COATED ARTICLE WITH OXIDATION GRADED LAYER PROXIMATE IR REFLECTING LAYER(S) AND CORRESPONDING METHOD

摘要

A coated article is provided that may be heat treated in certain example embodiments. A grader layer (e.g., contact layer or other suitable layer) is formed by initially sputter-depositing a layer, and thereafter ion beam treating the sputter-deposited layer with at least reactive gas ions in order to form a graded layer. In certain example embodiments, the result is a coated article that has improved visible transmission and/or durability, without sacrificing optional heat treatability.