You see it every day on your smartphone. It is the protective glass cover on top. Gorilla Glass is a brand of glass produced by a leading American glassmaker. It is thin, tough, scratch proof and virtually unbreakable. Above all, it is cool to touch and sleek in appearance. It is used in a variety of electronic products like tablets, PCs and TVs.
The company had experimented with ultra-strong glass in the 1960s and came out with Chemcor. At the time, it was only used in racing cars and did not sell well. Chemcor got a new lease of life when LCD TVs and smartphones entered the scene. The manufacturer then renamed Chemcor as Gorilla Glass and became the world’s biggest supplier of LCD glass.
First ultra-thin glass sheets that are only half a millimetre thick are produced. In the next stage, the glass is chemically, strengthened by the ion exchange process whereby the pane is dipped in a molten solution of potassium salts. This process replaces small sodium ions in the glass with larger potassium ions, compressing it and making it stronger.
The company’s newest version of Gorilla Glass 4 is said to be so tough that it can withstand a fall from 1 m above the ground, 80 per cent of the time.
Picture Credit : Google