Surrey NanoSystems' super-black coatings improve how objects can be measured and detected both near and far. Vantablack is the brand name for a new class of super-black coatings offered by Surrey NanoSystems. The coatings are best-in-class, almost perfectly lambertian, and offering extremely low hemispherical reflectance, they also retain their high level of performance from all viewing angles. Vantablack coatings are now being deployed in applications such as deep space imaging, earth observation, satellite navigation systems, automotive sensing, electro-optical systems, digital imaging systems, art and aesthetics.

Typical coating properties include:

• Ultra-low reflectance: Consistently high performance from all angles.
• UV, Visible and IR absorption: Absorption works from UV (200-350 nm wavelength), through the visible (350-700nm) and into the far infrared (>600 microns) spectrum, with no spectral features.
• Hydrophobic: Humidity will not degrade the optical properties.
• Thermal shock resistance: Repeatedly plunging a Vantablack S-VIS coated substrate into liquid Nitrogen at -196°C and then transferring to a 200°C hot plate in air does not affect its properties.
• Resistant to shock and vibration: Independently tested, coatings have been subjected to shock and vibration simulating launch and staging.
• Low outgassing and mass loss: Independent testing to ECSS shows TML < 0.5
• BDRF and TIS performance: Even at shallow angles, the levels of blackness are high performance.

Why use Vantablack coatings in space?

The space environment presents significant challenges for optical instrument and camera systems designers due to the high levels of light pollution from the Sun, Moon and Earth. These challenges are compounded by the hostile operating environment and the rigours of launch. The launch weight of the instrument package and its size are also critical considerations. Reducing the size and weight of a baffle or calibration system is made possible by the company's coatings' levels of light absorption from all angles, and their high emissivity across the IR spectrum.