Optical coating services IR UV | Acktar black coatings | black oxide coating

Black Coating Services

Suppress stray light in high-performance optics with no extra effort using advanced optical black coatings for stray light absorption in ultra-violet, visible light spectrum and Infra-red wavelengths.

Extremely low reflectance, high thermal stability, high absorptance, high emissivity, excellent adhesion to essentially all materials and low outgassing in a few microns of a coating.

You say when and we coat it for you!

Showing all 7 results

Magic Black Coating

Magic Black coating on a component
Space Qualified
Low Reflection
Thickness 3-5µm
Temperature stability
Magic Black™ is the coating of choice where the absolute lowest reflectance is required in the EUV, UV, VIS up to SWIR regions.
Extremely Black at EUV-VIS-NIR. the Acktar Ultra-Black Summer Sale- ultra-low fixed price, Check it Out

Vacuum Black Coating

3 circular metallic components coated with acktar's Vacuum Black coating
Space Qualified
Low Reflection
Thickness 4-7µm
In addition to its superior optical performance Vacuum BlackTM delivers many other attributes important in space applications.
Extremely Black at UV-VIS-NIR-SWIR. the Acktar Ultra-Black Summer Sale- ultra-low fixed price, Check it Out

Fractal Black Coating

metallic component coated with Fractal Black coating
Space Qualified
Thickness 5-14µm
Low IR absorbtion
Fractal BlackTM is the coating of choice where low reflectance / high emissivity is required across the spectrum from the UV through LWlR.
Broad band UV – VIS – LWIR. the Acktar Ultra-Black Summer Sale- ultra-low fixed price, Check it Out

Ultra Black Coating

3 components coated with ultra black coating
Space Qualified
Low IR absorbtion
Black Coating for MWIR and LWIR (medium and low infra red wavelength) with extremely low reflectance.
LWIR Selective Absorbtance. the Acktar Ultra-Black Summer Sale- ultra-low fixed price, Check it Out

Nano Black Coating

Nano Black coated components
Space Qualified
Thickness 0.3-1µm
Low Emissivity
Nano Black is a selective coating with differing characteristics for different wavelength regions.
Low Emissivity Black. the Acktar Ultra-Black Summer Sale- ultra-low fixed price, Check it Out

Light Absorbing Sample Kit

Light Absorbing Coatings and Films Sample Kit
Space Qualified
Low Reflection
Temperature stability
When you purchase Acktar’s Light Absorbing Sample Kit you discover the blackest black material in the world and all its benefits to your project.
Very low reflection

Litho Black Coating

Litho Black coated glass components
Space Qualified
wafer level
Applied as a wafer level patternable light absorbing overcoat and serves to suppress stray light and optical cross-talk while accurately delineating detector element geometry.
Wafer Level Patternable

Consult with our experts

or call us directly +1-800-681-8092
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Acktar Direct Black Coatings Brochure

Suits most engineering materials and components for night vision systems, cooled Iinfrared detector parts, LED screens, microscopes lenses, spectrometers, satellite equipment, solar panels, optical clocks and more.

 

 

 

Black coating table

Discover the technology

Acktar’s proprietary sophisticated vacuum deposition (vacuum coating) technology generates coatings with an extremely high specific surface area.

Discover the unique characteristics of our vacuum coating technology

FAQ

Question: How do Acktar’s black coatings compare with typical paint coatings?

Answer: Acktar’s black coatings are manufactured using vacuum deposition technology. They are very thin, completely inorganic, have very low outgassing and low reflectivity. See our video here.

The table below provides a detailed comparison of Acktar’s black coatings with typical paint coatings.

Comparison table

Characteristic Paint – typical Acktar
Coating Density 1.1 gr/cm3 1.8 gr/cm3
Coating Thickness µm-100µm 60 10 ~ µm
Coating weight 10.8 mg/cm2 dry 0.9 mg/cm2
Coating Reflectance (0.8-12µm) < 10% < 4%
Coating Outgassing- CVCM < 0.1% 0,001%
Coating Outgassing – RML < 1% 0.3%
Bonding to coating problematic excellent
Coating Edges build-up on edges/corners not build up
Coating Drying period 7 days none
Coating Temperature range 96K-473K 4K-623K (720K for short periods)
Coating Particulate contamination particulates not particulates
Coating Organic contamination (silicones, polymers, etc.) high none
Coating thickness control poor good
Coating Thickness tolerance ±20µm ±1.5µm
Coating adhesion limited excellent
Coating Resistance to atomic oxygen limited excellent
Coating Electrical conductivity typically non-conductive tailorable conductivity

 

Question: What is the typical thickness of Acktar’s coatings?

Answer: Acktar’s black coatings are typically between 3-14 µm thick, but can be tailored to between 1-30µm upon request.

Question: What makes Acktar’s coatings the best choice for IR detectors and Space applications?

Answer: No Particulation, broad working temperature range, low outgassing, thin coating with tight tolerances, low reflectivity over a wide wavelength range, high emissivity, completely inorganic, can be applied on essentially any substrate, perfect cover (no build-up) on edges.

Question: Can you coat selected areas on the part?

Answer: Yes, easily! We use mechanical masking that is tailored to the requirements of the coating area.

Question: What would be considered as a typical applications for the black coatings?

Answer: The most common applications are: stray light absorption in UV-VIS-IR wavelengths, night vision systems, cooled Infrared detector parts, satellite parts, high surface area capacitor electrodes, LED screens and more.

Question: What Quality standards do you comply with?

Answer: Acktar is certified as a production and development facility by ISO 9001:2000, IQNet, S.A.M.S, RoHs and REACH.

In addition we are certified as a “Ship to Stock” supplier for one of the world’s largest manufacturers of IR detectors – based on our quality and strict inspection regime.

See the full list of certificates.

Question: How can I coat large area parts / surfaces?

Answer: Acktar’s coatings are available in two options:

    1. Direct Black Coating (current page) – where you send the part to us and we coat to your specifications.
    2. Foils and Films – Black coated foils and films with or without adhesive that can coat large areas.

Question: What is the coating thickness tolerance?

Answer: The thickness tolerance of our black coatings can be as tight as 1-2 µm.

Question: What is the quality of the black coatings on the edges?

Answer: Our coatings have excellent coverage over the entire part including the ability to confirm to edges as seen in the below photo. black coating label applied to edges

There is no need for special design of the edge to attain the perfect coverage.

Question: How do Acktar Black coatings perform in extremely low temperatures?

Answer: Acktar’s Fractal BlackTM was tested by an independent laboratory to compare its performance at very low temperatures with that of thick epoxy layers and black paint.

The summary of the report is as follows: “The main advantage of Fractal BlackTM coating for us is the relatively high blackness at low temperatures (10K-50K) of the source of the thermal radiation achieved by small thickness of the coating.”

A full copy of the report is available upon request.

Question: Most of your black coatings have very high emissivity. Can you produce a coating which is black in the visible range, but has low emissivity in IR?

Answer: Yes, our Nano Black selective coating has high absorbance in the VIS range and low emissivity in the IR range.