Light-weight strengthened, low-emittance vacuum insulated glass (VIG) windows

摘要

Vacuum-insulated glass windows include two or more glass panes, and glass-bump spacers formed in a surface of one of the panes. The glass-bump spacers consist of the glass material from the body portion of the glass pane. At least one of the glass panes comprises chemically-strengthened glass. Methods of forming VIG windows include forming the glass-bump spacers by irradiating a glass pane with a focused beam from a laser. Heating effects in the glass cause the glass to locally expand, thereby forming a glass-bump spacer. In embodiments where the glass-bump spacers are formed in a chemically-strengthened glass pane, the glass-bump spacers may be formed before or after the chemical strengthening. A second glass pane is brought into contact with the glass-bump spacers, and the edges sealed. The resulting sealed interior region is evacuated to a pressure of less than one atmosphere.