Method of making float glass with transparent conductive oxide (TCO) film integrally formed on tin bath side of glass and corresponding product
AssigneeGuardian Industries Corp.
InventorsAlexey Krasnov, Ksenia A. Landa, Leonid M. Landa
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of making float glass is provided that results in a transparent conductive oxide (TCO) films being integrally formed with the float glass at the tin side thereof. In particular, a donor(s) such as antimony and/or an oxide thereof is added to the glass batch during the process of manufacture. The donor diffuses into the tin oxide inclusive layer adjacent the tin bath during the “float” manufacturing process, thereby increasing the number of electrons in the tin oxide inclusive layer so as to form a TCO film at the tin side of the glass.
Claims12
A method of making float glass having a thin conductive electrode layer at a surface thereof, the method comprising:
- providing a glass batch including soda, lime, silica and antimony;
- causing molten glass from the batch to be provided on a top surface of a tin bath, causing antimony in the glass batch to diffuse downward in the molten glass toward the tin bath and into a tin oxide inclusive film at a surface where the molten glass meets the tin bath, the antimony changing electrical properties of the tin oxide inclusive film to make it more conductive, thereby causing a transparent conductive tin oxide inclusive film that is doped with antimony to be formed at the glass surface adjacent the tin bath forming a thin transparent conductive electrode layer as part of the glass;
- and
- wherein the antimony increases the number of electrons in the tin oxide inclusive film formed at the glass surface so as to result in the formation of a transparent conductive tin oxide inclusive film at the glass surface that was adjacent the tin bath.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.