Electronic Grade Glass Substrate with Mirror-Finished Chamfers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electronic grade glass substrates with recesses, channels, or steps are prone to fissuring and chipping due to machining and polishing difficulties, leading to susceptibility to breakage under repetitive loads, which affects their accuracy and reliability in applications like photomasks and nanoimprint molds.
Innovation Solution
The substrate is machined to form recesses, channels, or steps with chamfers at the corners and polished to a mirror finish, using a rotary polishing tool under independent constant pressures to enhance the strength and accuracy of the bottom and side surfaces, preventing fissuring and chipping.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the glass substrate is machined to form recesses, channels, or steps, then the substrate can be used for advanced electronic applications requiring structural features, but the substrate becomes susceptible to fissuring and chipping at the corners and edges
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies curvature by forming chamfers with rounded corners at the intersections of recesses, channels, or steps with the substrate surface. This curved geometry eliminates sharp corners that are prone to stress concentration, thereby preventing fissuring and chipping while maintaining the functional structural features needed for advanced electronic applications.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary chamfering at the corners and edges of recesses, channels, or steps before the substrate undergoes subsequent processing or assembly. This preliminary action pre-empts the formation of cracks and chips by removing stress concentration points in advance, ensuring reliability throughout the substrate's service life.
2Manufacturing precision
If the substrate is polished to mirror finish, then the surface accuracy and cleanliness are improved, but the machining process becomes more complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The rounded chamfer geometry created by the curvature principle provides a more uniform and accessible surface for polishing. The curved surfaces allow for more effective contact with polishing tools, enabling achieving of mirror finish with reduced process complexity and shorter cycle times compared to polishing sharp corners and flat surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The chamfering is performed as a preliminary step before polishing, creating optimal surface geometry for subsequent polishing operations. This preliminary preparation simplifies the polishing process by pre-forming surfaces that are more amenable to achieving mirror finish, thereby reducing the complexity and time required for the polishing operation.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the recess, channel, or step is made deeper or larger, then the functional capability is enhanced, but the substrate becomes more susceptible to breakage under repetitive loads
Solution Approach 1:
The rounded chamfer geometry distributes stress more evenly around the recess, channel, or step features. The curved surfaces eliminate stress concentration at sharp corners, allowing deeper or larger features to be formed without compromising the substrate's strength or resistance to breakage under repetitive loads.
Solution Approach 2:
The chamfering is performed as a preliminary strengthening action before the substrate is subjected to operational loads. By pre-forming rounded corners and edges, the substrate is strengthened against stress concentration, enabling it to withstand repetitive loads even when containing deeper or larger recesses, channels, or steps.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic grade glass substrate is provided with a recess, channel or step in one surface, and a first chamfer between the side surface of the recess, channel or step and the one surface. The side and bottom surfaces of the recess, channel or step are mirror finished, and the first chamfer is mirror finished.