Sputtering Target for Colored Glass
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for producing colored glass are inflexible and costly, requiring significant quantities of glass to be manufactured in specific colors, leading to inefficiencies and increased production costs due to the need for pigments like metal oxides, which contaminate the melt and result in substantial waste.
Innovation Solution
A cathode sputtering target made from a mixture of titanium oxide and silver particles, with a controlled atomic ratio, is used to deposit a thin layer of metallic nanoparticles in an inorganic matrix, allowing for adjustable and adaptable colorimetry on glass substrates without the need for pre-planning color production, enabling flexible and economical production of colored glass.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If pigments (metal oxides) are added to the float glass melt to obtain colored glass, then the glass acquires the desired color, but the molten bath is contaminated and significant glass is wasted during color transitions
Solution Approach 1:
The invention separates the coloring function from the glass manufacturing process. Instead of adding pigments to the entire glass batch, only the surface layer is colored by depositing metal oxide powders onto the glass sheet after floating, thus avoiding contamination of the entire molten bath and minimizing glass waste during color transitions.
Solution Approach 2:
The coloring operation is extracted from the glass melting process. Metal oxide powders are applied to the surface of the floated glass sheet in a separate step, allowing color changes without requiring transitions in the molten glass bath, thereby eliminating the need to waste glass during color changes.
2Adaptability or versatility
If pigments are added to the glass melt to achieve specific colors, then colored glass is produced, but production flexibility is reduced and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention enables dynamic color selection by allowing different metal oxide powders to be applied to the glass surface on demand. This dynamic approach replaces the static, pre-determined coloring method, providing flexibility to adapt to customer requirements without sacrificing production efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the parameter of color application from bulk mixing during melting to surface deposition after floating. This parameter change allows for rapid color transitions by simply changing the metal oxide powder being deposited, maintaining high productivity while improving adaptability.
3Manufacturing precision
If a sol-gel polymerization process with metallic particles is used to deposit colored coating, then homogeneous layers can be formed, but the process is expensive and cannot deposit uniform layers on large jumbo glass substrates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the expensive sol-gel process with a simpler, more economical method of depositing metal oxide powders. This disposable approach uses readily available metal oxide powders that can be applied directly to the glass surface, achieving uniform coating without the complexity and cost of sol-gel polymerization.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention substitutes the chemical sol-gel polymerization process with a physical deposition method. Metal oxide powders are deposited onto the glass surface using mechanical means (such as spraying or sputtering), replacing the complex chemical reactions required in sol-gel processing and enabling feasible manufacturing on large substrates.
4Manufacturing precision
If cathodic or magnetron sputtering is used to deposit colored layers, then thin films can be deposited in vacuum, but the process requires predetermined target composition and lacks flexibility
Solution Approach 1:
The invention performs preliminary preparation of metal oxide powders with controlled particle size and composition before deposition. This preliminary action enables flexible colorimetry adjustment by preparing different powder compositions in advance, which can then be deposited using standard sputtering techniques without requiring complex target reconfiguration.
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
This approach allows for the production of glass with adjustable color characteristics without intermediate losses of glass, enhancing flexibility and reducing production costs by enabling the deposition of thin layers with precise color control, suitable for large glass substrates.
Implementation Method 1
cathodic sputtering or magnetron sputtering processes are used. These processes consist of depositing a target of the material or a precursor of the material to be deposited by sputtering in a secondary vacuum under a magnetic field.
Implementation Method 2
This coating is made of a material exhibiting a plasmonic absorption peak in the visible spectrum.
Data Source
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AI summary
Sputtering cathode target consisting on the one hand of an oxide of at least one element selected from the group consisting of titanium, silicon, zirconium and, on the other hand, particles of a metal selected from the group consisting of silver, gold, platinum, copper and nickel or particles of an alloy consisting of at least two of these metals, the atomic ratio M/Me in said target being less than 1.5, M representing all the atoms of the elements of said group of titanium, silicon, zirconium present in said layer and Me representing all the atoms of the metals of the group consisting of silver, gold, platinum, copper and nickel present in said layer.