The Oled Era Is Coming: Glass Will Become An Upstart

- Product designs in sci-fi movies tend to appear in the real world, and the more popular sci-fi movies are, the more likely they are to come true. This may be because they cater to most viewers' imaginations of the future. Tablets and foldable phones are an original Star Trek-era fantasy, while sleek, slick artefacts in luscious colors—plus lots of glass, of course—are ubiquitous scene elements in modern sci-fi movies. And these fantasies are coming into reality.

The hero behind the scenes

The creation of a futuristic sense relies on artificial materials, and the most popular of which is of course glass. Although the technology of blowing glass was invented in Babylon as early as 200 BC, the material has long been limited by low yield and high impurities, and its use has been quite limited; it has become the nerve fiber and external manifestation of our time, and also But only in the last few decades.

In 1966, Kao Kun, who worked in a British telecommunications company, published a paper that he believed that laser light could be transmitted through glass to realize long-distance data transmission. But at that time, there was no glass in the world that could meet his requirements. It was not until a few years later that Corning successfully trial-produced this glass, realizing Kao's vision and making Corning Glass leap into the Fortune 500 in a short period of time.

After another few decades, thanks to another company that likes glass and metal, the design style of electronic products has turned a big corner in vain. Similar to Batman. This trend has been going on for a long time, and it looks like it will continue to develop this year - although the direction may not be so straightforward.

Last year, Samsung and LG have launched mobile phones with curved screens, which can better fit the body and reduce the reflection of external light; and at the CES Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year, almost every display product manufacturer has come up with its own curved screen products. Flexible OLEDs have achieved tens of inches of curved screens, while the size of curved LCD screens has exceeded 100 inches. Obviously, the curvature of large screens provides better viewing than flat-screen TVs; TVs have gone from spherical to flat over the past six decades; now, they're even concave. Technology is always so thoughtful, making people's lives always more convenient and easier.

In any case, the top layer of the screen is still glass. Corning showcased several new products this year, from 3D Gorilla Glass, which can be made into any shape without losing its strong properties, to antibacterial glass on the surface, to flexible glass, opening a glass curtain for the future.

Indeed, in this era, the virtual world we come into contact with, the medium in the real world, is just glass. Whether it's the digital signals sent over optical fibers, or the vast array of software and hardware that converts those signals into brilliant images, they're all hidden behind a thin layer of glass.

Sapphire glass for iPhone

The use of mobile phones and tablets has drastically reduced the amount of time people spend on traditional computers. And wearable devices are poised to explode, filling people's wrists and field of vision with data collection and signal display. In order to protect fragile electronic components, in order to make life more comfortable, natural and convenient, glass must also evolve.

Flat glass is not suitable for all applications, and people want devices that fit the body better. Curved, curved, and even angled high-strength glass will make devices like smartwatches or glasses look cool, while glass that resists oil and bacteria will allow people to continue to immerse themselves in phones and tablets with confidence and health. among. As for flexible glass with a thickness of only 0.1 mm that can be folded, it will make portable large-screen electronic products truly worthy of the name. After all, among artificial products, materials that meet both high light transmittance and wear resistance and scratch resistance seem to have few other choices except glass.

However, perhaps sapphire glass will be a strong contender. It is an aluminum oxide crystal, which has the same structure as natural sapphire. With its hardness and high price, it only appears on high-end watches and luxury mobile phones; and there are rumors that the iPhone 6 will use sapphire glass in large quantities. , and maybe use it as the home screen.

It is said that GTAdvanced is trying a new cutting method to cut the thickness of the sapphire glass to the thickness of a hair. Glass is becoming more and more different from the past impression, it will be transformed into more forms, and it will be more suitable for our life. A more miraculous future is coming, overshadowing all sci-fi movies in front of it and not worth mentioning.

The above is reproduced on the Display Network (thanks)