New Glass Can Flex and Bend Like Plastic Sheet

(Newswire.net — October 28, 2015) Anaheim, CA — New developments in Glass sheet have been very slow to develop until Corning Inc.’s West Coast Research Center started producing new versions of the century’s old product. This Corning facility is responsible for new innovations like ‘Gorilla Glass’, the super tough and scratch resistant front glass panel material for high quality cell phones. The Gorilla Glass is the standard glass in iPhones and other high end cell phones. This ‘super’ glass product is the reason that mobile phones are more scratch and shock resistant than any earlier models.

In a news story from LA Times reporter Tracey Lien, Corning discusses some of the differences between ‘regular’ glass and Corning’s new innovative glass products. “We don’t make that kind of glass,” said Waguih Ishak, director of Corning Inc.’s West Coast Research Center, pointing to the windows lining his office and, beyond that, to the windshields of the cars parked outside. Ishak refers to the common sheets of glass that we all know as ‘Thick Glass’. That is Ishak’s term for the plate glass sheet used in most windows.

Corning’s newest development, a flexible glass material called ‘Willow Glass’, can bend like a thin sheet of plastic. During his interview, he plays with a piece of plastic like sheet, bending it back and forth in his hands. This new product is the Willow Glass, and is just .004” thick, a bit thicker than standard human hair. Not only has Corning developed this new innovative product, they are now in the position to mass produce this material.

Corning hasn’t stopped there; they still work on new innovations everyday. One such project is the development of a razor thin glass sheet that has the flexibility of plastic sheet and the toughness and durability of steel.

 

Using glass sheets in electronic applications has several advantages. First, glass has almost zero moisture transmission, which is a huge plus for electronic components. With many plastic sheet materials, a single oxygen ion can work through a .004” thick sheet in a several hours, but in a glass sheet, it would take billions of years. Another advantage is the absolute clarity of the glass over long periods of time. Many clear plastic sheets slowly yellow with exposure to UV light, and then degrade or crack with continued use.

Ishak believes in glass, not just the Willow glass and Gorilla glass, but in the ongoing innovation of new kinds of glass. Some projects that used to be considered impossible are under development, projects targeting thinner, stronger, anti-glare, anti-bacterial and flexible glass, just to name a few.

The Willow glass already is being produced and put onto rolls, much like a thin plastic film. At this point, the developments in glass are ahead of the rest of the electronics industry. Soon we may see roll up tablets, foldable iPhones and Android devices, a true fruit roll up style electronic marketplace. Don’t run down to your local cell phone store to get this incredible new glass face on your cell phone, it may be as long as 2 to 3 years before Willow glass makes it to consumer electronics stores.

Will all of this exceptional technology in the development of glass replace standard glass windows and traditional clear plastic sheet? It is not likely, as the cost of these high end glass products preclude them from use in high end electronic components.