Method for controlling surface features on glass-ceramic articles and articles formed therefrom

Abstract

A method for increasing the tactile feel of a glass-ceramic article includes (a) performing a first etching of a surface of the glass-ceramic article with a first etchant to create a plurality of features on the surface, wherein the first etchant comprises hydrofluoric acid and an inorganic fluoride salt, and the plurality of features comprises protrusions and recesses and (b) performing a second etching of the surface with a second etchant different from the first etchant to enlarge a distance between adjacent features of a same type, wherein the second etching occurs after the first etching, after the second etching an average distance between adjacent features of a same type is in a range from 0.5 μm to 20 μm and a density of features of the same type is in a range from 9,000 to 25,000 features/mm2, and a tactile feel of the surface after the second etching is greater than the tactile feel of the surface before the first etching.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.