METHOD OF GROWING ALUMINUM OXIDE ONTO SUBSTRATES BY USE OF AN ALUMINUM SOURCE IN AN OXYGEN ENVIRONMENT TO CREATE TRANSPARENT, SCRATCH RESISTANT WINDOWS

摘要

A system and process for inter alia coating a substrate such as glass with a layer of aluminum oxide to create a scratch-resistant and shatter-resistant matrix comprised of a thin scratch-resistant aluminum oxide film deposited on one or more sides of a transparent and shatter-resistant substrate for use in consumer and mobile devices such as watch crystals, cell phones, tablet computers, personal computers and the like. The system and process may include a reactive thermal evaporation technique. An advantage of the reactive thermal evaporation technique includes using arbitrarily high oxygen pressures, allowing for higher growth rates of aluminum oxide at the surface of the substrate and, ultimately, a less expensive process. Another advantage of this reactive thermal evaporation process is that it does not utilize electrical fields typically found in traditional reactive sputtering techniques.

主权项

1. A system for creating a scratch-resistant and shatter-resistant matrix, the system comprising:
a chamber to create a partial pressure of oxygen; a device to support or secure a transparent substrate within the chamber; and a device to release energetic and unbounded aluminum atoms into the chamber creating a deposition beam to react with the oxygen to create an aluminum oxide film on a surface of the transparent substrate.