Mechanical Strength and Broadband Transparency Improvement of Glass Wafers via Surface Nanostructures.
In this study, we mechanically strengthened a borosilicate glass wafer by doubling its bending strength and simultaneously enhancing its transparency using surface nanostructures for different applications including sensors, displays and panels. A fabrication method that combines dry and wet etching is used for surface nanostructure fabrication. Specifically, we improved the bending strength of plain borosilicate glass by 96% using these surface nanostructures on both sides. Besides bending strength improvement, a limited optical transmittance enhancement of 3% was also observed in the visible light wavelength region (400-800 nm). Both strength and transparency were improved by using surface nanostructures of 500 nm depth on both sides of the borosilicate glass without affecting its bulk properties or the glass manufacturing process. Moreover, we observed comparatively smaller fragments during the breaking of the nanostructured glass, which is indicative of strengthening. The range for the nanostructure depth is defined for different applications with which improvements of the strength and transparency of borosilicate glass substrate are obtained.
Institute of Nanoengineering and Microsystems, National Tsing Hua University, No. 101, Section 2, Kuang-Fu Road, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan. s9935584@m99.nthu.edu.tw.
Amarendra
A
Kumar
Institute of Nanoengineering and Microsystems, National Tsing Hua University, No. 101, Section 2, Kuang-Fu Road, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan. s9835878@m98.nthu.edu.tw.
Kunal
K
Kashyap
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National United University, No.2, Lienda, Miaoli 36063, Taiwan. max@nuu.edu.tw.
Max T
MT
Hou
Institute of Nanoengineering and Microsystems, National Tsing Hua University, No. 101, Section 2, Kuang-Fu Road, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan. jayeh@mx.nthu.edu.tw.|Department of Power Mechanical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, No. 101, Section 2, Kuang-Fu Road, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan. jayeh@mx.nthu.edu.tw.|Instrument Technology Research Center, National Applied Research Laboratories, 20, R&amp;D Road VI, Hsinchu Science Park, Hsinchu 30076, Taiwan. jayeh@mx.nthu.edu.tw.
J Andrew
JA
Yeh
bending strength; borosilicate glass; surface nanostructure; transparency