This book contains the articles collected for the Special Issue entitled "Micro-nano
Surface Functionalization of Materials and Thin Films for Optical Applications" in the
journal Coatings (ISSN 2079-6412). These selected articles provide a meaningful overview
of recent advances and concepts beyond the state-of-the-art regarding surface
functionalization of materials and deposition of thin films to be used in optical
applications. The aim was to cover all relevant aspects of the topic (simulation, design,
fabrication, characterization and applications) with a special emphasis on nonconventional
methods for surface modification of materials, combinations of mature
fabrication routes with emerging technologies (i.e., additive manufacturing) and largearea
fabrication concepts to pave the way to an industrial utilization of the developed
materials. This overview comprises the recent work of reputed scientists from Germany,
Austria, Spain and India on:
- New developments on the scale-up deposition of transparent conductive materials by
magnetron sputtering,
- Design of hierarchical surface structures at different scale lengths for nanoimprinting of
optical nano- and micro-structures,
- Non-conventional preparation of rutile-type TiO2 films at room temperature for optical
applications on heat-sensitive substrates,
- Design of spectrally selective solar absorber coatings based on computational
simulation and ellipsometry measurements.
