Optical Antireflective Films: Single-Scale Limits, Cross-Scale Synergy, and Evidence-Based Application Mapping

Optical antireflective films regulate interfacial reflection and improve light utilization in optical and optoelectronic devices. Interference-based thin films, micron-scale textures, and nanostructures each have distinct performance limits. Combining these architectures alone does not establish cross-scale synergy. This review distinguishes single-scale advantages, cross-scale composites, and evidence-supported cross-scale synergy. It evaluates the evidence using control level, metric hierarchy, reporting completeness, the four synergy criteria, and a separate translation-readiness tier. The four synergy criteria are functional separation, a matched single-scale control, repeatable device-level gain, and scale-coupling evidence. The translation-readiness tier separately assesses manufacturing and reliability evidence. Among the studies included in this review, none met all four synergy criteria. The reviewed composites therefore remain cross-scale composites rather than demonstrated cross-scale synergies. Matched controls, scale-coupling evidence, failure cases, scalable manufacturing, and long-term reliability remain the principal gaps.