Laser welding of high thermal expansion glasses and glass-ceramics

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10297787-B2
Application number	US-201515305553-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 20, 2015
Priority date	Apr 21, 2014
Publication date	May 21, 2019
Grant date	May 21, 2019

Abstract

Disclosed herein are methods for welding a first substrate and a second substrate, the method comprising bringing the first and second substrates into contact to form a substrate interface, and directing a laser beam operating at a predetermined wavelength through the second substrate onto the substrate interface, wherein the first substrate absorbs light from the laser beam in an amount sufficient to form a weld between the first substrate and the second substrate. The disclosure also relates to glass and/or glass-ceramic packaging and OLED display produced according to the methods disclosed herein.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for welding a first and second substrate comprising:
(a) bringing the first and second substrates into contact to form a substrate interface;
(b) after forming the substrate interface, directing a laser beam operating at a predetermined wavelength through the second substrate onto the substrate interface;
wherein the first substrate absorbs light from the laser beam in an amount sufficient to form a weld between the first substrate and the second substrate;
wherein the first substrate has an absorption at the predetermined wavelength of greater than about 10 cm −1 and the second substrate has an absorption at the predetermined wavelength of less than about 1 cm −1 ;
wherein at least one of the first and second substrates has a coefficient of thermal expansion greater than about 8 ppm/° C.; and
wherein the laser beam converges to a focal point that is remote from the substrate interface.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein a lens is disposed optically upstream of both the first and second substrates such that the laser beam passes through the lens before passing through the second substrate.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the lens is a focusing lens causing the laser beam to converge at the focal point.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the focusing lens is telecentric.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the focal point is disposed within a volume of the first substrate.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the first substrate is disposed optically downstream of both the second substrate and the substrate interface and the interface is disposed optically downstream of the second substrate such that the laser beam passes through the second substrate, then the substrate interface, before arriving at the focal point.

7. The method of claim 1 , comprising adjusting a location of the focal point based on a desired diameter of the laser beam at the substrate interface.

8. The method of claim 1 , comprising adjusting a translation speed of the laser beam based on the focal point location.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the focal point is disposed below the substrate interface and within a volume of the first substrate.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first substrate has an absorption at the predetermined wavelength of greater than about 50 cm −1 .

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the laser beam operates at a translation speed ranging from about 10 mm/s to about 1000 mm/s.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the laser beam operates at a power level greater than about 3 W and a repetition rate greater than about 1 MHz.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the laser beam operates at a power level ranging from about 6 W to about 13 W and a repetition rate ranging from about 1MHz to about 3 MHz.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the weld has a width ranging from about 70 to about 200 microns.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein a hermetic seal is formed between the first and second substrates.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising placing at least one third substrate between the first and second substrates.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the at least one third substrate is an organic layer, cathode, anode, or combination thereof.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the at least one third substrate comprises an organic light emitting diode.

19. A method for producing a glass and/or a glass-ceramic packaging, comprising:
(a) placing a third substrate on a first or a second substrate;
(b) bringing the first and second substrates into contact to form a substrate interface;
(c) after forming the substrate interface, directing a laser beam operating at a predetermined wavelength through the second substrate onto the substrate interface;
wherein the first substrate absorbs light from the laser beam in an amount sufficient to form a weld between the first substrate and the second substrate;
wherein the first substrate has an absorption at the predetermined wavelength of greater than about 10 cm −1 and the second substrate has an absorption at the predetermined wavelength of less than about 1 cm −1 ,
wherein at least one of the first and second substrates has a coefficient of thermal expansion greater than about 8 ppm/° C.,
wherein the first and/or second substrates are chosen from glasses, ceramics, and glass-ceramics,
wherein the weld between the first and second substrates hermetically seals the third substrate, and
wherein the laser beam converges to a focal point that is remote from the substrate interface, the focal point being disposed below the substrate interface and within a volume of the first substrate.

20. A method for welding a first and second substrate comprising:
(a) bringing the first and second substrates into contact to form a substrate interface;
(b) after forming the substrate interface, directing a laser beam operating at a predetermined wavelength through the second substrate onto the substrate interface;
wherein the first substrate absorbs light from the laser beam in an amount sufficient to form a weld between the first substrate and the second substrate;
wherein the first substrate has an absorption at the predetermined wavelength of greater than about 10 cm −1 and the second substrate has an absorption at the predetermined wavelength of less than about 1 cm −1 ;
wherein a coefficient of thermal expansion of the first substrate is greater than a coefficient of thermal expansion of the second substrate; and
wherein the laser beam converges to a focal point that is remote from the substrate interface.

21. The method of claim 20 , further comprising placing at least one third substrate between the first and second substrates, wherein the at least one third substrate is selected from the group consisting of: circuitry, an organic layer, a cathode, an anode, and combinations thereof.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein the coefficient of thermal expansion of the first substrate is greater than about 8 ppm/° C.

23. The method of claim 20 wherein a hermetic seal is formed between the first and second substrates.

24. The method of claim 20 comprising passing the laser beam through a focusing lens before the laser beam reaches the first substrate and before the laser beam reaches the second substrate, the focusing lens causing the laser beam to converge at the focal point, the focal point being disposed below the substrate interface and within the first substrate.

25. The method of claim 24 , comprising:
adjusting a location of the focal point based on a desired diameter of the laser beam at the substrate interface; and
adjusting a translation speed of the laser beam based on the focal point location.

26. The method of claim 24 , wherein the focusing lens is telecentric.

Assignees

• Corning Inc

Inventors

• Dejneka Matthew John
• Streltsov Alexander Mikhailovich

Classifications

• C04B2237/341

  Silica or silicates · CPC title

• C04B2235/665

  Local sintering, e.g. laser sintering · CPC title

• C04B37/042

  in a direct manner · CPC title

• C04B37/001

  directly with other burned ceramic articles · CPC title

• C03C27/00 Primary

  Joining pieces of glass to pieces of other inorganic material; Joining glass to glass other than by fusing (C03C17/00 takes precedence; layered structures comprising at least one glass sheet B32B17/00; wired glass C03B; joining glass to ceramics C04) · CPC title