VANTABLACK S

INFINITY SERIES
INFRARED
BLACKBODY SOURCES
exc lu s i ve ly of fe re d by

Exclusive global distributor for blackbody systems

Santa Barbara Infrared, Inc. Surrey NanoSystems
30 S. Calle Cesar Chavez, Unit 24 Euro Business Park
Suite D New Road
Santa Barbara, CA. 93103 Newhaven BN9 0DQ, UK

T: 805.965.3669 T: +44 (0) 1 273.51.5899

E: sales@sbir.com E: enquiries@surreynanosystems.com
W: www.sbir.com W: www.surreynanosystems.com
VANTABlack ®-S Overview
Santa Barbara Infrared (SBIR) and Surrey NanoSystems (SNS) have partnered to offer VANTABlack®-S blackbody sources, making SBIR
the exclusive global supplier of extended-area blackbody sources with unparalleled emissivity and radiometric accuracy. The emitter
plates in these sources feature a carbon nanotube (CNT) based coating with remarkable light-trapping properties. This ultra-black
coating was developed by SNS to satisfy a broad range of applications requiring surfaces with extremely low reflectance. The resulting
blackbody sources support higher accuracy infrared (IR) radiometric calibrations than were previously unachievable. It offers superior,
near Lambertian performance across the visible thru infrared spectrums. The coating is applied using a proprietary spray process which
permits its application to a wide range of substrate materials and complex shapes. SBIR and SNS are also offering the coating for
applications to reduce stray light in optical and IR imaging systems.

Key Coating Features

• The world’s blackest sprayable coating
• Extremely low reflectivity across UV-VIS-IR
• Excellent BDRF performance
• No outgassing
• Extremely resilient to shock & vibration
• Wide operating temperature range
• Vacuum compatible
• Hydrophobic: no change to physical or
optical properties after exposure

Other Applications

• Infrared Cameras & Sensors - Stray VANTABlack ®-S hydrophobic testing on aluminum
light, cold shields, baffles, lens barrels, NUC flags
• Electro-Optical Systems - Stray light baffles,
apertures, housings, black or level reference
• Satellite Systems - Cavity blackbodies,
star-tracker baffles, thermal control
• Metrology - Stray light and calibration standards
for interferometers, spectrometers, radiometers
• Digital Cameras & Astronomy - Stray light
control, apertures, lens barrels, housings
• Mobile Telephones - Camera apertures
• Automotive - Cameras and HUD systems,
instrument panels
• Digital Projection - DMD shutters, light dump,
baffles, stray light control, uniformity standards

VANTABlack ®-S scanning electron microscope (SEM) image

319-001-988 Rev. NC
 VANTABlack ®-S Blackbody Specifications
Blackbody Aperture Sizes custom
Emissivity (Average) > 0.998% MWIR, >0.995% LWIR

MWIR BRDF at 50 DEGREE ANGLE OF INCIDENCE

VANTABlack®-S has significantly better absorption and labertian reflectance
at high angles of incidence and off specular compared to paint

0.100

PHI 0 DEG
0.010 PHI 30 DEG
BRDF (1/sr)

PHI 60 DEG
PHI 90 DEG
PHI 120 DEG
PHI 140 DEG
PHI 160 DEG
PHI 170 DEG
0.001
PHI 180 DEG

0.000
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90

Reflected Angle (degrees)

Extended Area Blackbody Surface Treatments Comparison Angle Dependant MWIR Reflectance
Hemispherical Spectral Emissivity (Avg Polarization) at 20° Angle of Incidence Test Wavelength (3-5 micron unpolarized)
1
0.5%
0.995

0.990
0.4%
0.985

0.980
Reflectance (%)
Emittance

0.975
0.3%

0.970

0.965 0.2%
0.960

0.955
0.1%
0.950

0.945
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
0.0%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Wavelength (microns) Angle of Incidence (degree)

VANTABlack®-S VANTABlack®-S exhibits low reflectance (<1%) as a

Industry Standard function of incident angle of illumination. This property
is important for stray light control and cold shield design
performance.

sales@sbir.com www.sbir.com
© 2017 SBIR, Inc. All Rights Reserved
319-001-988 Rev. NC
 Carbon Nanotube-Based Coatings Provide Extremely-High Surface Emissivity for
Improved Radiometric Calibration and Stray Light Control
OVERVIEW
Santa Barbara Infrared (SBIR) and Surrey NanoSystems (SNS) have partnered to produce a line of extended-area
blackbody sources with exceptionally-high emissivity and radiometric accuracy. The emitter plates in these
sources feature a carbon nanotube (CNT) based coating with remarkable light-trapping properties. This ultra-
black coating was developed by SNS to satisfy a broad range of applications requiring surfaces with extremely
low reflectance. The resulting blackbody sources provide more accurate infrared (IR) radiometric calibration
than previously achievable by drastically reducing errors due to reflected IR light from the surrounding
environment. SBIR and SNS are also offering the coating for applications to reduce stray light in optical and IR
imaging systems.
LOW REFLECTANCE COATINGS
Vantablack®: SNS has recently developed two types of CNT-based coatings. The Vertically-Aligned Nanotube
Array (VANTA) or Vantablack® coating consists of a forest-like structure of aligned, equally-spaced, high-aspect-
ratio carbon nanotubes. The spacing of the tubes is such that virtually all of the light arriving at the surface
enters the spaces between the tubes and is absorbed after multiple reflections between neighboring tubes. The
scanning electron microscope (SEM) photos in Figure 1 (left) show the vertically-aligned nature of the coating at
magnification. Vantablack® nanotubes are grown in a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactor. The coating can
be grown on complex 3-D shapes, with optimization of the CVD plasma distribution for best results.

Figure 1. SEM image of Vantablack® coating at magnifications of 2500x (left) and Vantablack-S at 2750x (right). Compare the precise
organization of the vertically-aligned Vantablack® nanotubes (~30 µm tall) to the random orientation of the Vantablack-S tubes.

Vantablack-S: SNS has also developed a black coating compatible with aerosol application which has
performance approaching that of the CVD-grown Vantablack®. Vantablack-S is a versatile coating based upon
similar CNT technology. The proprietary material and application process results in a coating with enhanced
absorption properties and a passive surface that repels water and other contaminants. Figure 1 (right) shows a
~15,000x SEM image of a Vantablack-S coated sample that reveals its random nanotube orientation and “forest
canopy-like” surface structure. Vantablack-S has extremely low reflectance in the visible spectrum (less than
0.2% at 700nm), and provides state-of-the art performance out through the SWIR, MWIR and LWIR spectral
ranges. The coating has been shown to have good resistance to water adsorption, thermal shock, mechanical
shock and vibration. The aerosol application of the Vantablack-S coating provides a significant cost reduction
compared to the CVD-grown version, and also allows much larger and more complex samples to be processed.
Also, a lower process temperature allows application to a wider variety of materials, including many polymers.

For more information please contact SBIR. Gabe Amparan

805.965.3669
gamparan@sbir.com
ENHANCED IR RADIOMETRIC CALIBRATION ACCURACY AND STRAY LIGHT CONTROL
Both types of carbon nanotube coatings are very broadband absorbers and have excellent optical properties
from the near-IR out to wavelengths beyond 15 µm. Figure 2 compares the spectral emissivity of Vantablack-S
to a commonly-used, high-emissivity coating. This high absorbance makes SBIR’s extended-area blackbody
sources with Vantablack-S coated emitter surfaces ideal for high-accuracy for radiometric calibration in both the
MWIR and LWIR spectral regions.

0.99

0.98
Emissivity [abs]

0.97

0.96

0.95

0.94 VantaBlack S-VIS

0.93 Treatment A
0.92
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Wavelength [µm]
Figure 2. IR spectral emissivity (3-14 µm) of Vantablack-S compared to Treatment A, a paint
commonly used for extended-area blackbody emitter plates.

Precision-controlled “blackbody” emitters are commonly used as calibration sources for IR sensors. A metal
source plate is coated with a high-emissivity black paint to make it as close to an ideal radiator as possible, and
then controlled to a known temperature. Current paints commonly in use have IR emissivity values in the
neighborhood of ~97% (MWIR) and ~95% (LWIR). The total radiance from the surface of such a blackbody plate
includes both emitted radiation and radiation that is reflected from the surrounding environment. The total
radiance of the surface can be written as:
𝐿 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 = 𝐿(𝑇𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 ) ∗ 𝜖𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓 + 𝐸𝑒𝑛𝑣 ∗ (1 − 𝜖𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓 )
where 𝐿𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 is the total radiance leaving the surface, 𝐿(𝑇𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 ) is the radiance of an ideal blackbody at
temperature 𝑇𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 , 𝜖𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓 is the emissivity of the surface coating, and 𝐸𝑒𝑛𝑣 is the irradiance from the
environment that is striking the blackbody surface. The temperature of the plate and the emissivity of the
surface are usually well known, with temperature measurement accuracy ~10 mK and emissivity accuracy to
~0.25%. However, the irradiance of the environment onto the blackbody surface is typically not well known,
and this contribution can be a major driver of the absolute radiometric error in a calibration system. Consider a
blackbody at 20°C in a 23°C environment. The apparent radiometric temperature of a blackbody surface
painted with Treatment A from Figure 2 in the MWIR region (97% emissivity), would be 20.094°C. The apparent
temperature of a blackbody coated with Vantablack-S (MWIR emissivity > 99.7%), would be 20.009°C, leading to
an order-of-magnitude lower radiometric error due to surface reflection.
The low reflectance of the CNT-based coatings also makes them ideal for reducing stray light in both visible and
infrared optical systems. The wider range of use and easier application of the Vantablack-S coating makes it
particularly attractive for use in these systems. The coatings are also applicable to situations where particle
contamination is a concern. The Vantablack® coating has recently been through partial space qualification,
including shock, vibration, thermal cycling and outgassing, and exhibited no particle fallout (PFO) and no
significant mass loss. Preliminary testing on the Vantablack-S coating supports similar performance.

For more information please contact SBIR. Gabe Amparan

805.965.3669
gamparan@sbir.com