Fabrication of ultra-thin glass sheet by weight-controlled load-assisted precise thermal stretching
Fabrication of ultra-thin glass sheet by weight-controlled load-assisted precise thermal stretching
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DOI：
10.1016/j.sna.2021.112604
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发表时间：
2021-04
影响因子：
4.6
通讯作者：
Yapeng Yuan;Yaxiaer Yalikun;S. Amaya;Yusufu Aishan;Yigang Shen;Yo Tanaka
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Yapeng Yuan;Yaxiaer Yalikun;S. Amaya;Yusufu Aishan;Yigang Shen;Yo Tanaka
由于其非凡的性能，玻璃是各种微系统（包括传感器、执行器和微流体设备）中使用的常见材料。然而，缺乏灵活性和弹性限制了其进一步应用的潜力。为了解决这个问题，将厚玻璃板减薄到几微米是一个解决方案。然而，传统的减薄厚玻璃板的方法复杂、风险大、耗时且难以在实验室水平实施。本文报道了一种利用重量控制负载辅助（WCL 辅助）热拉伸来高效、便捷地制造独立超薄玻璃板（UTGS）（≤ 3μm，世界最薄）的方法。与其他需要玻璃材料完全熔化的方法不同，该方法的关键点是使用 WCL 精确拉伸商用厚玻璃板，以达到所需的玻璃板厚度。为了制造所需厚度的 UTGS，研究了包括温度 (630°C–700°C)、冷却时间 (1.5 h–2.5 h) 和负载重量 (1 g–9 g) 在内的实验条件。此外，通过制造比现有设备具有更高灵敏度的压力指示器，证明了使用制造的 UTGS 用于微系统指示器应用的潜在优势。在相同工况条件下，新指标的最大灵敏度较之前获得的灵敏度提高了86.8%。
Glass is a common material used in various microsystems including sensors, actuators, and microfluidic devices due to its extraordinary properties. However, lack of flexibility and elasticity limits its potential for further applications. To solve this issue, thinning the thick glass plate to a few microns is a solution. However, conventional methods for thinning thick glass plates are complex, risky, time-consuming, and difficult for implementation at the laboratory level. This paper reports an efficient and convenient fabrication method for an independent ultra-thin glass sheet (UTGS) (≤ 3 μm, the world’s thinnest) by utilizing a weight-controlled load-assisted (WCL-assisted) thermal stretching. Unlike other methods requiring a full melting of the glass material, the key point of the proposed method is using a WCL to precisely stretch a commercial thick glass plate to achieve the desired glass sheet thickness. To fabricate UTGSs of the desired thicknesses, experimental conditions including temperatures (630°C–700°C), cooling times (1.5 h–2.5 h), and weights of loads (1 g–9 g) were investigated. Furthermore, the potential advantage of using the fabricated UTGS for indicator applications in micro-systems was proven by fabricating a pressure indicator having higher sensitivity than presently available devices. For the same working conditions, the maximum sensitivity of the new indicator was improved by 86.8 % compared with the sensitivity previously obtained.