Method of sealing glass assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2024058895-A1
Application number	US-202318233438-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 14, 2023
Priority date	Aug 19, 2022
Publication date	Feb 22, 2024
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method of sealing a glass assembly includes contacting a first glass substrate with a first metal foil to create a first contact location; directing a laser beam on a second surface of the first metal foil opposite the first contact location to bond the first glass substrate to the first metal foil and form a first bond location; rotating the glass assembly 180 degrees about a longitudinal axis of the glass assembly; contacting a second glass substrate with a second metal foil to create a second contact location; and directing the laser beam on a second surface of the second metal foil opposite the second contact location to bond the second glass substrate to the second metal foil and form a second bond location.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of sealing a glass assembly comprising a first glass substrate and a second glass substrate, the method comprising:
positioning a first surface of the first glass substrate adjacent to a first surface of the second glass substrate; contacting a second surface of the first glass substrate with a first surface of a first metal foil to create a first contact location between at least a portion of the second surface of the first glass substrate and the first surface of the first metal foil; conducting a first welding step by directing a laser beam on a second surface of the first metal foil opposite the first contact location to bond the first glass substrate to the first metal foil and form a first bond location at the first contact location; rotating the glass assembly 180 degrees about a longitudinal axis of the glass assembly; contacting a second surface of the second glass substrate with a first surface of a second metal foil to create a second contact location between at least a portion of the second surface of the second glass substrate and the first surface of the second metal foil; and conducting a second welding step by directing the laser beam on a second surface of the second metal foil opposite the second contact location to bond the second glass substrate to the second metal foil and form a second bond location at the second contact location, wherein:
the first metal foil and the second metal foil each have a thickness greater than or equal to 3 μm and less than or equal to 50 μm; and
the laser beam comprises a pulsed laser comprising a pulse energy greater than or equal to 2.8 μJ and less than or equal to 1000 μJ and the first metal foil and the second metal foil are substantially opaque to the wavelength of the laser beam.

2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
positioning the glass assembly between an optical flat and a platen prior to conducting the first welding step; and
compressing the glass assembly between the optical flat and the platen prior to the first welding step, wherein the laser beam is directed through the optical flat and onto the second surface of the first metal foil during the first welding step.

3 . The method of claim 2 further comprising:
positioning the glass assembly between the optical flat and the platen after the rotating the glass assembly 180 degrees about a longitudinal axis of the glass assembly and prior to conducting the second welding step; and
compressing the glass assembly between the optical flat and the platen after the rotating the glass assembly 180 degrees about the longitudinal axis of the glass assembly and prior to conducting the second welding step, wherein the laser beam is directed through the optical flat and onto the second surface of the second metal foil during the second welding step.

4 . The method of claim 3 wherein the compressing the glass assembly comprises applying a compression force to the glass assembly with the platen, wherein the compression force is greater than or equal to 100 kPa and less than or equal to 350 kPa.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein, during the first welding step, an optical path of the laser beam does not pass through a thickness of the first glass substrate or a thickness of the second glass substrate.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein, during the second welding step, an optical path of the laser beam does not pass through a thickness of the first glass substrate or a thickness of the second glass substrate.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising sealing the first metal foil to the second metal foil.

8 . The method of claim 7 wherein sealing the first metal foil to the second metal foil comprises:
contacting a first surface of the first metal foil with a first surface of the second metal foil to create a third contact location between at least a portion of the first surface of the first metal foil and at least a portion of the first surface of the second metal foil; and
conducting a third welding step by directing the laser beam on one of a second surface of the first metal foil opposite the third contact location or a second surface of the second metal foil opposite the third contact location to bond the first metal foil to the second metal foil and form a third bond location at the third contact location.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the first metal foil and the second metal foil each comprise a central aperture prior to the first welding step and the second welding step; the first bond location circumscribes the central aperture of the first metal foil; the second bond location circumscribes the central aperture of the second metal foil; and the central aperture of the first metal foil at least partially overlaps with the central aperture of the second metal foil.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first glass substrate and the second glass substrate are spaced apart from one another such that a cavity is disposed between the first glass substrate and the second glass substrate.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first bond location and the second bond location have a maximum bond depth less than or equal to 600 μm.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first bond location and the second bond location have a bond width greater than or equal to 5 μm and less than or equal to 100 μm.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the wavelength of the pulsed laser is greater than or equal to 300 nm and less than or equal to 1100 nm.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the pulsed laser is a nanosecond pulsed laser, a picosecond pulsed laser, or a femtosecond pulsed laser.

15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the pulsed laser has a pulse repetition rate greater than or equal to 5 kHz and less than or equal to 1 MHz.

16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the pulsed laser has a spot size greater than or equal to 5 μm and less than or equal to 100 μm.

17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first glass substrate and the second glass substrate comprise a refractive index greater than or equal to 1.4 and less than or equal to 2.4.

18 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first glass substrate and the second glass substrate comprise a glass or glass-ceramic comprising borate glass, silicoborate glass, phosphate-based glass, silicon carbide glass, soda-lime silicate glass, aluminosilicate glass, alkali-aluminosilicate glass, borosilicate glass, alkali-borosilicate glass, aluminoborosilicate glass, alkali-alumino-borosilicate glass, or alkali-aluminosilicate glass.

19 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first metal foil and the second metal foil comprises aluminum, aluminium alloys, stainless steel, nickel, nickel alloys, silver, silver alloys, titanium, titanium alloys, tungsten, tungsten alloys, gold, gold alloys, copper, copper alloys, bronze, iron, or a combination thereof.

20 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first metal foil and the second metal foil comprises a melting point less than or equal to 1800° C.

Assignees

• Corning Inc

Inventors

• Paris Bertrand

Classifications

• B23K26/244

  Overlap seam welding · CPC title

• B23K26/60

  Preliminary treatment · CPC title

• B23K26/206 Primary

  Laser sealing · CPC title

• B23K26/0006 Primary

  taking account of the properties of the material involved (B23K26/32, B23K26/40 take precedence) · CPC title

• B23K2103/54

  Glass · CPC title