Revisiting in-depth chemical analysis for alkali ions-exchanged glass

TL;DR

This study compares advanced spectroscopy techniques to analyze the elemental distribution in chemically-tempered ultra-thin glass, providing insights into the compositional effects of chemical strengthening crucial for foldable display applications.

Contribution

It demonstrates the effectiveness of atom probe tomography as a high-resolution method for analyzing alkali ion distribution in tempered glass, enhancing understanding of chemical strengthening effects.

Findings

APT can analyze alkali ions at sub-nanoscale resolution.

Chemical composition varies between tempered and non-tempered glass.

APT is a viable alternative for chemical imaging in glass.

Abstract

The upcoming flexible ultra-thin glass for foldable displays has attracted widespread attention as an alternative to rigid electronic smartphones. However, the detailed compositional effect of the chemical strengthening of the glass is not well understood. The spatially resolved chemistry and the depth of compression layer of tempered glass is far from being clear. In this study, commonly-used X-ray spectroscopy techniques and atom probe tomography (APT) were used comparatively to investigate the distribution of constituent elements in two representative smartphone glass samples: non-tempered and chemically-tempered glasses. Using APT, analysing the alkalis (Li, Na, K, Ca) that could impact the failure of the tempered glass was feasible at sub-nanoscale resolution; demonstrating that APT can be regarded as an alternative technique for imaging chemical distribution in glass for mobile applications.