index greater than the refractive index of said substrate (3).

4. The black article (1) according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising an anti-reflective coating (9) provided on a second face (3b) of said substrate (3), said second face (3b) being opposite to said first face (3a), said anti-reflective coating (11) preferably exhibiting a refractive index lower than the refractive index of said substrate (3).

5. The black article (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the texture layer (5) exhibits a refractive index lower than the refractive index of the absorbing layer (7).

6. The black article (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the absorbing layer (7) has a thickness between 400 and 700nm, preferably between 550 and 675 nm.

7. The black article (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the textured layer (5) has a thickness of between 0.5 and 5 μm, preferably between 2.5 and 3 μm, and has a surface rms roughness on the textured surface (5a) of at least 10 nm.

8. The black article (1) according to the preceding claim, wherein the texture layer (5) comprises zinc oxide and/or tin oxide.

9. The black article (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the article (1) is one of the following:

-the face of the timepiece,

-a clock hand, a gear, a balance spring or a bridge;

-decorative elements for watchcases, crowns, bezels, household furniture, upholstery or car trims;

a jewellery element, such as a decorative element for a necklace, a collar, a ring, a bracelet, an earring, a pendant or a brooch,

a light absorbing element for an optical device, such as a light capturing element, an optical baffle or a beam stop surface;

-decorative protective glass for cell phones, tablets or other electronic devices.

10. The black article (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the absorbing layer (7) is substantially undoped.

11. The black article (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the absorbent layer (7) is substantially homogeneous.

12. A method of making a black article (1) for a non-photovoltaic device comprising the steps of:

-providing a substantially transparent substrate (3);

-forming a substantially transparent textured layer (5) on a first surface (3a) of the substrate (3), the textured layer (5) having a textured surface (5a) facing away from the substrate (3);

-forming an absorption layer (7) comprising a silicon-germanium alloy on the textured surface (5a) of the textured layer (5).

13. A method according to claim 12, wherein said substantially transparent texture layer (5) is formed of a material which automatically forms a surface texture during its deposition.

14. A method according to claim 13, wherein the substantially transparent texture layer (5) comprises zinc oxide or tin oxide deposited by chemical vapour deposition.

15. A method according to claim 12, wherein the substantially transparent texture layer (5) comprises a texture applied by one or more of the following methods:

-mechanical texturing;

-chemical texturing;

-ion etching;

-laser ablation.

16. A method according to any one of claims 12 to 15, wherein said substantially transparent substrate (3) has an anti-reflective layer (9) provided on a second surface (3b) thereof.

17. A method according to any one of claims 12 to 16, comprising the step of forming an anti-reflective layer (11) on said first surface (3a) of said substrate (3) before forming said textured layer (5).

18. A method according to any of claims 12-17, wherein the absorption layer (7) is substantially undoped and/or substantially homogeneous.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the technical field of black articles, such as timepiece components (in particular, but not exclusively, watch dials), jewelry elements, stray light absorbing elements for optical instruments and the like. More particularly, it relates to such articles that are easy to handle, robust and cleanable.

State of the art

The extremely dark black articles are used in many technical sectors, in particular in watchmaking and in optical instruments. In the former case, deep matt black watch dials are highly desirable because they improve the legibility of the time display by providing contrast with light coloured hands or the like, and suppress reflections. This principle has been applied to Panerai radio diving watches at least as early as the 30 s, which combine a matt black dial with luminescent indicia to maximize legibility.

More recently, document US2018/157214 discloses the use of carbon nanotubes as part of the black coating of a watch dial. Since carbon nanotubes absorb light very well, especially when the light runs parallel to the axis of the nanotubes, such coatings are more light absorbing and less glittering than conventional coatings based on amorphous carbon (also known as lampblack or carbon black) dispersed in a varnish or coated directly onto a substrate.

However, such carbon nanotube-based coatings are extremely fragile and cannot be touched or cleaned without damaging the coating. This therefore presents great difficulties in manufacture and operation, since only the uncoated face of the dial can be touched. Any accidental contact with the nanotube-based coating risks damaging it so that the dial is unusable and must be discarded.

In the case of optical instruments, such as photodetectors, spectrometers, monochromators, microscopes, cameras, baffles of space instruments, etc., such nanotube coatings are applied internally to remove stray light that may adversely affect the optical measurements, and the same problem therefore applies equally.

However, existing alternative solutions that are physically more robust, such as the cathode sputter coating described in US4997538 or black anodizing of aluminum substrates are optically inferior to carbon nanotube based coatings and therefore are unsuitable alternatives when a dark black color is required.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to at least partly overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

More specifically, the invention relates to a black article as claimed in claim 1. Such articles of manufacture that are not photovoltaic devices (i.e., not solar cells) comprise:

a substantially transparent substrate, for example made of glass, sapphire, alumina, polymer or the like;

-a substantially transparent texture layer provided directly or indirectly on the first side of the substrate, the texture layer having a textured surface facing away from the substrate; and

-an absorber layer comprising a silicon-germanium alloy located directly or indirectly on the textured surface of the textured layer, such absorber layer being typically undoped as it is not part of a photovoltaic device. Furthermore, the absorbing layer is typically a homogeneous, unitary layer.

The silicon-germanium alloy, whether or not containing hydrogen, strongly absorbs light in the visible range, particularly in the longer red wavelength range, to impart a deep black color to the article when viewed from the substrate side. Since this black coloration is provided by a layer located on the opposite side of the viewing side, any slight damage caused by handling is not visible on its free surface, and the substrate surface (or any further layers provided thereon, such as an antireflection layer and/or a scratch-resistant layer) is robust, damage-resistant and easy to clean by conventional mechanical and/or chemical means. The textured surface of the textured layer cooperates with the silicon-germanium layer by diffusing the incident light, thereby ensuring that more light is absorbed by the Si-Ge layer to impart an extremely dark black color to the article.

Advantageously, the silicon-germanium alloy may comprise at least 2% germanium, preferably at least 10% germanium, more preferably at least 20% germanium, more preferably substantially 30% germanium.

Advantageously, the article may further comprise an anti-reflective layer interposed between said substrate and said texture layer. This layer helps to reduce specular reflection and thus enhances the black color of the article. As an example, silicon oxynitride may be used for this layer, as may multiple layers having graded indices of refraction that increase through their thickness.

Advantageously, the antireflective layer may exhibit a refractive index greater than the refractive index of the substrate, thereby enhancing suppression of specular reflection.

Advantageously, an antireflection coating may be provided on a second face of the substrate, opposite the first face and therefore facing in the intended viewing direction. This further reduces specular reflection.

Advantageously, the antireflective coating may exhibit a refractive index lower than that of the substrate to reduce specular reflection even more.

Advantageously, the texturing layer may exhibit a refractive index lower than that of the absorbing layer to again reduce specular reflection.

Advantageously, the silicon-germanium alloy layer may have a thickness between 400 and 700nm, preferably between 550 and 675nm, and/or the texturing layer has a thickness between 0.5 and 5 μm, preferably between 2.5 and 3 μm, and has a surface rms roughness on the textured surface of at least 10nm rms (root mean square).

Advantageously, the texture layer may comprise zinc oxide and/or tin oxide. During the deposition of such a layer, the above-mentioned texture is automatically formed during the deposition process without any further steps.

The black article concerned may for example be a (non-photovoltaic) dial of a timepiece, another timepiece component, such as a pointer, a gear, a balance spring, a bridge, a decorative element for a watchcase, a crown, a bezel or the like, a jewelry element provided on a necklace, a collar, a ring, a bracelet, an earring, a pendant, a brooch or the like, or a light absorbing element for an optical device, such as a sensor, for example a light capturing element, an optical baffle, a beam stop surface or the like. Other applications include aesthetic protective glass for cell phones, tablet computers or electronic devices in general, or other decorative elements for home furniture, upholstery, automotive trim or the like.

The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing such a black article. This method comprises the steps of:

-providing a substantially transparent substrate;

-forming a substantially transparent textured layer directly or indirectly on the first surface of the substrate, the textured layer having a textured surface facing away from the substrate;

-forming a layer comprising a silicon-germanium alloy directly or indirectly on the textured surface of the textured layer.

This results in the black article described above with all the attendant advantages as previously disclosed. The layer may be entirely or predominantly a Si-Ge alloy and may be hydrogenated and thus a Si-Ge: H layer.

Advantageously, the substantially transparent textured layer may be formed of a material that automatically forms a surface texture during its deposition, such as chemical vapor deposited zinc oxide or tin oxide. Thus, since the texture is formed during the deposition step, no additional step of creating the texture is required.

Alternatively, the texture may be applied by mechanical and/or chemical texturing (e.g. by chemical etching) and/or ion etching and/or laser ablation. Such textures may be random or non-random, depending on the method used to generate the texture.

Advantageously, the substantially transparent substrate may comprise an anti-reflective layer already provided on its second surface, for example in case an off-the-shelf glass or polymer substrate is used.

Advantageously, the method may further comprise the step of forming an anti-reflective layer on said first surface of said substrate prior to forming said textured layer.

Advantageously, the absorption layer is deposited as an undoped layer and/or as a single homogenous layer.

Brief Description of Drawings

Further details of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following description in conjunction with the following drawings, which illustrate:

figure 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the simplest form of an article according to the invention;

figure 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of another variant of the article according to the invention;

figures 3a and 3b are graphs of total and diffuse reflection for various samples of the article according to the invention;

figure 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a further variant of the article according to the invention;

figure 5 is a schematic view of three advantageous uses of the article according to the invention; and

figure 6 is a schematic view of a method of manufacturing an article according to the invention.

Embodiments of the invention

Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic cross-section of a black article 1 according to the invention in its simplest form. As mentioned above, such an article 1 may be a dial, a jewelry element, a light absorbing element for an optical instrument or any other article that needs to be very light absorbing. The article 1 is not a photovoltaic device, i.e. not a solar cell. In other words, it is substantially photovoltaically inert and is not suitable for generating or transporting electrical current when exposed to light. The article 1 comprises a substantially transparent substrate 3 of any desired thickness, which may be made of glass, polymer, transparent ceramic such as sapphire or alumina, glass-ceramic, or any other convenient material. In this context, "substantially transparent" is understood to mean exhibiting a transmission of at least 95% of visible light (wavelengths 350-750 nm), and all references to refractive indices are in terms of the wavelength of visible light. Although the substrate 3 and resulting article are illustrated as being planar, they may also be curved or shaped into any desired shape.

A substantially transparent textured layer 5 is provided on a first surface 3a of the substrate 3 facing away from the intended viewing direction (schematically indicated by means of an eye symbol representing the point of view of the observer). Such a texture layer 5 may be located directly on said first face 3a as shown in fig. 1, or may be located indirectly thereon as discussed in more detail below with respect to fig. 2, with one or more supplemental layers interposed between the substrate 3 and the texture layer 5.

The texture layer 5 may be a zinc oxide layer formed on the first surface 3a, for example by means of Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) or the like, which causes the surface 5a of the texture layer 5 facing away from the substrate 3a to exhibit the form of a plurality of pyramids as schematically indicated by the irregular jagged lines. Another particularly suitable material for this layer is CVD-deposited tin oxide, which is transparent and exhibits a more rounded surface morphology than the sharp-edged pyramidal form of zinc oxide. Other substances exhibiting similar properties are also possible.

It is also possible to texture the surface 5a in a separate step after deposition of a different material that does not inherently form a textured surface, such as a transparent polymer, alumina or the like. Such texturing may be done mechanically (e.g., by machining, grinding, abrasive brushing, sandblasting or bead blasting, etc., by ion etching, laser etching or ablation, or by chemical etching.

Alternatively, the surface 3a of the substrate may itself be textured; this texture may be transferred to the surface 5a of the textured layer 5 even if it is made of a material that does not inherently form a textured surface.

It is not important how the texture is formed, but ideally the texture should have a minimum rms value of 10nm and may be random or non-random. In particular, values of 15nm to 500nm rms are most useful. RMS roughness is described in standard ASME B46.1 and is therefore well known to the skilled person.

The thickness of the texture layer 5 is desirably 0.5 to 5 μm thick, preferably 2.5 to 3.0 μm thick, regardless of how it is formed.

On said surface 5a of the textured layer 5 an absorption layer 7 of a silicon-germanium alloy is formed comprising at least 2% germanium, preferably at least 10% or 20% germanium, more preferably 20% to 40% germanium, more preferably substantially 30% germanium, in the case of hydrogenated (SiGe: H) layer, the balance being substantially all silicon and hydrogen. This layer usually has a thickness of between 400 and 700nm, more particularly between 550 and 675nm and is usually deposited directly on the texturing layer 5, although intermediate layers are also possible.

The silicon-germanium alloy absorbs visible wavelengths particularly strongly and also has a high refractive index of about 3-4, which usually significantly exceeds the refractive index of the textured layer 5. In the case of zinc oxide, this refractive index is about 2. Thus, visible light leaving the textured layer 5 at its textured surface 5a is recycled to the absorbing layer 7 by multiple reflections, thus resulting in a maximization of the light absorption.

It is therefore possible to arrange the various layers so as to have an increasing refractive index from the substrate 3 (or from the antireflection coating 9, if present) towards the Si-Ge layer 7, which minimizes specular reflection.

It should be noted that in this configuration and in all configurations disclosed herein, the absorber layer 7 is the only one layer formed of semiconductor material present. Since the article 1 is not a photovoltaic device, i.e. is substantially photovoltaically inert, the absorber layer 7 is generally undoped (i.e. intrinsic), although the possible presence of P-type or N-type dopants is not excluded. Furthermore, the article does not contain any P-N, N-P, PIN, NIP, or other types of photovoltaically active junctions formed by different doping, etc. The Si-Ge of layer 7 is a semiconductor in fact only coincidental, since it is chosen for its light absorbing properties. It should also be noted that the layer 7 is typically a single substantially homogeneous layer and is not a stack of layers or other more complex arrangement, as this ensures that its deposition can be carried out quickly and efficiently in a single process step, thereby enabling very economical production.

Fig. 2 illustrates another variant of the black article 1, in which two further measures are taken to improve the blackness. However, it is entirely possible to employ one or the other measure alone.

Layers 3, 5 and 7 are as described above and need not be discussed again.

A first measure to further deepen the color is the presence of an antireflective coating 9 comprising one or more layers applied on the surface of the substrate 3 facing in the intended viewing direction, i.e. facing away from the Si-Ge alloy layer 7. This surface is referred to as "second surface" 3 b.

Such an antireflection coating 9 may also have scratch-and abrasion-resistant properties, such coatings being known per se, in particular in the field of spectacles, in order to reduce specular reflection and thus glare. Examples thereof are disclosed in e.g. US9726786, WO2008112047, DE102015114877, US9817155 and many other documents. Alternatively, if the antireflection coating 9 has poor scratch resistance or the like, an additional scratch-resistant coating (not shown) may be provided on the antireflection coating 9.

In the present invention, the antireflective coating advantageously has a lower refractive index than the substrate 3, which helps to reduce back reflection and thus darken the color.

A second means of darkening is another anti-reflective layer 11 interposed between the substrate 3 and the texturing layer 5. This layer typically has a refractive index value between that of the substrate 3 and the texture layer 5 and may for example be a silicon oxynitride layer having a thickness of between 10 and 200nm, more preferably between 70 and 90 nm. The layer may also be a multilayer exhibiting a graded refractive index that increases towards the Si-Ge layer 7.

Fig. 3a and 3b show a pair of graphs presenting the effect of the invention, illustrating the reflected light percentage vs wavelength of incident light for total and diffuse reflection for 5 different samples. The average results for the wavelength range of 450-:

the thickness of the antireflection coating 9 is in each case approximately 70 to 90 nm; the thickness of the glass substrate 3 is about 0.5 mm; the thickness of the antireflection layer 11 is about 80 nm; the thickness of the ZnO layer 5 is about 2.5 μm; and the thickness of the SiGe absorber layer 7 is about 625 nm.

It is clear that the results of diffuse reflection are very similar, significantly below 1% reflection, and that the antireflection coating 9 and the antireflection layer 11, when used in combination, contribute to reducing the total reflection to slightly above 1% (sample e). This represents an extremely dark black color.

In addition, measurements of the color of the four samples were performed, and the color parameters were measured in a system of L × a × b, which is perceptually uniform and correlated to human perception. In this model, L represents the luminance (from L ═ 0, black to L ═ 100, white), a is on the green-red scale (from a ═ 128, green to a ═ 127, red), and b is on the blue-yellow scale (from b ═ 128, blue to b ═ 127, yellow). Therefore, a perfect black is defined by L ═ a ═ b ═ 0. The samples were measured simultaneously in SCI ("specular component included") mode, in which the specular component was included (i.e. total reflection), and in SCE ("specular component excluded") mode, in which only the diffuse component was included. In each case, a standard D65 illuminant was used, 10 ° observer.

The approximate result is as follows:

as can be seen from these figures, the blackness of the sample is extremely deep, and the antireflection coating 9 and the layer 11 reduce the specular reflection component without significantly changing the color values. This result is all the more surprising due to the fact that the absorbing layer 7 faces away from the direction of the incident light, whereas in conventional black articles the black color is provided as a lacquer or coating on the surface facing the viewer.

The absorbent layer 7 is therefore not located on the surface of the article 1 facing the viewer and is therefore protected from damage during operation. This layer 7 may even withstand surface damage without making it visible to the user, since it is on the back facing away from the user. Since the substrate 3 and any coatings thereon, such as the anti-reflective and/or scratch-resistant coating 9, are on the user-facing side of the article 1, they can be easily handled and cleaned with conventional mechanical and chemical products without the risk of damaging the light-absorbing layer 7 or affecting the optical properties of the article. In order to maximize cleanability (and scratch resistance), the second surface 3b of the substrate 3 and/or the outermost surface of any coating 9 provided thereon desirably exhibits a maximum surface roughness of 5nm rms, more particularly 1nm rms or less.

Fig. 4 illustrates an embodiment of the article 1 corresponding to that shown in fig. 2, in which several further optional measures have been taken. These measures can be used individually or in combination, and it is likewise possible to dispense with the antireflection coating 9 and/or the antireflection layer 11.

First, the absorbent layer 7 may be protected on the bottom side of the article 1 by means of a further protective layer 13, e.g. an encapsulant, deposited thereon to protect it.

Furthermore, it is also possible to provide the intentionally formed relief pattern 3c on one, the other or both sides of the substrate. Such a pattern may be, for example, a regular pattern, letter, image or the like, and may extend over, or may be embedded in, the major surface of the substrate 3, the height and/or depth of the relief being at least 1 μm above and/or below the major surface of the substrate 3 as appropriate.

It should also be noted that additional layers, such as diffusing layers and the like, may be incorporated as desired. In case such a layer is arranged between the texturing layer 5 and the Si-Ge alloy layer 7, it should be noted that the texture will be transferred through this additional layer such that the surface of the Si-Ge alloy layer 7 facing the substrate 3 is still textured.

Fig. 5 schematically represents three possible non-limiting applications of the article 1 according to the invention. On the left side of the figure, a timepiece 21 is represented, in which the article 1 serves as a dial 22, the base 3 of which faces the user when the user reads the time.

In the middle of fig. 5, the article 1 is incorporated as a decorative element in a piece of jewellery, such as a bracelet, a pendant, a brooch, an earring or the like.

On the right side of fig. 5, the article 1 incorporates an optical sensor 25, which includes a housing 26 to define an enclosed space 27 housing a light sensor 29. The light sensor 29 faces the shutter or aperture 31 and the article 1 is arranged to absorb unwanted light other than the light that directly strikes the sensor 29 from the shutter 31, the substrate 3 being arranged facing the inside of the housing and/or facing the shutter 31 in each section of the article 1.

Other applications are of course possible.

As far as the manufacturing steps are concerned, fig. 6 schematically illustrates the manufacture of an article 1 corresponding to fig. 2. In the case of the article 1 according to fig. 1 or an article in which one or the other of the antireflection coating 9 or the antireflection layer 11 is omitted, the corresponding method steps are simply omitted.

First, a substrate 3 is provided and serves as a foundation upon which all other layers are formed. Since suitable materials for the substrate 3 have been discussed in detail above, they are not repeated here.

At any convenient point in the process, if present, an antireflective coating 9 is provided on the second surface 3b of the substrate 3, and need not be a deposited first layer, for example as described in US9726786, WO2008112047, DE102015114877, US9817155 or many other documents. However, since commercial glass and plastic substrates already provided with an antireflection coating are readily available, it is generally the case that this layer is indeed deposited first and is therefore already present on the substrate 3 when the other layers are deposited.

If present, an anti-reflection layer 11 is subsequently deposited on the first surface 3a of the substrate 3. By way of non-limiting example, this may be a silicon oxynitride layer deposited by plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition in a reactor having a plasma excitation frequency of 13.56MHz, an electrode spacing of 15mm, and an electrode surface size of 45x 55cm under the following conditions to give the indicated thickness:

subsequently, a texture layer 5 is deposited directly or indirectly on said first surface 3 a. In the case where this layer is made of zinc oxide, it can be deposited by low pressure chemical vapor deposition in the reactor mentioned above under the following conditions to give the indicated thickness:

if the texturing layer 5 is made of a material which, unlike ZnO, does not have a suitable surface texture by its deposition, it may be mechanically, chemically, optically or ionically structured as described above.

Subsequently, an absorbing layer 7 of Si-Ge alloy is deposited directly or indirectly on the free surface of the textured layer 5, for example by plasma assisted chemical vapour deposition in the above mentioned reactor under the following conditions, to give the indicated thickness:

of course other intermediate or outer layers may be deposited as desired.

Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, it is possible to make modifications thereto without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.