PROCESS FOR MAKING OF GLASS ARTICLES WITH OPTICAL AND EASY-TO-CLEAN COATINGS
First Claim
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1. A process for making glass articles having an optical coating and an easy-to-clean (ETC) coating on the optical coating, the process comprising:
- providing a coating apparatus having at least one coating chamber for deposition of an optical coating and an ETC coating;
providing within the at least one coating chamber, optical coating source materials and ETC coating source materials, wherein when a plurality of optical coating source materials are deposited, each of the plurality of optical coating source materials is provided in a separate optical coating source container;
providing a substrate to be coated, the substrate having a length, a width and a thickness and at least one edge between surfaces of the substrate defined by the length and width;
evacuating the at least one coating chamber to a pressure of less than or equal to 10−
4 Torr;
depositing the optical coating source materials on the substrate to form an optical coating;
depositing the ETC coating source materials on the optical coating to form an ETC coating;
removing the substrate from the at least one coating chamber to provide a glass article having the optical coating and the ETC coating; and
post-treating the glass article at a temperature of from about 60°
C. to about 200°
C. for a period of time from about 5 minutes to about 60 minutes in an air or humid environment having a relative humidity RH of 40%<
RH<
100% to facilitate cross-linking between ETC molecules;
wherein the optical coating is a multilayer coating comprising alternating layers of a high refractive index material H having a refractive index greater than 1.7 and less than or equal to 3.0, and one of (i) a low refractive index material L having a refractive index greater than or equal to 1.3 and less than or equal to 1.6 or (ii) a medium refractive index material M having a refractive index greater than 1.6 and less than or equal to 1.7, laid down in the order H(L or M) or (L or M)H, wherein each H(L or M) or (L or M)H pair of layers is a coating period; and
wherein a thickness of an H layer and an (L or M) layer, independent of each other, in each coating period is from about 5 nm to about 200 nm.
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Abstract
A process in which both an optical coating, for example, an AR coating, and an ETC coating are deposited on a glass substrate article, in sequential steps, with the optical coating being deposited first and the ETC coating being deposited second, using the same apparatus and without exposing the article to the atmosphere at any time during the application of the optical coating and ETC coating.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A process for making glass articles having an optical coating and an easy-to-clean (ETC) coating on the optical coating, the process comprising:
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providing a coating apparatus having at least one coating chamber for deposition of an optical coating and an ETC coating; providing within the at least one coating chamber, optical coating source materials and ETC coating source materials, wherein when a plurality of optical coating source materials are deposited, each of the plurality of optical coating source materials is provided in a separate optical coating source container; providing a substrate to be coated, the substrate having a length, a width and a thickness and at least one edge between surfaces of the substrate defined by the length and width; evacuating the at least one coating chamber to a pressure of less than or equal to 10−
4 Torr;depositing the optical coating source materials on the substrate to form an optical coating; depositing the ETC coating source materials on the optical coating to form an ETC coating; removing the substrate from the at least one coating chamber to provide a glass article having the optical coating and the ETC coating; and post-treating the glass article at a temperature of from about 60°
C. to about 200°
C. for a period of time from about 5 minutes to about 60 minutes in an air or humid environment having a relative humidity RH of 40%<
RH<
100% to facilitate cross-linking between ETC molecules;wherein the optical coating is a multilayer coating comprising alternating layers of a high refractive index material H having a refractive index greater than 1.7 and less than or equal to 3.0, and one of (i) a low refractive index material L having a refractive index greater than or equal to 1.3 and less than or equal to 1.6 or (ii) a medium refractive index material M having a refractive index greater than 1.6 and less than or equal to 1.7, laid down in the order H(L or M) or (L or M)H, wherein each H(L or M) or (L or M)H pair of layers is a coating period; and wherein a thickness of an H layer and an (L or M) layer, independent of each other, in each coating period is from about 5 nm to about 200 nm. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A process for making glass articles having an optical coating and an easy-to-clean (ETC) coating on the optical coating using a coating apparatus, the process comprising:
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introducing a substrate into a coating apparatus having at least one coating chamber for depositing an optical coating and an ETC coating, the at least one coating chamber comprising at least one source container; lowering the pressure in the at least one coating chamber to less than or equal to 10−
4 Torr to form a vacuum;depositing at least one optical coating source materials onto the substrate to form an optical coating; depositing a ETC coating source materials onto the optical coating to form an ETC coating; removing the substrate from the at least one coating chamber to provide a glass article having the optical coating and the ETC coating; and post-treating the glass article at a temperature of from about 60°
C. to about 200°
C. for a period of time from about 5 minutes to about 60 minutes to facilitate cross-linking between ETC molecules. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification