Controlling fragmentation of chemically strengthened glass

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016137548-A1
Application number	US-201514700877-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 30, 2015
Priority date	Nov 17, 2014
Publication date	May 19, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a glass substrate to control the fragmentation characteristics by etching and filling trenches in the glass substrate is disclosed. An etching pattern may be determined. The etching pattern may outline where trenches will be etched into a surface of the glass substrate. The etching pattern may be configured so that the glass substrate, when fractured, has a smaller fragmentation size than chemically strengthened glass that has not been etched. A mask may be created in accordance with the etching pattern, and the mask may be applied to a surface of the glass substrate. The surface of the glass substrate may then be etched to create trenches. A filler material may be deposited into the trenches.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of manufacturing a glass substrate to control fragmentation characteristics of the glass substrate, the method comprising:
determining an etching pattern, the etching pattern being configured to control a fragmentation size of a glass substrate by modifying a stress field within the glass substrate to create an inhomogeneous stress field; masking a first surface of the glass substrate according to the etching pattern, the glass substrate being chemically strengthened glass, the glass substrate having an exterior region and an interior region, wherein the exterior region has residual compressive stresses and the interior region has residual tensile stresses; etching an unmasked portion of the first surface to produce a plurality of trenches in the first surface; and filling the plurality of trenches with a filler material to generate the inhomogeneous stress field in the glass substrate.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the filler material is a metal, the metal having a thermal expansion coefficient greater than the thermal expansion coefficient of the glass substrate and a Young's modulus that is greater than the Young's modulus of the glass substrate, and wherein the filling the plurality of trenches comprises:
depositing the metal on the first surface after the first surface has been etched; and polishing the first surface to remove any metal that is on the first surface and not in a trench.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the filler material is a composition of a first material and a second material, the composition having a first volume, wherein the composition of the first material and the second material, when heated, experiences a chemical reaction to create one or more products, the one or more products combined having a second volume, and wherein the second volume is smaller than the first volume.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein a metal filament is inserted into the composition of the first material and the second material, the method further comprising:
determining that the chemical reaction should be initiated; and running a current through the metal filament, wherein the current is large enough to cause the metal filament heat up to a temperature sufficient to initiate the chemical reaction between the first material and the second material.

5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the composition further includes a third material.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the third material is a catalyst for the chemical reaction between the first material and the second material.

7 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the first material is elemental aluminum and the second material is elemental nickel.

8 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the filling the plurality of trenches comprises layering the first material and the second material inside the plurality of holes.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the fragmentation size of the glass substrate is less than 250 micrometers, the fragmentation size being an average of a width of a plurality of fragments created when the glass substrate fractures.

10 . The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising bonding the glass substrate to a second glass substrate.

11 . A method of manufacturing a glass substrate to control fragmentation characteristics of the glass substrate, the method comprising:
determining a deposit pattern, the deposit pattern being configured to control a fragmentation size of a glass substrate, the glass substrate being chemically strengthened glass, the glass substrate having an exterior region and an interior region, wherein the exterior region has residual compressive stresses and the interior region has residual tensile stresses; depositing a layer of metal on top of a first surface of the glass substrate; patterning, using a photolithography process, the layer of metal according to the deposit pattern to create an inhomogeneous stress field within the substrate.

12 . The method of claim 11 , the method further comprising bonding the glass substrate to a second glass substrate.

13 . A method of manufacturing a glass substrate to control fragmentation characteristics of the glass substrate, the method comprising:
determining a irradiation pattern, the irradiation pattern being configured to control a fragmentation size of a glass substrate, the glass substrate being chemically strengthened glass, the glass substrate having an exterior region and an interior region, wherein the exterior region has residual compressive stresses and the interior region has residual tensile stresses; applying a first mask to a first surface of the glass substrate according to the irradiation pattern; and irradiating the glass substrate using an ion beam, wherein the ion beam is configured to emit ions towards the first surface of the glass substrate.

14 . The method of claim 13 , the method further comprising:
applying a second mask to a second surface of the glass substrate according to irradiation pattern, wherein the second surface is substantially orthogonal to the first surface; and irradiating the glass substrate using the ion beam by emitting ions towards the second surface of the glass substrate.

15 . The method of claim 13 , the method further comprising:
changing an angle between the first surface and a central incidence axis of the ion beam; and irradiating the glass substrate a second time using the ion beam.

16 . The method of claim 13 wherein the irradiation pattern is configured to cause the ion beam irradiation to create a path of damaged glass in the glass substrate.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the path of damaged glass runs from a first point in the interior region of the glass substrate to a second point in the exterior region of the glass substrate, and wherein the irradiating the glass substrate using an ion beam comprises:
irradiating the glass substrate using the ion beam with a first energy to create a first damaged region at a first depth; changing the energy of the ion beam from the first energy to a second energy; and irradiating the glass substrate using the ion beam with a second energy to create a second damaged region at a second depth, wherein the first and second damaged regions form a path from the first point to the second point.

18 . The method of claim 13 , the method further comprising bonding the glass substrate to a second glass substrate.

19 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the irradiation pattern includes one or more disconnected features.

20 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the irradiating the glass substrate using an ion beam comprises raster-scanning the ion beam over a portion of the first surface of the glass substrate.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Cabral Jr Cyril
• Doany Fuad E
• Fritz Gregory M
• Gordon Michael S
• Huang Qiang
• Lewandowski Eric P
• Liu Xiao Hu
• Rodbell Kenneth P
• Shaw Thomas M

Classifications

• C03C17/06 Primary

  with metals (C03C17/34, C03C17/44 take precedence) · CPC title

• C03C2217/252

  Al · CPC title

• C03C2217/261

  Iron-group metals, i.e. Fe, Co or Ni · CPC title

• C03C15/00 Primary

  Surface treatment of glass, not in the form of fibres or filaments, by etching (etching or surface-brightening compositions, in general C09K13/00) · CPC title

• C03C27/06

  Joining glass to glass by processes other than fusing (fusing C03B23/20; units for use as elements for closing wall or like openings and comprising two or more parallel glass panes in spaced relationship, the panes being permanently secured together E06B3/66) · CPC title