Heat-Treatable Coated Glass with Segmented Barrier Layers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heat-treatable coated glass panes with low-e and/or solar control coatings often suffer from high haze values and mechanical damage during heat treatment and handling, which are not adequately addressed by current technologies, and they require sacrificial barrier layers like NiCrOx that complicate manufacturing and alter optical properties.
Innovation Solution
A coated glass pane design featuring a specific layer structure including a lower anti-reflection layer, a silver-based functional layer, and a barrier layer composed of multiple partial barrier layers with distinct compositions, which provides excellent heat treatability and mechanical durability without the need for NiCrOx, maintaining stable optical properties during heat treatment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a barrier layer is provided to protect the silver-based functional layer during heat treatment and handling, then mechanical durability and heat treatability are improved, but the coating structure becomes more complex and manufacturing becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The barrier layer is segmented into three distinct partial barrier layers (first, second, and third) with different compositions and thicknesses. This segmentation allows each layer to perform specific protective functions while collectively providing comprehensive protection during heat treatment and handling, resolving the contradiction between improved reliability and structural complexity by making the complexity functional and manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
Each partial barrier layer is designed with specific local properties: the first layer (5-15 nm) provides initial protection, the second layer (15-30 nm) provides enhanced protection during heat treatment, and the third layer (5-15 nm) provides final protection. This local quality approach ensures that each region of the barrier layer is optimized for its specific protective role, improving overall reliability without requiring uniform complexity throughout.
2Reliability
If a NiCrOx sacrificial barrier layer is used to improve heat treatability, then heat treatability is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases and optical properties are altered
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the problematic NiCrOx sacrificial barrier layer from the coating structure. Instead, it uses a multi-layer barrier system composed of metal oxides and (oxi)nitrides that provides equivalent or superior heat treatability without the manufacturing complexities and optical property alterations associated with NiCrOx, thereby resolving the contradiction between heat treatability and ease of manufacture.
Solution Approach 2:
The barrier layer is constructed as a composite structure with three partial barrier layers made from different materials (metal oxides and (oxi)nitrides). This composite approach combines the advantages of different materials to achieve excellent heat treatability while avoiding the drawbacks of single-material solutions like NiCrOx, thus improving ease of manufacture and maintaining optical properties.
3Reliability
If the barrier layer is made thicker to provide better protection during heat treatment, then mechanical durability is improved, but light transmittance decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention optimizes the thickness parameters of each partial barrier layer to achieve the right balance: the first layer is 5-15 nm, the second layer is 15-30 nm, and the third layer is 5-15 nm. This parameter optimization ensures sufficient protection during heat treatment while maintaining high light transmittance, resolving the contradiction between mechanical durability and illumination intensity by finding the optimal thickness range for each layer.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The proposed solution achieves extremely low visible damage and stable optical properties during heat treatment, with improved mechanical robustness and high light transmittance, outperforming prior art in tests simulating handling and environmental conditions.
Implementation Method 1
the barrier layer serves to protect the silver-based functional layer against detrimental influences during production and subsequent heat treatments
Implementation Method 2
The anti-reflection layers serve to anti-reflect the functional layer to achieve a high light transmittance and low reflectance
Implementation Method 3
a lower anti-reflection layer, a silver-based functional layer, a barrier layer, and an upper anti-reflection layer
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
AI summary
A coated glass pane comprising at least the following layers in sequence : a glass substrate; a lower anti-reflection layer; a silver-based functional layer; a barrier layer, comprising at least the following three partial barrier layers in sequence from the silver-based functional layer, a lower partial barrier layer based on an oxide of Zn, Ti, ZnSn, InSn, Zr, Al, Sn and/or Si, and/or an (oxi)nitride of Si and/or of Al, having a thickness of at most 5 nm, a central partial barrier layer based on an oxide of Zn, Ti, Zn Sn, InSn, Zr, A1, Sn and/or Si, and/or an (oxi)nitride of Si and/or of Al, having a thickness of at most 5 nm, and an upper partial barrier layer based on an oxide of Zn, Ti, Zn Sn, InSn, Zr, A1, Sn and/or Si, and/or an (oxi)nitride of Si and/or of A1, having a thickness of at most 10 nm; and an upper anti-reflection layer; wherein the central partial barrier layer has a different composition to both the lower partial barrier layer and the upper partial barrier layer.