A surface LSD is produced by embossing or molding light shaping structures onto a high quality optical glass or by embossing light shaping structures on a glass film layer coated onto a substrate. A sol-gel solution (70) is mixed at room temperature (72) and the mixture is coated, dipped or spun (74) on a substrate. A rubber submaster carrying the light shaping structures is pressed (76) into the mixture during gelation. The structured gel is then heat treated (78) and consolidated (79) into an LSD glass. The surface LSD has a transmission efficiency of over 90 % from the Ultraviolet wavelengths through the physical spectrum and into the near-infrared.