(EN) An anti-reflective composite is provided having very high visible light transmission and negligible visible reflectance over 400 nm-800 nm wavelengths. The composite of the invention includes (a) a light transmissive substrate; (b) a hard coat deposited onto the substrate; (c) a thin carbon layer having an average thickness between about 2 Å and about 100 Å; and (d) a plurality of transparent oxide layer pairs deposited onto the thin carbon layer, each transparent oxide layer pair comprising (i) a first transparent oxide having a refractive index between about 1.65 and about 2.65 and an average thickness between about 100 Å and about 3200 Å and (ii) a second transparent oxide layer having a refractive index between about 1.2 and about 1.85, and an average thickness between about 100 Å and about 3200 Å. The composite can also include an intermediate oxide layer disposed between the thin carbon layer and the first transparent oxide layer. Such intermediate oxide layer has a refractive index between about 1.5 and about 2.2 and is between 400 Å and about 1000 Å in thickness. In another preferred embodiment, the composite further comprises an outermost transparent low surface energy layer having a surface energy of less than about 40 dynes/cm2. In another preferred embodiment, the transparent layers are deposited by vacuum or non-vacuum processes or by a combination of both processes.
