US Patent Issued to California Institute of Technology on Sept. 16 for "Optical layer having a low refractive index and methods of fabrication" (Vermont, California Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,416,748, issued on Sept. 16, was assigned to California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, Calif.).

"Optical layer having a low refractive index and methods of fabrication" was invented by Axel Scherer (Barnard, Vt.) and Taeyoon Jeon (Pasadena, Calif.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The teachings of the present disclosure enable a reduction of the refractive index of a material by incorporating an additive selected from air, vacuum, or an inert gas in the material to turn the material into a material foam that is suitable for use in optical systems. A material foam in accordance with the present disclosure is characterized by a porosity ...