TechBlog

Scratch-resistant Gorilla glass provides an ultra-durable screen for handheld devices without compromising image quality.

At Corning Incorporated’s annual investor meeting in New York, the 800-pound gorilla in the room will be a thin and elegant sheet of glass tough enough to withstand daily use and abuse—without scratching. Developed for touch-screen applications and high-end portable devices, Corning’s Gorilla glass technology addresses the challenge of providing an ultra-durable screen for handheld devices without compromising image quality. The fusion-formed glass features a pristine surface that requires no polishing, reducing time and cost for customers.

Dr. Joseph A. Miller, Chief Technology Officer, will confirm during his investor update that Gorilla glass is now commercially available and is being sold to mobile-device manufacturers. Corning’s newest technology joins a growing platform of innovations addressing key challenges, shaping the future of portable displays: durability, longevity, and functionality.

Other recent technology developments addressing these challenges include: Continue reading ‘Corning Extends Fusion Process to Touch-Screen Applications’ »

Berkeley, CA — As structures made of metal get smaller — as their dimensions approach the micrometer scale (millionths of a meter) or less — they get stronger. Scientists discovered this phenomenon 50 years ago while measuring the strength of tin “whiskers” a few micrometers in diameter and a few millimeters in length. Many theories have been proposed to explain why smaller is stronger, but only recently has it become possible to see and record what’s actually happening in tiny structures under stress.Andrew Minor, of the Materials Sciences Division in the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, with colleagues from Hysitron Incorporated and the General Motors Research and Development Center, used the In Situ Microscope at the National Center for Electron Microscopy (NCEM) to record what happens when pillars of nickel with diameters between 150 and 400 nanometers (billionths of a meter) are compressed under a flat punch made of diamond. The transmission electron microscope is equipped so that samples can be stressed, measured, and videotaped while being observed under the electron beam.

“What controls the deformation of a metal object is the way that defects, called dislocations, move along planes in its crystal structure,” Minor says. “The result of dislocation slip is plastic deformation. For example, bending a paper clip causes its trillions of dislocations per square centimeter to tangle up and multiply as they run into one another and slide along numerous slip planes.”

In general, mechanical deformation tends to increase the number of dislocations in a material. But for small-scale structures, with a much greater proportion of surface area to volume, the process can be very different. The videotaped images from the electron microscope helped the researchers understand why nanoscale nickel pillars are so strong by allowing them to observe changes in the microstructure of the pillars during deformation — including a never-before-seen process the researchers dubbed “mechanical annealing.” (In bulk materials, annealing, a treatment that reduces the density of defects, is usually accomplished by heating.)

Continue reading ‘Smaller Is Stronger — Now Scientists Know Why’ »