Opaque white coating with non-conductive mirror

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9727178-B2
Application number	US-201314019352-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 5, 2013
Priority date	Sep 5, 2013
Publication date	Aug 8, 2017
Grant date	Aug 8, 2017

Abstract

An opaque cover is provided for a capacitive sensor. The cover includes a transparent substrate, and at least one white coating layer including white pigments disposed over at least one portion of the transparent substrate. The cover also includes a non-conductive mirror structure disposed over the at least one white coating layer. The non-conductive mirror structure includes a number of first dielectric layers having a first refractive index interleaved with second dielectric layers having a second refractive index. The first and second dielectric layers have dielectric constants below a threshold.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device, comprising:
a capacitive sensor;
a transparent substrate;
at least one white coating layer including white pigments disposed on at least one portion of the transparent substrate, wherein the at least one white coating layer completely covers the capacitive sensor; and
a non-conductive mirror structure disposed on the at least one white coating layer, wherein the non-conductive mirror structure comprises first dielectric layers having a first refractive index interleaved with second dielectric layers having a second refractive index, the non-conductive mirror structure positioned between the capacitive sensor and the at least one white coating layer, the non-conductive mirror structure configured to reflect light through the at least one white coating layer.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the non-conductive mirror structure comprises light absorption layers interleaved with third dielectric layers.

3. The electronic device of claim 2 , wherein the light absorption layers comprise a material selected from a group consisting of tin, copper oxide, and zinc oxide.

4. The electronic device of claim 2 , wherein the light absorption layers comprise a tin layer having a thickness equal to or less than 100 nm such that the tin layer is non-conductive.

5. The electronic device of claim 2 , wherein the third dielectric layers comprise a material selected from a group consisting of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, and niobium oxide.

6. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein each of the first and second dielectric layers comprises a material selected from a group consisting of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, and niobium oxide.

7. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first dielectric layers comprise silicon oxide, and the second dielectric layers comprises niobium oxide.

8. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the non-conductive mirror structure comprises a first stack of thirteen silicon oxide layers interleaved with thirteen niobium oxide layers.

9. The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the first stack of thirteen silicon oxide layers interleaved with thirteen niobium oxide layers has a total thickness of about 2.0 μm.

10. The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the non-conductive mirror structure comprises a second stack of seven silicon oxide layers interleaved with six tin layers.

11. The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the second stack of seven silicon oxide layers interleaved with six tin layers has a total thickness of about 1.2 μm.

12. The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the non-conductive mirror structure comprises a second stack of seven zirconia oxide layers interleaved with six tin layers.

13. The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein the second stack of seven zirconia oxide layers interleaved with six tin layers has a total thickness of about 1.1 μm.

14. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the transparent substrate comprises sapphire or glass.

15. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the white coating layer comprises titanium oxide.

16. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the white coating layer has a thickness ranging from 20 μm to 25 μm.

17. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the opaque cover has an optical density of at least 3 or greater.

18. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is configured to attach to the non-conductive mirror structure such that the sensor is invisible through the transparent substrate.

19. A method for forming a stack on a substrate, the method comprising:
applying at least one white coating layer on at least a portion of a transparent substrate to form a coated substrate;
forming a non-conductive mirror structure on the coated substrate, wherein the non-conductive mirror structure is configured to reflect light through the at least one white coating layer, wherein the non-conductive mirror structure comprises a light-reflecting stack and a light-absorbing stack; and
attaching a capacitor sensor to the light-absorbing stack.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the at least one white coating layer has a thickness ranging from 20 μm to 25 μm.

21. The method of claim 19 , wherein applying at least one white coating layer over at least a portion of a substrate comprises:
rolling a layer of white pigments onto a carrier film, the white pigments being embedded within adhesives;
attaching the layer of white pigments onto a substrate by heating the substrate and applying pressure to the carrier film against the substrate;
cooling the heated substrate with the carrier film to form a coated substrate; and
peeling off the carrier film from the coated substrate.

22. The method of claim 19 , wherein forming a non-conductive mirror structure over the coated substrate comprises a method selected from a group consisting of physical vapor deposition (PVD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), and ion beam assisted deposition (IBRD).

23. The method of claim 19 , wherein the non-conductive mirror structure comprises first dielectric layers having a first refractive index interleaved with second dielectric layers having a second refractive index.

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein each of the first and second dielectric layers comprises a material selected from a group consisting of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, and niobium oxide.

25. The method of claim 23 , wherein the non-conductive mirror structure comprises light absorption layers interleaved with third dielectric layers.

26. The method of claim 25 , wherein the light absorption layers comprise a material selected from a group consisting of tin, copper oxide, and zinc oxide.

27. The method of claim 25 , wherein the light absorption layers comprise a tin layer having a thickness equal to or less than 100 nm such that the tin layer is non-conductive.

28. The method of claim 25 , wherein the third dielectric layers comprise a material selected from a group consisting of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, and niobium oxide.

29. The method of claim 19 , wherein the non-conductive mirror structure comprises a stack of thirteen silicon oxide layers interleaved with thirteen niobium oxide layers.

30. The method of claim 29 , wherein the stack of thirteen silicon oxide layers interleaved with thirteen niobium oxide layers has a total thickness of about 2.0 μm.

31. The method of claim 29 , wherein the non-conductive mirror structure comprises a stack of seven silicon oxide layers interleaved with six tin layers.

32. The method of claim 31 , wherein the stack of seven silicon oxide layers interleaved with six tin layers has a total thickness of about 1.2 μm.

33. The method of claim 19 , wherein the transparent substrate comprises sapphire or glass.

34. The method of claim 19 , wherein the white coating stack has an optical density of at least 3 or greater.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Matsuyuki Naoto
• Weber Douglas J

Classifications

• C03C2217/42

  consisting of particles only · CPC title

• C03C2217/477

  Titanium oxide · CPC title

• C03C17/3417 Primary

  all coatings being oxide coatings · CPC title

• G02B5/0236

  the diffusion taking place within the volume of the element · CPC title

• H04M1/0283

  for providing a decorative aspect, e.g. customization of casings, exchangeable faceplate · CPC title