Method of making coated article having antibacterial and/or antifungal coating and resulting product

A method of making a coated article, the method comprising:

• providing a first sputtering target comprising Zn;
• providing a second sputtering target comprising Zr;
• and
• sequentially sputtering from at least the first and second sputtering targets onto a glass substrate to form at least a first layer comprising Zn having a thickness of from about 20 to 50 Å, and a second layer comprising Zr located directly on and contacting the first layer comprising Zn and having a thickness of from about 100 to 250 Å, wherein the Zr is sputtered in the presence of nitrogen;
• wherein the first layer comprising Zn is located directly on and directly physically contacts the glass substrate;
• heat treating the glass substrate with said first and second layers thereon to form a layer comprising zinc zirconium oxide with antibacterial and/or antifungal properties which is an outermost layer of the coated article.

A method of making a coated article, the method comprising:

• having a glass substrate supporting a coating, the coating including a first sputter-deposited layer comprising Zn and a second sputter-deposited layer comprising Zr nitride over and contacting the first layer comprising Zn, the second sputter-deposited layer comprising Zr nitride being sputter-deposited using a nitrogen gas flow rate of from 15-30 sccm, so that the first sputter-deposited layer comprising Zn is closer to the glass substrate than is the second sputter-deposited layer comprising Zr nitride, and wherein the first sputter-deposited layer comprising Zn is in direct physical contact with the glass substrate;
• wherein the first sputter-deposited layer comprising Zn is from about 20-50 Å thick, and the second sputter-deposited layer comprising Zr nitride is from about 100-250 Å thick;
• and
• heat treating the glass substrate with the first and second layers thereon to produce a heat treated coated article including a layer comprising ZnxZryOz, wherein the heat treating causes the first layer comprising Zn and the second layer comprising Zr nitride to transform into the layer comprising ZnxZryOz.