Anti-reflective glass surface with improved cleanability

A method for producing a low reflectance, high clarity glass comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing a glass member, comprising one or more light-reflecting surfaces;
• (b) exposing at least one surface of said glass member to an acid solution to remove a weathered layer;
• (c) rinsing said glass member in a neutral solution;
• (d) dipping said glass member in an aqueous solution comprising a strong fluoride ion agent, a weak fluoride ion agent and a moderator, for a time period and at a solution temperature sufficient to produce islands on said glass surface being treated, said islands distributed at a density of about 60 to about 10,000 islands per square millimeter;
• (e) rinsing said glass with a cleansing solution;
• (f) steps (a)-(e) subsequently producing a diffusion etched surface from said exposed surface of said glass member;
• (g) immersing said diffusion etched surface in an anti-reflection acid solution;
• and
• (h) rinsing said glass.

A glass product comprising an alkali or alkali earth metal silicate glass, said glass product having high optical clarity and comprising at least one surface comprising:

• a plurality of islands extending across said surface of said glass, each island being between about 10 to about 200 micrometers in diameter;
• and
• said islands extending across said entire surface of said glass in such a distribution that said islands contribute to providing decreased reflectance of incident light across said surface of said glass,
• a skeletized silica structure extending uniformly over the surface of said glass, including said islands, said skeletized structure is about 100 to about 400 angstroms and having openings of about 100 to about 200 angstroms uniformly distributed throughout;
• and
• said product having low reflectance of incident light.

A method for producing a low reflectance, high clarity glass comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing a glass member, comprising one or more light-reflecting surfaces;
• (b) exposing at least one surface of said glass member to an acid solution to remove a weathered layer;
• (c) rinsing said glass member in a neutral solution;
• (d) treating said glass member with a diffusion etching solution comprising a strong fluoride ion agent, a weak fluoride ion agent and a moderator, for a time period and at a solution temperature sufficient to produce islands on said glass surface being treated, said islands distributed at a density of about 60 to about 10,000 islands per square millimeter;
• each island being between about 10 to about 200 micrometers in diameter, the islands extending across the entire surface of said glass in such a distribution that the islands contribute to providing decreased reflectance of incidnet light across the surface of the glass;
• (e) cleaning said treated glass member;
• (f) treating said treated glass member with an anti-reflection acid solution for a time sufficient to produce a skeletonized silicon structure extending uniformly over the surface of said glass, including said islands, said skeletonized structure is about 100 to about 400 angstroms and having openings of about 100 to about 200 angstroms uniformly distributed throughout.