Method of manufacturing window using ion beam milling of glass substrate(s)

• US 6,808,606 B2
• Filed: 09/10/2002
• Issued: 10/26/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/03/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Guardian Glass LLC (KOCH Industries Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Guardian Industries Corporation (KOCH Industries Incorporated)
• Inventors: Veerasamy, Vijayen S., Luten, Henry A., Thomsen, Scott V., Petrmichl, Rudolph Hugo, Longobardo, Anthony V., Hall, David R. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): MCDONALD, RODNEY GLENN
• Application Number:
  US10/238,052
• Publication Number:
  US 20030064198A1
• Time in Patent Office: 777 Days
• Field of Search: 204/192.26, 204/192.27, 204/192.28, 204/192.3, 204/192.34, 427/523, 427/524, 427/527, 216/66, 216/79, 216/80
• US Class Current: 204/192.3
• CPC Class Codes: B05D 5/083 involving the use of fluoropolymers
• CPC Class Codes: B08B 17/06 by giving articles subject to fouling a special shape or arrangement
• CPC Class Codes: B08B 17/065 the surface having a microscopic surface pattern to achieve the same effect as a lotus flower
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 17/10036 comprising two outer glass sheets
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 17/10174 Coatings of a metallic or dielectric material on a constituent layer of glass or polymer
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 17/1033 Laminated safety glass or glazing containing temporary protective coatings or layers
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 17/10761 containing vinyl acetal
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 17/10981 Pre-treatment of the layers
• CPC Class Codes: B60S 1/54 using gas, e.g. hot air
• CPC Class Codes: B60S 1/58 for rear windows
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 15/00 Surface treatment of glass, not in the form of fibres or filaments, by etching etching or surface-brightening compositions, in general C09K13/00
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 15/02 for making a smooth surface
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/22 with other inorganic material C03C17/34, C03C17/44 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/3441 comprising carbon, a carbide or oxycarbide
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/36 at least one coating being a metal
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/3618 Coatings of type glass/inorganic compound/other inorganic layers, at least one layer being metallic
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/3626 one layer at least containing a nitride, oxynitride, boronitride or carbonitride
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/3634 one layer at least containing carbon, a carbide or oxycarbide
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/3639 Multilayers containing at least two functional metal layers
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/3644 the metal being silver
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/3652 : the coating stack containing at least one sacrificial layer to protect the metal from oxidation
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/366 : Low-emissivity or solar control coatings
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/3681 : the multilayer coating being used in glazing, e.g. windows or windscreens
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/42 : at least one coating of an organic material and at least one non-metal coating
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 19/00 : Surface treatment of glass, not in the form of fibres or filaments, by mechanical means sand-blasting, grinding, or polishing glass B24
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 2217/282 : Carbides, silicides
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 2218/151 : by vacuum evaporation
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 2218/31 : Pre-treatment
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 2218/32 : After-treatment
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 2218/36 : Underside coating of a glass sheet
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 2218/365 : Coating different sides of a glass substrate
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 23/0005 : by irradiation
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 23/006 : by plasma or corona discharge
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 23/0075 : Cleaning of glass specially adapted to plate glass B08B11/00
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 3/076 : with 40% to 90% silica, by weight C03C3/045 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/26 : Deposition of carbon only
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24612 : Composite web or sheet

Abstract

This invention relates to a method of making a window (e.g., vehicle windshield, architectural window, etc.), and the resulting window product. At least one glass substrate of the window is ion beam treated and/or milled prior to application of a coating (e.g., sputter coated coating) over the treated/milled substrate surface and/or prior to heat treatment. As a result, defects in the resulting window and/or haze may be reduced. The ion beam used in certain embodiments may be diffused. In certain embodiments, the ion beam treating and/or milling is carried out using a fluorine (F) inclusive gas(es) and/or argon/oxygen gas(es) at the ion source(s). In certain optional embodiments, F may be subimplanted into to treated/milled glass surface for the purpose of reducing Na migration to the glass surface during heat treatment or thereafter, thereby enabling corrosion and/or stains to be reduced for long periods of time.

Claims

1. A method of making a window including at least one glass substrate, the method comprising:

providing a first glass substrate;

ion beam treating a surface of the first glass substrate with an ion beam comprising at least fluorine (F) ions thereby forming an ion beam treated surface of the first glass substrate; and

following said ion beam treating, sputtering a coating including at least one infrared (IR) reflecting layer on the ion beam treated surface of the first glass substrate.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said ion beam treating further comprises ion beam milling the surface of the first glass substrate so as to remove at least 2 Å

of glass from at least a portion thereof and form an ion beam milled surface of the first glass substrate.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising laminating the first glass substrate with the coating thereon to a second substrate via a polymer inclusive interlayer so that the coating and the interlayer are provided between the first and second substrates.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the IR reflecting layer comprises silver (Ag), and wherein the IR reflecting layer comprising Ag is located between at least first and second dielectric layers, and wherein the ion beam further includes ions from at least one inert gas.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the coating comprises at least first and second IR reflecting layers each comprising Ag.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein said ion beam milling removes at least 5 Å

of glass from the first glass substrate.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein said ion beam milling removes from 10-100 Å

of glass from the first glass substrate.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein the polymer inclusive interlayer comprises polyvinyl butyral (PVB), and wherein the ion beam is diffused.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the coated article comprises a vehicle windshield made so as to have at least one of the following characteristics:

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the coating has a sheet resistance (R_s) of less than or equal to 10 ohms/sq.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the coating has a sheet resistance (R_s) of less than or equal to 5 ohms/sq.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising making the first glass substrate via a float process so as to include sodium (Na) and utilizing a tin bath so as to cause the first glass substrate to have a tin surface and a non-tin surface, and wherein the ion beam treating is performed on the non-tin surface of the first glass substrate.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

after said sputtering, heat treating the first glass substrate with the coating thereon so as to temper and/or bend the first glass substrate.

14. The method of claim 2, wherein the ion beam milling reduces haze in the windshield by at least about 20%.

15. The method of claim 2, wherein the ion beam milling comprises directing the ion beam at the surface of the first glass substrate so that the ion beam is incident upon the surface of the first glass substrate so as to form an angle θ

with the first glass substrate of from 20-70 degrees.

16. The method of claim 2, wherein the ion beam milling comprises directing an ion beam at the first glass substrate so that the ion beam is incident upon the first substrate in order to form an angle θ

with the first glass substrate of from 30-60 degrees.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the ion beam treating comprises generating and directing the ion beam comprising at least fluorine (F) ions toward the first glass substrate in a manner so that F ions and/or molecules is/are subimplanted into the glass substrate.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein said ion beam treating comprises generating an ion beam including each of argon, oxygen and fluorine ions, and directing the ion beam including the argon, oxygen and fluorine ions toward the surface of the first glass substrate.

19. A method of making a window including at least one glass substrate, the method comprising:

providing a first glass substrate;

ion beam milling a surface of the first glass substrate with an ion beam comprising at least ions of a Group VII A element so as to remove at least 2 Å

of glass from the first glass substrate thereby forming an ion beam milled surface of the first glass substrate; and

following said ion beam milling, forming a coating on the ion beam milled surface of the first glass substrate.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the ion beam comprises at least ions of F.

41. The method of claim 19, wherein the coating comprises at least one layer comprising silver.

42. The method of claim 19, wherein the coating comprises at least first and second layers comprising silver with at least one dielectric layer provided therebetween.

21. A method of making a window comprising:

providing a first glass substrate;

ion beam milling a surface of the first glass substrate with an ion beam comprising at least argon and oxygen ions so as to remove at least 2 Å

of glass from at least a portion of the first glass substrate thereby forming an ion beam milled surface of the first glass substrate; and

following said ion beam milling, sputtering a coating including at least one infrared (IR) reflecting layer on the ion beam milled surface of the first glass substrate.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising, following said ion beam milling and sputtering, coupling the first glass substrate with the coating thereon to a second substrate in order to form the window.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the ion beam further comprises fluorine ions in addition to the argon and oxygen ions.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the ion beam further comprises nitrogen ions in addition to the argon and oxygen ions.

43. The method of claim 21, wherein the coating comprises at least first and second layers comprising silver with at least one dielectric layer provided therebetween.

25. A method of making a window, the method comprising:

providing first and second glass substrates;

ion beam milling at least one surface of the first glass substrate using an ion beam comprising argon and fluorine ions so as to remove at least 2 Å

of glass from at least a portion of the first glass substrate and form an ion beam milled surface of the first glass substrate,

forming a coating on the ion beam milled surface of the first substrate; and

coupling the first glass substrate with the coating thereon to the second glass substrate so that the coating is provided between the first and second glass substrates.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the ion beam milling comprises directing the ion beam at the surface of the first substrate so that the ion beam is incident upon the surface of the first glass substrate to form an angle θ

with the first substrate of from 20-70 degrees.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the coating comprises first and second layers comprising Ag.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the coating further comprises:

a first dielectric layer provided between the first substrate and the first layer comprising Ag,

a second dielectric layer between the first and second layers comprising Ag, and

a third dielectric layer between the second layer comprising Ag and a polymer inclusive interlayer that laminates the first and second substrates to one another.

29. The method of claim 25, wherein said ion beam milling removes at least 5 Å

of glass from the first glass substrate.

30. The method of claim 25, wherein said ion beam milling removes from 10-100 Å

of glass from the first glass substrate.

31. The method of claim 25, wherein the window has a visible transmittance of at least 70%.

32. The method of claim 25, wherein the window has haze of <

=0.4.

33. A method of making a window including at least one glass substrate, the method comprising:

providing a first glass substrate;

ion beam milling a surface of the first glass substrate with a diffused ion beam so as to remove at least 2 Å

of glass from at least a portion thereby forming an ion beam milled surface of the first glass substrate; and

following said ion beam milling, forming a coating including at least one infrared (IR) reflecting layer on the ion beam milled surface of the first glass substrate.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the diffused ion beam comprises at least one of:

a) Ar ions, b) F ions, c) O ions, and d) N ions.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein the diffused ion beam comprises F and Ar ions.

36. The method of claim 33, wherein the diffused ion beam comprises both inert and reactive ions.

37. The method of claim 33, wherein the diffused ion beam enables milling to be carried out at a quicker rate than if a collimated ion beam was used.

38. A method of making a window comprising:

providing a first glass substrate;

ion beam milling a surface of the first glass substrate with an ion beam comprising at least oxygen ions so as to remove at least 2 Å

of glass from at least a portion of the first glass substrate thereby forming an ion beam milled surface of the first glass substrate; and

following said ion beam milling, sputtering a coating including at least one infrared (IR) reflecting layer on the ion beam milled surface of the first glass substrate.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the ion beam milling using at least oxygen ions causes a thin film comprising an oxide to be formed on at least part of a surface of an electrode of an ion beam source that generates the ion beam.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the oxide comprises iron oxide.

44. A method of making a coated article, the method comprising:

providing a first glass substrate;

ion beam milling a surface of the first glass substrate with an ion beam so as to remove at least 5 Å

of glass from at least a portion of the first glass substrate thereby forming an ion beam milled surface of the first glass substrate; and

following said ion beam milling, sputtering a coating onto the ion beam milled surface of the first glass substrate, wherein the coating comprises at least the following layers from the first glass substrate outwardly;

a first dielectric layer;

a first IR reflecting layer comprising silver;

a second dielectric layer;

a second IR reflecting layer comprising silver; and

a third dielectric layer; and

wherein the coating has a sheet resistance of less than or equal to 10 ohms/square.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the second dielectric layer comprises at least one of silicon nitride and tin oxide.

46. The method of claim 44, wherein the third dielectric layer comprises silicon nitride.

47. The method of claim 44, wherein the coating further comprises a contact layer comprising an oxide of NiCr provided between the second IR reflecting layer and the third dielectric layer.

48. The method of claim 44, further comprising thermally tempering and/or heat bending the first glass substrate with the coating thereon, and coupling the heat treated first glass substrate with the coating thereon to a second glass substrate so as to form a window.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein the window is a vehicle windshield.

50. The method of claim 48, wherein the window is an IG window unit.

51. The method of claim 44, wherein the ion beam comprises at least one of F ions, O ions and Ar ions.