Gorilla Glass
Encyclopedia
Gorilla Glass, manufactured by Corning, is an alkali-aluminosilicate thin sheet glass
engineered specifically to be thin, light and damage-resistant. Its primary application is portable electronic devices with screens, such as mobile phones, portable media players, and laptop
displays. Corning experimented with chemically strengthened glass in 1960, as part of an initiative called “Project Muscle.” But Gorilla Glass was a new project started in 2006 to develop a tough cover glass for electronic devices drawing on their previous strengthened glass research.
Its most useful qualities are its strength, scratch resistance and thinness. Gorilla Glass was used in about 20 percent of the world's approximately 200 million mobile handsets in 2010. Corning says that Gorilla Glass is RF compatible and has outstanding optical clarity, making it suitable for HD and 3-D televisions.
at a temperature of approximately 400 °C (~750 °F). Smaller sodium
ions leave the glass, and larger potassium
ions from the salt bath replace them. These larger ions take up more room and are pressed together when the glass cools, producing a layer of compressive stress on the surface of the glass. Gorilla Glass's special composition enables the potassium ions to diffuse far into the surface, creating high compressive stress deep into the glass. This layer of compression creates a surface that is more resistant to damage from everyday use. Like all glass, Gorilla glass can be recycled.
Corning manufactures Gorilla Glass in Harrodsburg, Kentucky (USA) and in Shizuoka, Japan.
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
engineered specifically to be thin, light and damage-resistant. Its primary application is portable electronic devices with screens, such as mobile phones, portable media players, and laptop
Laptop
A laptop, also called a notebook, is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit...
displays. Corning experimented with chemically strengthened glass in 1960, as part of an initiative called “Project Muscle.” But Gorilla Glass was a new project started in 2006 to develop a tough cover glass for electronic devices drawing on their previous strengthened glass research.
Its most useful qualities are its strength, scratch resistance and thinness. Gorilla Glass was used in about 20 percent of the world's approximately 200 million mobile handsets in 2010. Corning says that Gorilla Glass is RF compatible and has outstanding optical clarity, making it suitable for HD and 3-D televisions.
Manufacturing process
The glass is placed in a hot bath of molten saltSodium chloride
Sodium chloride, also known as salt, common salt, table salt or halite, is an inorganic compound with the formula NaCl. Sodium chloride is the salt most responsible for the salinity of the ocean and of the extracellular fluid of many multicellular organisms...
at a temperature of approximately 400 °C (~750 °F). Smaller sodium
Sodium
Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal and is a member of the alkali metals; its only stable isotope is 23Na. It is an abundant element that exists in numerous minerals, most commonly as sodium chloride...
ions leave the glass, and larger potassium
Potassium
Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K and atomic number 19. Elemental potassium is a soft silvery-white alkali metal that oxidizes rapidly in air and is very reactive with water, generating sufficient heat to ignite the hydrogen emitted in the reaction.Potassium and sodium are...
ions from the salt bath replace them. These larger ions take up more room and are pressed together when the glass cools, producing a layer of compressive stress on the surface of the glass. Gorilla Glass's special composition enables the potassium ions to diffuse far into the surface, creating high compressive stress deep into the glass. This layer of compression creates a surface that is more resistant to damage from everyday use. Like all glass, Gorilla glass can be recycled.
Corning manufactures Gorilla Glass in Harrodsburg, Kentucky (USA) and in Shizuoka, Japan.