Why and How Advanced Glass Matters
August 13, 2012, Display Search Emerging Display Technology Conference, Santa Clara, CA—Waguih Ishak from the Corning West Technology Center described their efforts to improve the glass characteristics to enable the latest displays. Corning conducts a lot of R&D in materials and processing to improve their glass.
As a glass manufacturer, Corning been in the business for over 160 years. They are being driven by the ever changing requirements in glass characteristics. For displays, the drivers are changing sizes, growing larger for the large displays and smaller for the mobile devices. Everyone wants thinner, greener, and more durable glass on their displays.
To demonstrate the possibilities, they made another video ” A Day made of Glass 2” to demonstrate the possibilities. Some specialized capabilities include anti-microbial glass for health care applications and better rejection of grease and smudges. They will continue to support new technologies for displays and touch sensors.
One new glass is called Eagle XG. It is available in sizes up to 3 x 3 meters (Gen 10) and is 0.3 mm thick. Lotus glass is optimized for oxide TFTs and OLEDs. As the display stack and sensors change, glass like Lotus offer high anneal point with improved flatness and surface smoothness. Gorilla glass 2 is a fusion of two types of glass that is strengthened by replacing the phosphorous with sodium in a chemical bath process. Willow is a very thin, flexible glass that can be used in a roll-to-roll process in place of the various plastics in use today. The greater structural and dimensional stability of the glass compared to the plastics makes the processing operations easier and more repeatable.
In addition to the various display glasses, they also produce fiber optics and PV materials. The sub-micron fibers are being used in sensors to measure temperature or flexure at a distance. The fibers change transmission characteristics with changes in temperature and with flex. The many high performance capabilities in many new systems depends upon the glass to provide clear, stable surfaces for the display materials and touch sensors.
