Glass

Glass substrates are used in a wide variety of applications today, from DNA microarrays to sensor windows to electronic substrates. Their transparency and smooth surfaces are often critical to their function, and today’s processes are pushing their limits. Cerablak® UTF coatings are ultrasmooth with a tailorable refractive index and can enhance the surface properties of glass without affecting transparency. Cerablak® UTF can also serve as an effective high-temperature diffusion barrier to limit cation diffusion (sodium, for example) or environmental interaction with underlying glass substrates.

Demonstrations:

Planarization of glass: Micro-roughness, pits, and scratches on glass surfaces can present immense challenges in today’s high-technology products. The solution-deposited Cerablak® UTF coating has been shown to reduce roughness from a surface roughness of 1-2nm to 0.1-0.2nm and hide micro-scale scratches on soda-lime glass. The resulting surface was compatible with metallization layers and did not outgas during high-temperature processing >400°C.

Cerablak® SHS has been applied to soda-lime window surfaces to provide a durable water-shedding coating that is highly stable toward chemical cleaners, UV, high temperatures, and abrasion. Although the contact angle against water was generally only 80-90°, it displayed a high degree of water-shedding with a durability that far exceeded conventional hydrophobic coatings under harsh environmental conditions.