CN110914207A

CN110914207A - Method for producing a glass product with a structured surface

Info

Publication number: CN110914207A
Application number: CN201880024383.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: T·L·卡勒顿; L·C·达比奇二世; D·A·德纳卡; M·卡努勾; 李沈平; 米向东; M·A·凯斯达; W·塞钠拉特纳; J·C·斯贝克特; L·J·小斯坦宾; W·J·瓦尔扎克; H·T·沃德吉沃吉斯
Original assignee: Corning Inc
Current assignee: Corning Inc
Priority date: 2017-02-16
Filing date: 2018-02-15
Publication date: 2020-03-24
Also published as: KR20190112328A; WO2018152300A1; JP2020507551A; TW202233538A; TW201834994A; EP3583081A1; TWI766947B

Abstract

Methods of making glass articles (e.g., glass light guide plates comprising at least one structured surface comprising a plurality of channels and peaks). When used in a backlight unit as a light source of a liquid crystal display device, the glass article can be suitably used for realizing one-dimensional dimming.

Description

Method for producing a glass product with a structured surface

Cross Reference to Related Applications

The present application claims priority benefits of U.S. provisional patent application serial No. 62/459,641 filed on 16.02/2017, U.S. provisional patent application serial No. 62/579,525 filed on 31.10/2017, and U.S. provisional patent application serial No. 62/629,362 filed on 12.02/2018, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

Background

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to methods of making glass articles (e.g., glass light guide plates that may be included in backlight units for illuminating liquid crystal display devices), and more particularly, to glass light guide plates that include structured glass surfaces configured for one-dimensional dimming.

Background

Although increasingly popular, organic light emitting diode display devices still have a high cost, and Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) devices still occupy a large portion of the display devices on the market, particularly large panel size devices such as televisions and other large devices such as commercial signs. Unlike Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) display panels, LCD panels do not emit light by themselves, and therefore rely on a backlight unit (BLU) located behind the LCD panel to provide transmitted light to the LCD panel. The light from the BLU illuminates the LCD panel, and the LCD panel functions as a light valve that selectively allows light to pass through the pixels of the LCD panel or to be blocked, thereby forming a visible image.

Without enhancement, the natural contrast that an LCD display is capable of achieving is the ratio of the brightest part of the image to the darkest part of the image. The simplest contrast enhancement is performed by increasing the overall illumination for bright images and decreasing the overall illumination for dark images. Unfortunately, this results in an ambiguous bright light in the dark image and washes out dark colors in the bright image. To overcome this limitation, manufacturers may integrate active local dimming of images, where the illumination within a predetermined area of the display panel may be locally dimmed relative to other areas of the display panel, depending on the image being displayed. Such local dimming can be more easily integrated when the light source is located directly behind the LCD panel (e.g., a two-dimensional array of LEDs). However, for edge-lit BLUs (where the LED array is arranged along the edge of a light guide plate incorporated into the BLU), it is difficult to integrate local dimming.

A typical BLU includes a Light Guide Plate (LGP) into which light is injected via a light source (e.g., an array of light sources), guided within the LGP, and then directed outward, e.g., by scattering, toward an LCD panel. LGPs typically incorporate a polymer light guide, such as Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). PMMA is easily formed and can be molded or machined to aid local dimming. However, PMMA is subject to thermal degradation, including a large coefficient of thermal expansion, moisture absorption, and deformation. On the other hand, glass is dimensionally stable (including a small coefficient of thermal expansion) and can be produced in large sheets suitable for large and thin TVs of increasing interest. Accordingly, it may be desirable to produce a BLU including a glass light guide plate capable of facilitating local dimming.

Disclosure of Invention

Plastic light guide plates configured for 1D dimming typically include a corrugated surface comprising alternating rows of channels and peaks to confine light within specific regions of injected light. However, plastic light guides suffer from various drawbacks, at least for the reasons described above. To overcome the limitations of plastic (e.g., PMMA) light guide plates in display devices with local dimming, light guide plates comprising a glass sheet with at least one structured glass surface are described.

It is more challenging to use glass to manufacture surface features that provide the one-dimensional (1D) local dimming required for LCD height than plastic. One-dimensional local dimming enables various sought after LCD attributes, such as: high dynamic range (contrast), high refresh rate and power savings. For edge-emitting BLU, this function is achieved by fabricating a surface structure (most commonly shaped as a lenticular lens array) on one surface of a plastic (e.g., PMMA) LGP. Since the glass transition temperature of PMMA is only 160 ℃, this can be done relatively easily using a thermal embossing process, injection molding or extrusion. An alternative is to laminate a plastic lenticular lens array film to one surface of the glass LGP. However, this solution leads to at least two problems. One problem is that the higher optical attenuation of plastic materials introduces a significant color shift. Glasses, such as those described herein, have an optical attenuation of less than about 2 dB/meter (e.g., equal to or less than about 0.5 dB/meter) over the visible wavelength range (about 390nm to about 700 nm). Another problem is reliability. Since PMMA has a much higher Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE) than various glasses, variations in temperature and humidity can cause delamination between the plastic lenticular array film and the glass. Another alternative is to form the lenticular lenses directly in a very thin plastic coating on the glass surface, for example by microreplication. Since the substrate thickness of the lenticular lens array (from hundreds of microns for the first approach) is significantly reduced to tens of microns, the color shift introduced by the lenticular lenses is reduced. However, this does not eliminate reliability issues and careful selection of plastic materials is required to achieve low color shift.

Accordingly, a method of making a glass article is disclosed, comprising: depositing an etch mask on a first major surface of a glass sheet, the etch mask forming a plurality of parallel rows on the first major surface; exposing the glass sheet to an etchant, thereby removing glass from the first major surface of the glass sheet between the plurality of parallel rows, the removing of the glass forming a plurality of channels in the first major surface of the glass sheet; and removing the etch mask, the resulting glass article comprising a glass sheet having a plurality of channels formed in the first major surface, at least one channel of the plurality of channels comprising a depth H of about 5 μ ι η to about 300 μ ι η, a width S defined at H/2, and wherein the ratio of S/H is about 1 to about 15.

The method further includes depositing an adhesion layer on the first major surface prior to depositing the etch mask. In some embodiments, the adhesion layer may include a silane layer or a siloxane layer. In some embodiments, the adhesion layer comprises an epoxy silane layer.

The adhesive layer may be applied by, for example, spin coating or dip coating.

In some embodiments, the etch mask is applied by a screen printing process. The screen printing process may include forming a cured emulsion pattern on a surface of the woven screen, wherein a chord angle of the woven screen relative to the cured emulsion pattern ranges from about 20 ° to about 45 °.

In some embodiments, the woven wire mesh comprises stainless steel wire.

In some embodiments, the etchant comprises HF. The etchant may also include HNO₃、H₂SO₄Or HCl. The etchant may be 10% HF by volume and H in an amount of about 10% to about 30%₂SO₄(e.g., H)₂SO₄In an amount of about 10% to about 20%) of an aqueous solution.

In some embodiments, exposing comprises spraying the etchant onto the glass sheet.

In other embodiments, the exposing comprises placing the glass sheet into an etchant bath. The exposing may include agitating the etchant during the exposing.

In an embodiment, a method may include controlling undercut of a glass sheet below an etch mask by controlling adhesion of the etch mask to the glass sheet. For example, the ratio of the maximum undercut M to the channel depth H may be controlled in the range of about 1.2 to about 1.8.

The glass article resulting from the method may comprise a light guide plate.

In some embodiments, the maximum thickness T of the glass sheet is about 0.1mm to about 2.1mm, for example about 0.6mm to about 2.1 mm.

In some embodiments, the etch mask may comprise a thermoplastic material, wherein the thermoplastic material is applied to the glass sheet through a heated nozzle. The coefficient of thermal expansion of the thermoplastic material should be within about 10% of the coefficient of thermal expansion of the glass sheet.

In other embodiments, a method of making a glass article is described, comprising: depositing an etch mask on a first major surface of a glass sheet, the etch mask forming a plurality of parallel rows on the first major surface; exposing the glass sheet to a stream of abrasive material, thereby removing glass from the first major surface of the glass sheet between the plurality of parallel rows, the removal of glass forming a plurality of channels in the first major surface of the glass sheet; and removing the etch mask, the resulting glass article comprising a glass sheet having a plurality of channels formed in the first major surface, at least one channel of the plurality of channels comprising a depth H of about 5 μ ι η to about 300 μ ι η, a width S defined at H/2, and wherein the ratio of S/H is about 1 to about 15.

The method may further comprise smoothing the surfaces of the plurality of channels by, for example, flame or abrasive polishing.

The RMS roughness of the sidewalls of the at least one channel formed by abrasion may be equal to or less than about 5 μm as measured by white light interferometry.

Additional features and advantages of the embodiments described herein will be set forth in the detailed description which follows, and in part will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from that description or recognized by practicing the invention as described herein, including the detailed description which follows, the claims, as well as the appended drawings.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are intended to provide an overview or framework for understanding the nature and character of the embodiments disclosed. The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate various embodiments herein and together with the description serve to explain the principles and operations thereof.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an exemplary LCD display device;

FIG. 2 is a top view of an exemplary light guide plate;

FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view of a glass sheet comprising a plurality of channels in a surface thereof and suitable for use in the glass light guide plate of FIG. 2;

FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of another glass sheet that includes a plurality of channels in a surface thereof and that is suitable for use in the glass light guide plate of FIG. 2;

fig. 3C is a cross-sectional view of another glass sheet including a plurality of channels in a surface thereof and suitable for use in the glass light guide plate of fig. 2.

FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view of another glass sheet that includes a plurality of peaks in its surface (the peaks being separated by channels) and that is suitable for use in the glass light guide plate of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view of another glass sheet that includes a plurality of peaks separated by channels in its surface (peaks separated by channels) and that is suitable for use in the glass light guide plate of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4C is a cross-sectional view of another glass sheet that includes a plurality of peaks separated by channels in its surface and that is suitable for use in the glass light guide plate of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view of another glass sheet that includes a plurality of peaks separated by channels in both major surfaces thereof and that is suitable for use in the glass light guide plate of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view of another glass sheet that includes a plurality of peaks separated by channels in both major surfaces thereof and that is suitable for use in the glass light guide plate of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5C is a cross-sectional view of another glass sheet that includes a plurality of peaks separated by channels in both major surfaces thereof and that is suitable for use in the glass light guide plate of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6A is a cross-sectional view of a channel formed in a major surface of a glass sheet, the channel comprising a plurality of radiused surfaces defining peaks 62;

FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view of another channel formed in a major surface of a glass sheet, the channel including a plurality of radiused surfaces defining peaks 62 having arcuate upper surfaces;

FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view of a trapezoidal channel formed in a major surface of a glass sheet;

FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view of trapezoidal channels formed in both major surfaces of a glass sheet;

FIG. 8A is a cross-sectional view of a glass sheet prior to deposition of an etch mask;

FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view of the glass sheet of FIG. 8A including an optional adhesion promoter layer deposited thereon;

FIG. 8C is a cross-sectional view of the glass sheet of FIG. 8B including an etch mask deposited thereon;

FIG. 8D is a cross-sectional view of the glass sheet of FIG. 8C after etching;

FIG. 8E is a cross-sectional view of the glass sheet of FIG. 8D with the etch mask remaining after the etch removed;

FIG. 9 is an SEM image of a wire screen used to screen print an etch mask showing a pattern of cured emulsion on the screen;

fig. 10 schematically shows undercut (undercut) of the etch mask that may occur during the etching process;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of a channel formed in a glass sheet by abrasion;

FIG. 12 is an elevation view of a glass ribbon drawn from a forming apparatus in which a structured surface containing channels is formed by an embossing roll;

FIG. 13 is an elevational view of a glass ribbon drawn from a forming apparatus in which a structured surface containing channels is formed by localized heating and/or cooling elements disposed across the width of the ribbon;

fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of an LGP showing parameters for calculating the local dimming index LDI and the straightness index SI;

FIG. 15 shows the functional relationship between LDI and wall angle, for example for a trapezoidal channel;

FIG. 16A shows a graph of LDI as a function of channel width S at two different distances from the light input edge of an LGP having a single structured surface;

FIG. 16B shows a graph of straightness index SI as a function of channel width S at two different distances from the light input edge of an LGP having a single structured surface;

FIG. 17A shows a graph of LDI as a function of channel width S at two different distances from the light input edge of an LGP having two opposing structured surfaces;

FIG. 17B shows graphs of SI as a function of channel width S at two different distances from the light input edge of an LGP having two opposing structured surfaces;

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of a glass sheet comprising two opposing structured surfaces having alternating rows of channels and peaks;

FIG. 19A shows a graph of LDI as a function of peak width W at a distance of 450mm from the input edge of the LGP for an LGP having a single structured surface and an LGP having two opposing structured surfaces;

FIG. 19B shows a plot of SI as a function of peak width W at a distance of 450mm from the input edge of an LGP for an LGP having a single structured surface and an LGP having two opposing structured surfaces;

FIG. 20A shows a plot of LDI as a function of peak width W at a distance of 300mm from the input edge of the LGP for an LGP having a single structured surface and an LGP having two opposing structured surfaces;

FIG. 20B shows a plot of SI as a function of peak width W at a distance of 300mm from the input edge of an LGP for an LGP having a single structured surface and an LGP having two opposing structured surfaces;

FIG. 21A shows a graph of LDI as a function of channel depth H at a distance of 450mm from the input edge of the LGP for an LGP having a single structured surface and an LGP having two opposing structured surfaces;

FIG. 21B shows a graph of LDI as a function of channel depth H at a distance of 450mm from the input edge of the LGP for an LGP having a single structured surface and an LGP having two opposing structured surfaces;

FIG. 22 shows the light propagation from a single LED injected into an LGP, and shows the increase in light confinement of the light injection region as the number of structured surfaces increases from zero to two;

FIG. 23 shows smooth channels (left) and rough channels (right) formed in a glass sheet, and light patterns formed when light is injected from an LED;

FIG. 24 shows a graph of the scanning of channel regions formed in a glass sheet to determine the roughness of the channel walls;

FIG. 25 shows another graph of scanning the channel region formed in a glass sheet to determine the roughness of the channel walls;

FIG. 26 is a graph showing channel wall roughness as a function of etch mask material used during the etch process; and

fig. 27 shows the chemical elements lost from the surface of the glass sheet when etching channels in the glass sheet.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of the disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. This disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

Ranges can be expressed herein as from "about" one particular value, and/or to "about" another particular value. When such a range is expressed, another embodiment includes from the one particular value and/or to the other particular value. Similarly, when values are expressed as approximations, by use of the antecedent "about," it will be understood that the particular value forms another embodiment. It will be further understood that the endpoints of each of the ranges are significant both in relation to the other endpoint, and independently of the other endpoint.

Directional terminology, such as upper, lower, left, right, front, rear, top, bottom, etc., that may be used herein is for reference only to the accompanying drawings and is not intended to imply absolute orientations.

Unless otherwise stated, it is not intended that any method described herein be construed as requiring that its steps be performed in a particular order, nor that it be construed as requiring any apparatus, particular orientation. Thus, where a method claim does not actually recite an order to be followed by its steps, or where any apparatus claim does not actually recite an order or orientation of individual components, or where it is not otherwise specifically stated in the claims or descriptions that the steps are to be limited to a specific order, or where a specific order or orientation of components of an apparatus is not recited, it is not intended that an order or orientation be implied in any way. The same applies to any possible explicative basis not explicitly stated, including: logic for setting steps, operational flows, component orders, or component orientations; general meaning derived from grammatical structures or punctuation; and the number or type of embodiments described in the specification.

As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to "a" or "an" element includes aspects having two or more such elements, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

Existing light guide plates for LCD backlight applications are typically formed from PMMA, as PMMA exhibits reduced optical absorption compared to many alternative materials. However, PMMA can present certain mechanical disadvantages that make it challenging to design large size (e.g., 32 inch diagonal or larger) displays. Such disadvantages include poor rigidity, high moisture absorption, and a large Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE).

For example, conventional LCD panels are made of two thin sheets of glass (e.g., a color filter substrate and a TFT backplane) and a BLU (which includes a PMMA light guide and a plurality of plastic films (diffuser, Dual Brightness Enhancement Film (DBEF) film, etc.) behind the LCD panel.

Humidity testing shows that PMMA is sensitive to moisture and can undergo dimensional changes up to about 0.5%. Thus, for a PMMA panel of 1 meter length, a variation of 0.5% would increase the panel length up to 5mm, which is significant and makes the mechanical design of the corresponding BLU difficult. Conventional solutions to this problem include leaving an air gap between the LED and the PMMA LGP to allow the PMMA LGP to expand. However, the optical coupling between the LED and the LGP is extremely sensitive to the distance from the LED to the LGP, and an increase in distance causes the display brightness to vary with humidity. Further, the greater the distance between the LED and the LGP, the less efficient the light coupling between the two.

Further, PMMA comprises about 75x10^-6CTE/DEG C and includes lower thermal conductivity (approximately 0.2 Watts/meter/Kelvin, W/m/K). In contrast, some glasses suitable for use in LGPs may include less than about 8x10^-6A CTE per DEG C and a thermal conductivity of 0.8W/m/K or more. Thus, glass as the photoconductive medium of a BLU provides excellent qualities not present in polymeric (e.g., PMMA) LGPs.

Furthermore, all-glass light guides exhibit inherently low color shift, do not exhibit polymer-like aging or "yellowing" at high illumination fluxes, and can incorporate a lenticular design and uniform Total Internal Reflection (TIR) redirection, which enables a reduction in the number of optical components in the display. These attributes are highly desirable to consumers.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary LCD display device 10 comprising an LCD display panel 12, the LCD display panel 12 being formed of a first substrate 12 and a second substrate 16 joined by an adhesive material 18, the adhesive material 18 being located between the first and second substrates and surrounding peripheral edge portions thereof. The first and

second substrates

14, 16 are typically glass substrates. The first and

second substrates

14, 16 and the adhesive material 18 form a gap 20 therebetween containing a liquid crystal material. Spacers (not shown) may also be used at various locations in the gap to maintain a constant spacing of the gap. The first substrate 14 may include a color filter material. Accordingly, the first substrate 14 may be referred to as a color filter substrate. On the other hand, the second substrate 16 includes a Thin Film Transistor (TFT) for controlling the polarization state of the liquid crystal material, and thus may be referred to as a backplane substrate or simply a backplane. The LCD panel 12 may also include one or more polarizing filters 22 on its surface.

The LCD display device 10 further comprises a BLU 24 arranged to illuminate the LCD panel 12 from behind, i.e. from the backplane side of the LCD panel. In some embodiments, the BLU can be spaced apart from the LCD panel, but in other embodiments, the BLU can be in contact with or coupled to the LCD panel, for example, with a transparent adhesive (e.g., CTE matched adhesive). The BLU 24 includes a glass light guide plate LGP 26 formed of a glass sheet 28 as a light guide, the glass sheet 28 including a first major surface 30 (i.e., a first glass surface 30), a second major surface 32 (i.e., a second glass surface 32), and a plurality of edge surfaces extending between the first and second major surfaces. In an embodiment, glass sheet 28 can be a parallelogram, e.g., square or rectangular as shown in fig. 2, and includes 4

edge surfaces

34a, 34b, 34c, and 34d extending between the first and second major surfaces. For example, edge surface 34a may be opposite edge surface 34c, while edge surface 34b may be opposite edge surface 34 d. Edge surface 34a may be parallel to opposing edge surface 34c and edge surface 34b may be parallel to opposing edge surface 34 d. Edge surfaces 34a and 34c may be perpendicular to edge

surfaces

34b and 34 d. Edge surfaces 34a-34d may be flat and perpendicular or substantially perpendicular (e.g., 90+/-1 degrees, such as 90+/-0.1 degrees) to

major surfaces

30, 32, but in other embodiments, the edge surfaces may include a chamfer, such as a flat central portion perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to

major surfaces

30, 32 and joined to the first and second major surfaces by two adjacent angled surface portions.

The first and/or second

major surfaces

30, 32 may include an average roughness (Ra) of about 0.1 nanometers (nm) to about 0.6nm, e.g., less than about 0.6nm, less than about 0.5nm, less than about 0.4nm, less than about 0.3nm, less than about 0.2nm, or in some embodiments, less than about 0.1 nm. The edge surface may have an average roughness (Ra) of equal to or less than about 0.05 micrometers (μm), such as about 0.005 micrometers to about 0.05 micrometers.

The aforementioned roughness of the major surface may be achieved by polishing, for example, using a fusion draw process or a float glass process followed by a polishing. Can be detected by, for example, atomic force microscopy; by having a business system (e.g. of

Those manufactured) white light interferometry; or by laser confocal microscopy with commercial systems such as those provided by Keyence corporation. Can be prepared to be the same except for the surface roughnessAnd then measuring the internal transmission to measure the scattering from the surface. The internal transmission difference between samples can be attributed to scattering losses induced by the rough surface. Edge roughness may be achieved by grinding and/or polishing.

Glass sheet 28 also includes a maximum thickness T that is oriented perpendicular to and extends between first major surface 30 and second major surface 32. In some embodiments, the thickness T may be equal to or less than about 3mm, such as equal to or less than about 2mm or equal to or less than about 1mm, but in other embodiments, the thickness T may range from about 0.1mm to about 3mm, such as from about 0.1mm to about 2.5m, from about 0.3mm to about 2.1mm, from about 0.5mm to about 2.1mm, from about 0.6 to about 2.1, or from about 0.6mm to about 1.1mm, including all ranges and subranges therebetween.

In various embodiments, the glass composition of glass sheet 28 may comprise: 60-80 mol% SiO₂0-20 mol% Al₂O₃And 0-15 mol% B₂O₃And comprises an iron (Fe) concentration of less than about 50 ppm. In some embodiments, less than 25ppm of iron may be present, or in some embodiments, the Fe concentration is about 20ppm or less. In various embodiments, the thermal conductivity of glass sheet 28 can be greater than 0.5 watts/meter/kelvin (W/m/K), for example, from about 0.5 to about 0.8W/m/K. In other embodiments, glass sheet 28 may be formed by a float glass process, a fusion draw process, a slot draw process, a redraw process, or other suitable glass sheet forming process.

In some embodiments, glass sheet 28 comprises: SiO 2₂In the range of about 65.79 mole% to about 78.17 mole%, Al₂O₃In the range of about 2.94 mol% to about 12.12 mol%, B₂O₃In the range of 0 mol% to about 11.16 mol%, Li₂O ranges from 0 mole% to about 2.06 mole%, Na₂O ranges from about 3.52 mole% to about 13.25 mole%, K₂O ranges from 0 mole% to about 4.83 mole%, ZnO ranges from 0 mole% to about 3.01 mole%, MgO ranges from about 0 mole% to about 8.72 mole%, CaO ranges from about 0 mole% to about 0 mole%% to about 4.24 mol%, SrO in the range of about 0 mol% to about 6.17 mol%, BaO in the range of about 0 mol% to about 4.3 mol%, and SnO₂Is in the range of about 0.07 mole% to about 0.11 mole%. In some embodiments, the glass sheet may exhibit a color shift of less than about 0.008 (e.g., less than about 0.005). In some embodiments, the glass sheet comprises R_xO/Al₂O₃Is in the range of about 0.95 to about 3.23, wherein R is any one or more of Li, Na, K, Rb, and Cs, and x is 2. In some embodiments, the glass article comprises R_xO/Al₂O₃A ratio of 1.18 to 5.68, wherein R is any one or more of Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, and x is 2; or R is any one or more of Zn, Mg, Ca, Sr or Ba, and x is 1. In some embodiments, the glass sheet comprises R_xO-Al₂O₃-MgO in the range of about-4.25 to about 4.0, wherein R is any one or more of Li, Na, K, Rb and Cs, and x is 2.

In other embodiments, the glass may comprise: ZnO in the range of about 0.1 mol% to about 3.0 mol%, TiO₂In the range of from about 0.1 mole% to about 1.0 mole%, V₂O₃In the range of about 0.1 mol% to about 1.0 mol%, Nb₂O₅In the range of about 0.1 mol% to about 1.0 mol%, MnO in the range of about 0.1 mol% to about 1.0 mol%, ZrO₂In the range of about 0.1 mole% to about 1.0 mole%, As₂O₃In the range of about 0.1 mole% to about 1.0 mole%, SnO₂In the range of about 0.1 mole% to about 1.0 mole%, MoO₃In the range of about 0.1 mol% to about 1.0 mol%, Sb₂O₃In the range of about 0.1 mol% to about 1.0 mol%, or CeO₂Is in the range of about 0.1 mole% to about 1.0 mole%. In other embodiments, the glass sheet may comprise: 0.1 mol% to no more than about 3.0 mol% of any one or combination of: ZnO, TiO₂、V₂O₃、Nb₂O₅、MnO、ZrO₂、As₂O₃、SnO₂、MoO₃、Sb₂O₃And CeO₂。

In some embodiments, the glass sheet comprises a strain temperature of about 522 ℃ to about 590 ℃. In some embodiments, the glass sheet comprises an annealing temperature of about 566 ℃ to about 641 ℃. In some embodiments, the glass sheet comprises a softening temperature of about 800 ℃ to about 914 ℃. In some embodiments, the glass comprises about 49.6x 10^-7/° C to about 80x 10^-7CTE per degree C. In some embodiments, the glass sheet comprises a density of about 2.34 grams per cubic centimeter (g/cm) @20 ℃ to about 2.53g/cc @20 ℃. In some embodiments, the glass sheet comprises less than 1ppm of each of Co, Ni, and Cr. In some embodiments, the concentration of Fe is less than about 50ppm, less than about 20ppm, or less than about 10 ppm. In some embodiments, the Fe +30Cr +35Ni is equal to or less than about 60ppm, equal to or less than about 40ppm, equal to or less than about 20ppm, or equal to or less than about 10 ppm. In some embodiments, the transmittance of the glass sheet at 450nm over a distance of at least 500mm may be greater than or equal to 85%; a transmittance at 550nm may be greater than or equal to 90% over a distance of at least 500 mm; or the transmittance at 630nm may be greater than or equal to 85% over a distance of at least 500 mm. In some embodiments, the glass sheet may be a chemically strengthened glass sheet, but in other embodiments, the glass sheet may be thermally or mechanically strengthened. For example, in some embodiments, the glass sheet may be a laminated glass sheet comprising a core glass and at least one clad glass layer disposed on the core glass, wherein the CTE of the clad glass is different from the CTE of the clad glass.

However, it is to be understood that the embodiments described herein are not limited by the glass composition, and the foregoing compositional embodiments are not limiting for this reason.

According to embodiments described herein, the BLU 24 further includes an array of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) 36 disposed along at least one edge surface (light incident edge surface) of the glass sheet 28, e.g., edge surface 34 a. It should be noted that while the embodiment shown in fig. 1 shows a single edge surface 34a of LED36 into which light is injected, the claimed subject matter is not so limited as any edge or edges of exemplary glass sheet 28 may inject light into LED 36. For example, in some embodiments, both edge surface 34 and its opposing edge surface 34c may inject light into LED 36. Other embodiments may inject light at edge surface 34b and its opposing edge surface 34d instead of or in addition to edge surface 34a and/or its opposing edge surface 34 c. In transmission, the light injection surface may be constrained to scatter light within an angle of less than 12.8 degrees full width at half maximum (FWHM).

In some embodiments, the LED36 may be positioned a distance d from the light injection edge surface (e.g., edge surface 34a) of less than about 0.5 mm. According to one or more embodiments, LEDs 36 may include a thickness (height) that is less than or equal to thickness T of glass sheet 28 to provide sufficient optical coupling into the glass sheet.

Light emitted by the LED array is injected through the at least one edge surface 34a and directed through the glass sheet via total internal reflection, and extracted for illuminating the LCD panel 12 (e.g., through extraction features on one or both

major surfaces

30, 32 of the glass sheet 28 or within a bulk (body) of the glass sheet). Such extraction features interfere with total internal reflection and cause light propagating within glass sheet 28 to be directed out of the glass sheet through one or both

major surfaces

30, 32. Accordingly, the BLU 24 can also include a reflector plate 38 positioned behind the LGP 26 (opposite the LCD panel 12) for redirecting light extracted from the back side of the glass sheet 28 (e.g., major surface 32) to a forward direction through the first major surface 30 and toward the LCD panel 12. Suitable light extraction features may include roughened surfaces on the glass sheet, produced by roughening the surface of the glass sheet directly or by contacting the sheet with a suitable coating (e.g., a diffusion film). In some embodiments, light extraction features may be obtained by printing reflective features (e.g., white dots) with a suitable ink (e.g., a UV curable ink) and drying and/or curing the ink. In some implementations, a combination of the aforementioned extracted features may be used, or other extracted features known in the art may be employed.

In some embodiments, the BLU can also include one or more films or coatings (not shown) deposited on a major surface of the glass sheet 28, for example, a quantum dot film, a diffusion film, a reflective polarizing film, or a combination thereof.

Local dimming (e.g., one-dimensional (1D) dimming) can be achieved by: selected LEDs 36 (which illuminate a first region along the at least one edge surface 34a of glass sheet 28) are turned on while LEDs 36 illuminating adjacent regions are turned off. Conversely, 1D local dimming may be achieved by turning off selected LEDs illuminating a first area while turning on LEDs illuminating adjacent areas, or vice versa. Fig. 2 shows a portion of an exemplary LGP 26, which includes: a first sub-array 40a of LEDs 36 arranged along the edge surface 34a of the glass sheet 28, a second sub-array 40b of LEDs 36 arranged along the edge surface 34a of the glass sheet 28, and a third sub-array 40c of LEDs 36 arranged along the edge surface 34a of the glass sheet 28. The 3 different areas of the glass sheet illuminated by the three sub-arrays are labeled A, B and C, where area a is the middle area and areas B and C are adjacent to area a. Regions A, B and C are illuminated by

LED sub-arrays

40a, 40b and 40C, respectively. When the LEDs of sub-array 40a are in an "on" state and all other LEDs of the other sub-arrays (e.g., sub-arrays 40b and 40c) are in an "off state, the local dimming index LDI can be defined as 1- [ (B, C average luminance in area)/(luminance in area a) ]. A more complete explanation for determining LDI can be found, for example, in Jung et al, "Local Dimming Design and Optimization for Edge-Type LED backlight Unit" SID 2011 abstract 2011, pp 1430-1432, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. It should be noted that the number of LEDs in any one array or sub-array, or even the number of sub-arrays, is at least a function of the size of the display device, and that the number of LEDs, arrays and regions shown in fig. 2 is merely illustrative and not intended to be limiting. Thus, each sub-array may comprise a single LED or more than one LED, or a number of sub-arrays may be provided as needed to illuminate a particular LCD panel, e.g. 3 sub-arrays, 4 sub-arrays, 5 sub-arrays, etc. For example, a typical 55 inch (139.7cm) LCD TV capable of 1D local dimming may have 8 to 12 zones, each illuminated by one or more sub-arrays of LEDs containing one or more LEDs. The zone width is typically about 100mm to about 150mm, but in some embodiments, the zone width may be smaller. The zone length is approximately the length of glass sheet 28. As a basic point of view of 1D dimming, light injected into a region of the LGP is confined within the region as much as possible. Failure to sufficiently confine the injected light to the appropriate region can result in light flowing out into the region where dimming should be performed. Thus, the region intended to be dark emits light instead, and the picture quality (e.g., contrast) is problematic.

Referring now to fig. 3A-3C, glass sheet 28 may be processed to include a structured surface to better confine light injected into a particular region to stay within that region. As used herein, unless otherwise specified, the term "structured surface" refers to a surface that includes a plurality of structures, i.e., a plurality of alternating peaks and valleys (channels). As used herein, "peak" may include a flat surface, an arcuate surface, or a surface with an angle, such as a prismatic surface, and is not limited to sharp points or ridges. The alternating peaks and channels are typically arranged in rows, such as parallel rows. The rows of peaks and channels may have a wave-like appearance of various shapes when viewed in cross-section perpendicular to the length direction of the rows. For example, cross-sectional views of these peaks and channels may have the appearance of rectangular, triangular and arcuate (e.g., sinusoidal), trapezoidal, etc. (including combinations of the foregoing), and are described in more detail in the specification.

Fig. 3A-3C show an LGP including a glass sheet 28, the glass sheet 28 including: a plurality of channels 60 formed in a surface of the glass sheet (e.g., in first major surface 30), the channels being spaced apart by peaks 62 and alternating with peaks 62, the peaks 62 being plateaus or terraces in the embodiment of fig. 3A, but in other embodiments, the peaks can have different shapes. In some embodiments, the plurality of channels may be formed in the second surface 32 or may be formed in both the first and

second surfaces

30, 32, as discussed more broadly below. In an embodiment, a channel of the plurality of channels may be formed parallel to an adjacent peak of the plurality of peaks and may include a maximum depth H relative to a surface forming the channel (e.g., first surface 30). The channel 60 also includes a width S, defined as the position across the channel at half the depth H (i.e., H/2), shown as a dashed line in fig. 3A-3C. The symbol letter "t" represents the minimum thickness of glass sheet 28, which for a glass sheet having only one structured surface is the distance from the lowest point of the channel to the opposing major surface (e.g., major surface 32).

Referring now to fig. 4A-4C, in other embodiments, glass sheet 28 can be processed to include other shapes of peaks and channels. For example, fig. 4A shows arcuate peaks (e.g., circular arcs, such as semicircular arcs) separated by channels 60, wherein, as before, the width W of each peak and the width S of each channel are defined at H/2, and the period of the channels and peaks is the sum of W and S (i.e., P ═ W + S). Fig. 4B shows a structured surface of a glass sheet comprising angled peaks (prismatic peaks), and fig. 4C shows a structured surface (with an array of alternating arcuate peaks and arcuate channels) of a glass sheet 28 comprising a contoured surface. In some embodiments, the structured surface may comprise a sinusoidal surface. It should be noted that discrete peaks (as compared to a continuous waveform, such as a sinusoid) may be separated by a gap U, which represents the distance between the bases of the peaks. Such gaps are typically formed by a flat bottom surface (floor) that is substantially parallel to the plane of the glass sheet (e.g., the plane of the unstructured surface, such as second major surface 32).

In some embodiments, both major surfaces of glass sheet 28 can be structured surfaces comprising alternating rows of peaks and channels, as shown in fig. 5A-5C, where the peak widths and channel widths of the opposing surfaces are denoted as W ' and S ', respectively, and the period of the opposing surface peaks and channels is P ' ═ W ' + S '. It should be noted that the minimum thickness t of the two opposing structured surfaces is defined as being between the lowest points of the channels on both surfaces of glass sheet 28, and the maximum thickness is defined as being between the highest points on both major surfaces of the glass sheet.

As disclosed herein, the channel depth H (or H') can be equal to or greater than about 5 μm to about 300 μm, for example: about 5 μm to about 250 μm, about 5 μm to about 200 μm, about 5 μm to about 150 μm, about 5 μm to about 100 μm, about 5 μm to about 80 μm, about 5 μm to about 70 μm, about 5 μm to about 60 μm, about 5 μm to about 50 μm, about 5 μm to about 45 μm, about 5 μm to about 40 μm, about 5 μm to about 35 μm, about 5 μm to about 30 μm, about 5 μm to about 25 μm, about 5 μm to about 20 μm, about 5 μm to about 15 μm, about 10 μm to about 300 μm, about 20 μm to about 300 μm, about 30 μm to about 300 μm, about 40 μm to about 300 μm, about 50 μm to about 300 μm, about 60 μm to about 300 μm, about 70 μm to about 300 μm, about 80 μm to about 300 μm, about 300 μm to about 300 μm, about 100 μm to about 300 μm, about 5 μm to about 300 μm, From about 200 μm to about 300 μm or from about 250 μm to about 300 μm, although other depths are also contemplated, including all subranges of the above ranges, depending on the maximum thickness T of the glass sheet and the cross-sectional shape of the channel. It should be readily understood that the channel depth is equal to the peak height. In fact, a peak is defined by adjacent channels and vice versa. Thus, in this context, H may be used to denote channel depth or peak height, and such use should be readily understood from the context.

In some embodiments, the channel width S defined at H/2 may be about 10 μm to about 3mm, for example: about 10 μm to about 2mm, about 10 μm to about 1mm, about 10 μm to about 500 μm, about 10 μm to about 300 μm, about 10 μm to about 100 μm, about 10 μm to about 50 μm, about 80 μm to about 300 μm, about 120 μm to about 300 μm, about 140 μm to about 300 μm, about 160 μm to about 300 μm, about 180 μm to about 300 μm, about 220 μm to about 300 μm, about 240 μm to about 300 μm, or about 260 μm to about 300 μm, including all subranges of the above ranges, but depending on, for example, the size of the glass sheet, the cross-sectional shape of the channel, and the number of illumination zones desired, other channel widths are also contemplated.

The channel 60 (e.g., at least one of the plurality of channels, or each of the plurality of channels) may have a ratio of channel width S to channel depth H (S/H) of about 1 to about 15, for example: about 1 to about 12, about 1 to about 10, about 1 to about 8, about 1 to about 6, about 1 to about 4, about 2 to about 15, about 4 to about 15, about 6 to about 15, about 8 to about 15, about 10 to about 15, and about 12 to about 15, including all ranges and subranges therebetween.

In some embodiments, channels 60 and peaks 62 may be periodic with period P equal to the width W of the peak plus the width S of the adjacent channel, i.e., P ═ W + S, but in other embodiments, the channels and peaks may not be periodic. That is, in some embodiments, the width of one channel on a surface of the glass sheet may be different from the width of another channel on the surface of the glass sheet. Similarly, the depth of one channel on the surface of the glass sheet may be different from the depth of another channel on the surface of the glass sheet. These differences also extend to peaks, where the width of one peak on the surface of the glass sheet may be different from the width of another peak on the surface of the glass sheet. Similarly, the height of one peak on the surface of the glass sheet can be different from the height of another peak on the surface of the glass sheet.

The channel 60 may be of various cross-sectional shapes. For example, in the embodiment of fig. 3A, the channels 60 are stepped in shape (reminiscent of rectangular, e.g., square, wave-shaped) in cross-section perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of each channel. In the embodiment of fig. 3B, each channel 60 comprises an arcuate cross-sectional shape, such as a concave circular cross-section, such as a circular arc, with intervening flat peaks (e.g., plateaus), such that the structured surface of the glass sheet comprises alternating rows of plateaus and arcuate channels. In the embodiment of fig. 3C, each channel 60 comprises a trapezoidal shape with sidewalls angled relative to the flat bottom (floor) of the channel. However, the cross-sectional shapes of FIGS. 3A-3C are not limiting, and the channel 60 may have other cross-sectional shapes or combinations of cross-sectional shapes, including the cross-sectional shapes described below. Indeed, in other embodiments, the structured surface may have peaks and channels of mixed shapes, for example, a mixture of arcuate shaped channels and angled shaped (e.g., trapezoidal) channels. Similarly, the structured surface may have a mixture of different peaks, such as a mixture of peaks that are stepped, arcuate, and/or angled. This includes individual channels and/or peaks of different shapes or wherein an individual channel or peak includes portions of different shapes. For example, the channels and/or peaks may include a stepped portion and an arcuate portion.

As shown in fig. 6A and 6B, is a specific embodiment of a circular arc channel cross-section. The embodiment of fig. 6A is similar to the embodiment of fig. 3B, wherein fig. 6A shows that glass sheet 28 includes a channel 60 having a cross-sectional shape that includes a circular arc adjacent to each plateau-shaped peak 62. The circular arc defines the side wall of the peak 62 and may have a radius of curvature of about 0.5 μm to about 1cm, for example: about 0.5 μm to about 0.5cm, about 0.5 μm to about 0.1cm, about 0.5 μm to about 50mm, about 0.5 μm to about 1mm, about 0.5 μm to about 500 μm, about 0.5 μm to about 100 μm, about 0.5 μm to about 50 μm, or about 0.5 μm to about 5 μm.

Fig. 6B shows another structured surface that includes arcuate cross-section peaks 62 and channels 60 having an arcuate cross-section. More specifically, in cross-section, the peaks 62 of fig. 4B comprise circular arcs having a radius R, and the channels 60 therebetween comprise circular arcs having a radius R. In certain embodiments, the radius R may be less than the radius R. Each peak 62 is located between arcs of a circle having a radius R and the sidewalls of the peak are at least partially defined by arcs of a circle having a radius R. In the embodiment of fig. 6A-6B, the channel 60 comprises two arcs separated by a flat bottom.

As noted above, the peak 62 spaces the channel 60 of the plurality of channels from an adjacent channel of the plurality of channels, the peak 62 corresponding to the highest point between the two channels. In particular, for terraces, in some embodiments, the flat tops between adjacent channels correspond to the width of the local dimming area of the backlight unit.

The width W of the peak defined at H/2 can be, for example: equal to or greater than about 10 μm, equal to or greater than about 25 μm, equal to or greater than about 75 μm, equal to or greater than about 100 μm, equal to or greater than about 150 μm, equal to or greater than about 300 μm, equal to or greater than about 450 μm, equal to or greater than about 600 μm, equal to or greater than about 750 μm, equal to or greater than about 900 μm, equal to or greater than about 1200 μm, equal to or greater than about 1350 μm, equal to or greater than about 1500 μm, equal to or greater than about 1650 μm, equal to or greater than about 1800 μm, for example, from about 75 μm to about 1800 μm. In other embodiments, the peak width W may be from about 10 μm to about 3mm, for example: about 10 μm to about 2.5mm, about 10 μm to about 2.0mm, about 10 μm to about 1.5mm, about 10 μm to about 1.0mm, about 10 μm to about 800 μm, about 10 μm to about 500 μm, about 10 μm to about 300 μm, about 10 μm to about 200 μm, about 10 μm to about 100 μm, about 10 μm to about 80 μm, about 10 μm to about 50 μm, about 20 μm to about 800 μm, about 30 μm to about 500 μm, about 40 μm to about 300 μm, about 50 μm to about 250 μm, about 60 μm to about 200 μm, or about 70 μm to about 150 μm, including all ranges and subranges therebetween.

It should be readily understood that the peak height is equal to the adjacent channel depth. Thus, in this context, H may be used to denote channel depth or peak height. In fact, a peak is defined by adjacent channels and vice versa. Whether peaks or channels, such use should be readily understood from the context. In embodiments, the peak height H may be greater than or equal to about 5 μm to about 300 μm, for example: about 5 μm to about 250 μm, about 5 μm to about 200 μm, about 5 μm to about 150 μm, about 5 μm to about 100 μm, about 5 μm to about 80 μm, about 5 μm to about 70 μm, about 5 μm to about 60 μm, about 5 μm to about 50 μm, about 5 μm to about 45 μm, about 5 μm to about 40 μm, about 5 μm to about 35 μm, about 5 μm to about 30 μm, about 5 μm to about 25 μm, about 5 μm to about 20 μm, about 5 μm to about 15 μm, about 10 μm to about 300 μm, about 20 μm to about 300 μm, about 30 μm to about 300 μm, about 40 μm to about 300 μm, about 50 μm to about 300 μm, about 60 μm to about 300 μm, about 70 μm to about 300 μm, about 80 μm to about 300 μm, about 300 μm to about 300 μm, about 100 μm to about 300 μm, about 200 μm to about 300 μm, or about 250 μm to about 300 μm, although other peak heights are also contemplated depending on the maximum thickness T of the glass sheet. When two opposing structured surfaces are shown, the peak height should be represented by H for one structured surface and the peak height should be represented by H' for the opposing structured surface and distinguished. It will be understood that the case of H as used herein encompasses the case of H'.

In some embodiments, the W/H ratio of peak 62 may be from about 1 to about 15, for example: about 1 to about 12, about 1 to about 10, about 1 to about 8, about 1 to about 6, about 1 to about 4, about 2 to about 15, about 4 to about 15, about 6 to about 15, about 8 to about 15, about 10 to about 15, and about 12 to about 15, including all ranges and subranges therebetween.

For the structured surfaces disclosed herein, in embodiments where only one major surface of glass sheet 28 is the structured surface, channel width S can be less than about 10 times peak width W, for example: S.ltoreq.10W, for example S.ltoreq.8 8W, S.ltoreq.6 6W, S.ltoreq. 4W, S.ltoreq.2 2W, S.ltoreq. W, S.ltoreq.0.5 0.5W, S.ltoreq.0.3 0.3W, S.ltoreq.0.2W, for example: ranges from about 0.2 to about 10, ranges from about 0.2 to about 8, ranges from about 0.2 to about 6, ranges from about 0.2 to about 4, ranges from about 0.2 to about 3, ranges from about 0.2 to about 2, ranges from about 0.2 to about 1, ranges from about 0.3 to about 10, ranges from about 0.4 to about 10, ranges from about 0.5 to about 10, ranges from about 1 to about 10, ranges from about 2 to about 10, ranges from about 4 to about 10, ranges from about 6 to about 10, or ranges from about 8 to about 10, including all ranges and subranges therebetween.

When both the first and second major surfaces are structured surfaces, the channel width S may be less than about 20 times the peak width W, for example: s is not less than 20W, S not less than 18W, S not less than 16W, S not less than 14W, S not less than 12W, S not less than 10W, S not less than 8W, S not less than 6W, S not less than 4W, S not less than 3W, S not less than 2W, S not less than W, S not less than 0.5W, S not less than 0.3W, S not less than 0.2W, for example: a range of about 0.2 to about 20, a range of about 0.2 to about 18, a range of about 0.2 to about 16, a range of about 0.2 to about 14, a range of about 0.2 to about 12, a range of about 0.2 to about 10, a range of about 0.2 to about 8, a range of about 0.2 to about 6, a range of about 0.2 to about 4, a range of about 0.2 to about 3, a range of about 0.2 to about 2, or a range of about 0.2 to about 1, a range of about 0.2 to about 20, a range of about 0.3 to about 20, a range of about 0.4 to about 20, a range of about 0.5 to about 20, a range of about 1 to about 20, a range of about 2 to about 20, a range of about 6 to about 20, a range of about 8 to about 20, a range of about 10 to about 20, a range of about 12 to about 20, a range of about 14 to about 20, a range of about 2 to about 20, or all subranges therebetween. (the same applies to W 'and S')

In some embodiments, the channel depth H (or peak height) can range from about 5% to about 90% of the glass sheet thickness T. For example, for a glass sheet having channels formed on only one major surface, the channel depth H can be from about 10% to about 90% of the maximum sheet thickness T (0.1 ≦ H/T ≦ 0.9), such as: H/T is less than or equal to 0.9, H/T is less than or equal to 0.8, H/T is less than or equal to 0.7, H/T is less than or equal to 0.6, H/T is less than or equal to 0.5, H/T is less than or equal to 0.4, H/T is less than or equal to 0.3, H/T is less than or equal to 0.2, or H/T is less than or equal to 0.1, including all ranges and subranges therebetween. For glass sheets having channels formed on both opposing major surfaces, the channel depth H (or H' of the opposing surface) can be about 5% to about 45% of the maximum sheet thickness T (0.05 ≦ H/T ≦ 0.45), such as: H/T is less than or equal to 0.45, H/T is less than or equal to 0.4, H/T is less than or equal to 0.35, H/T is less than or equal to 0.3, H/T is less than or equal to 0.25, H/T is less than or equal to 0.2, H/T is less than or equal to 0.15, H/T is less than or equal to 0.1, or H/T is less than or equal to 0.05, including all ranges and subranges therebetween. It is understood that the aforementioned ranges apply equally to the ratios H/T and H'/T shown. Thus, the channel depth H 'can be about 5% to about 45% of the maximum sheet thickness T (0.05 ≦ H'/T ≦ 0.45), such as: h '/T ≦ 0.45, H '/T ≦ 0.4, H '/T ≦ 0.35, H '/T ≦ 0.3, H '/T ≦ 0.25, H '/T ≦ 0.2, H '/T ≦ 0.15, H '/T ≦ 0.1, or H '/T ≦ 0.05, including all ranges and subranges therebetween. Furthermore, as described above, neither the channel depth H 'nor the channel width S' of the second major surface need be of the same size as the channel depth H and the channel width S of the first major surface. Thus, H 'may be equal to H, or H' may be different from H. Similarly, S 'may be equal to S, or S' may be different from S. Further, the opposing channels and/or peaks may be aligned, or, as shown in fig. 5A-5C, may be misaligned in other embodiments.

As shown in fig. 7A, the wall angle θ that would exist between the bottom surface of the channel and the angled sidewalls of the channel in a trapezoidal channel can also be varied to achieve the desired local dimming effect. The wall angle θ may range, for example, from greater than 90 ° to less than 180 °, such as: from about 95 ° to about 160 °, from about 100 ° to about 150 °, from about 110 ° to about 140 °, or from about 120 ° to about 130 °, including all ranges and subranges therebetween.

In various embodiments, one or more channels 60 may be completely or partially filled with at least one low index material 61, for example as shown in fig. 7B. The low index material 61 may be an optically transparent material having a refractive index at least 10% lower than the refractive index of the glass sheet. Exemplary low index materials may be selected from polymers, glasses, inorganic oxides, and other similar materials. The low index material may be used to fill or at least partially fill any shape and/or size of the channel 60, including the embodiments shown herein.

The channels 60 can be formed, for example, by etching, wherein portions of the first and/or second

major surfaces

30, 32 are coated with a patterned acid-resistant material, for example, by printing (e.g., ink jet printing, screen printing), and those portions of the first major surface 30 and/or second major surface 32 from which glass material is to be removed remain free of acid-resistant material. The thus coated surface may then be exposed to a suitable acid solution (e.g., an etchant) for a time and at a temperature suitable to etch and form channels of a desired depth H and width S in the surface of the glass sheet, such as by immersing the glass sheet in the acid solution or by spraying the etchant onto the glass sheet. In embodiments where only a single major surface of the glass sheet is etched, the opposing major surface may be completely covered with an acid-resistant material. In addition, the edge surfaces of the glass sheet may also be coated with an acid resistant material to prevent etching of the edge surfaces. In some embodiments, when the glass sheet is very thin (e.g., when T is equal to or less than about 0.3mm), the glass sheet may be attached to a carrier plate, such as a thicker glass plate or another suitable sheet of material, using methods known in the art. The glass sheet 28 may be attached to the carrier plate by means of an adhesive, for example.

The etching solution may include, for example, HF, H₂SO₄In certain embodiments, the etching process may be applicable to a glass composition having a viscosity of η and a Young's modulus of elasticity E, wherein η/E<0.5 second. Etching methods may be used to create any of the channels 60 described herein.

The method of etching a major surface of a glass sheet typically begins with a clean glass sheet because dust, oil, or other contaminants negatively impact the etching process by impeding uniform etching, thus, in an exemplary etching process, a glass sheet 28 (see FIG. 8A) to be etched may be cleaned with a cleaning liquid (e.g., water, and optionally a detergent) to remove contaminants, and then rinsed sufficiently with water to remove the detergent residue. in one example, the glass sheet may be initially rinsed with a KOH solution to remove organic contaminants and dust on the glass surface. other rinsing solutions may be used instead as needed. a level of cleanliness sufficient to achieve less than about 20 ℃ water should be achieved.A DSA100 drop shape analyzer, manufactured by, for example, Kr ü ss, and a sessile drop method may be used to evaluate the contact angle after cleaning.

The method may further include the optional step of applying an adhesion promoter to the surface of the glass sheet to be etched prior to applying the etch mask material. For example, fig. 8B shows adhesion promoter layer 72 applied to first major surface 30 of glass sheet 28, but in other embodiments, both first major surface 30 and second major surface 32 may be coated with adhesion promoter if etch masks 74 are to be applied to both major surfaces of the glass sheet. Adhesion promoters may be used to ensure adequate adhesion of the acid resistant material. Glue stickThe co-accelerator may be a silane layer, an epoxy silane layer, or a self-assembled siloxane layer. The adhesion promoter may comprise, for example: HardSil^TMAm (ham), an acrylate-based polysilsesquioxane resin solution diluted with 2 methoxypropanol manufactured by Gelest Incorporated. In some embodiments, the adhesion promoter may be a HAM polysilsesquioxane stock solution diluted to 10% to 50% by volume with 2-methoxypropanol. The HAM solution may be diluted to a polymer concentration of 2% to 10% by volume. Other adhesion promoters suitable for use include octadecyl dimethyl (3-trimethoxysilylpropyl) ammonium chloride in water and/or 3-glycidoxypropyl) trimethoxysilane acetate in isopropanol.

In some embodiments, the adhesion promoter may be applied by painting (rolling). However, in other embodiments, the adhesion promoter may be applied by spin coating or dip coating. For example, spin coating may be performed at a variety of speeds, such as a first slow speed of, for example, about 500 to about 1000rpm, followed by a second faster speed of, for example, about 2500rpm to about 3500 rpm. Surface energy and atomic force surface roughness measurements showed that solutions of > 10% HAM gave well coated surfaces. It should be noted, however, that in some embodiments, an adhesion promoter may not be necessary if the selected resistant material applied to the glass exhibits sufficient adhesion.

After the adhesion promoter layer is applied, the adhesion promoter may optionally be air dried and cured by baking, for example at a temperature of about 120 ℃ to about 300 ℃ (e.g., about 150 ℃ to 200 ℃, depending on the material) for a time period of about 5 minutes to 1 hour (e.g., 20 minutes to about 30 minutes). The coated glass sheet may then be rinsed, for example with isopropanol, and then with nitrogen (N)₂) And (5) drying.

In a subsequent step, as shown in fig. 8C, an acid-resistant material or etch mask 74 is applied to the glass sheet (over which the adhesion promoter, if present), in a suitable pattern, noting that the portion of the major surface of the glass (e.g., the adhesion promoter) that is covered with the resistant material is not etched during the etching process and forms peaks 62 after etching and removal of the etch mask. The pattern of the applied etch mask may be a plurality of rows (e.g., parallel rows) extending across the major surface of glass sheet 28, although other patterns are possible. Those portions of the glass sheet not covered with the resistant material may be etched below the level of the exposed surfaces to form channels. As described above, the acid resistant material may be applied by a printing process (e.g., screen printing or inkjet printing). It should also be noted that pattern resolution, i.e., the size (e.g., width) and spatial density (e.g., periodicity) of the peaks and channels left after etching, relates to minimal control over the amount of undercut that occurs during the etching process, as described below.

A typical screen mesh size for a screen printing process may be about 300 to 500 wires per square inch (46.5 to 77.5 wires per square centimeter), the wires being formed of stainless steel. A photosensitive emulsion (photoresist) is applied uniformly to the screen to a depth of about 5 to about 10 μm, for example about 5 to about 9 μm, for example about 7 μm, and is cured by irradiating the emulsion with light (e.g., ultraviolet light) through a photomask comprising a negative pattern of an etch mask (alternating clear and opaque rows). After exposure, the screen and photoresist are washed, removing the uncured portions of the photoresist, leaving cured emulsion stripes, resulting in a patterned screen.

The screen printed etch mask was applied by suspending the patterned screen over the glass sheet surface, flushing the screen with the etch mask material, and wiping the screen with a squeegee (squeegee). The screen may be suspended at a distance of about 2mm to about 5mm (e.g., about 4mm to about 5mm) from the glass surface. The squeegee should wipe across the patterned screen at a substantially constant speed and pressure to apply the etch mask material, for example, at a speed of about 75mm/s to about 125mm/s (e.g., about 90mm/s to about 110mm/s) and a pressure of about 27 pounds/inch²(0.186 megapascals) to about 30 pounds per inch²(0.207 MPa). Once the etch mask material is deposited onto the surface of the glass sheet, the etch mask material is cured in a manner appropriate to the material. For example, a thermally curable etch mask material may be cured as follows: heating in an oven at a temperature of about 120 ℃ to about 140 ℃ (e.g., about 130 ℃ to about 140 ℃) for a time of about 5 minutes to about 75 minutes, although these conditions may vary depending on the material selected. The UV-curable etch mask material is cured with UV light. After curing, the glass sheet may be held in a dryer until further processing.

In some embodiments, the adhesion promoter may be incorporated into the etch mask material rather than applied as a separate layer. Various etch mask materials may be selected, with adhesion promoters incorporated into the material composition to various degrees, or a particular etch mask material may be provided more simply by adhesion. The precise surface topology of a full glass surface structured LGP produced by the mask printing and etching process depends largely on the adhesion of the etch mask to the substrate.

The etch mask material may be selected from a range of consistencies. In some embodiments, the etch mask material may be applied as an ink. Suitable inks are typically multi-component compositions containing organic polymers, dispersants, emulsifiers, crosslinkers, pigments, antioxidants, solvents, adhesion promoters and inorganic materials (e.g., filler materials). Typical polymers include acrylics, epoxies, phenolics, and polysiloxanes. The glass sheet surface topology is adjustable after etching, wherein a range of shapes can be obtained, from various degrees of bow (e.g., wavy or sinusoidal) topography to various degrees of "flat top" topography by varying the adhesion of the etch mask to the glass surface. Various optical parameters of the LGP that affect optical performance, such as the light limiting index (LDI), can be affected by affecting the surface topology of the glass sheet. Exemplary etch mask materials are Kiwomark 140 ("Kiwo") available from Kiwo corporation (Kiwo, Seabrook, Texas, USA), West Bruk, Texas, USA, and CGSN XG77 ("CGSN") and ESTS3000 ("ESTS") (both available from Sun Chemicals, Sunchemical). The etch mask material may be diluted as necessary to achieve a suitable viscosity. These exemplary etch mask materials combine various amounts of adhesion promoters and yield various degrees of adhesion to the glass surface.

In some embodiments, the etch mask may comprise a thermoplastic material. Examples of suitable thermoplastic materials include ethylene vinyl acetate materials, propylene materials, polyol materials, polyamide materials, polyurethane materials, addition polymer materials of polypropylene glycol and ethylene oxide, polyacrylamide, and the like. Such thermoplastic materials can be manufactured without a volatile medium, thereby eliminating the need for a drying step after the thermoplastic material is applied to the surface of the glass sheet. The thermoplastic material exhibits good adhesion to the glass surface, also eliminates the need for an adhesion promoter layer (or incorporation of an adhesion promoter into the etch mask composition), and reduces or eliminates potential delamination during subsequent etching steps. However, a thermoplastic material should be selected that has a CTE substantially equal to the CTE of the glass. For example, the CTE of the selected thermoplastic material should be within about 10% of the CTE of the glass to avoid possible delamination due to CTE mismatch.

Although the thermoplastic material is applied to the glass surface in a low viscosity ("liquid") state, when it comes into contact with the glass surface, the thermoplastic material solidifies virtually immediately, eliminating spreading of the deposited pattern ("wetting"), and creating a clean, consistent, and well-defined pattern on the glass surface, with controlled shape and spacing.

Application of the thermoplastic material may be accomplished by, for example, spraying the thermoplastic material from one or more nozzles (e.g., heated nozzles). The one or more nozzles may be integrated into a coating head which is itself mounted on a computer-driven coating device, such as a two-dimensional or three-dimensional gantry capable of moving the coating head in at least two dimensions, preferably three dimensions. For example, the thermoplastic material may be applied by 3D printing the thermoplastic material with an inkjet printing process (e.g., or similar to readily commercially available equipment).

Alternatively, the thermoplastic material may be applied in a screen printing process, wherein the thermoplastic material may be applied over a suitable screen (e.g., a metal (e.g., stainless steel) screen) and passed through an oven, microwave, Infrared (IR) heater, or laser(e.g., CO)₂Laser) is heated. The screen is then pressed to the glass surface, thereby transferring the thermoplastic material to the glass surface. In embodiments, portions of the application apparatus may be heated to maintain the thermoplastic material in a low viscosity state during the transfer. For example, the wire mesh may be configured to be directly heated by establishing an electrical current in the wires of the mesh, wherein the electrical current heats the wire mesh by resistive heating. The temperature of the web should be maintained at a temperature of about 30c to about 150 c, depending on the thermoplastic material selected. Once the screen is placed over the glass, the thermoplastic material may be forced through the screen using a heater (e.g., a hot plate) or by a squeegee, or the screen printing method may use a rotary screen printing technique.

Advantageously, the thermoplastic material can be reused, thereby enabling the recovery and reuse of the thermoplastic material after a subsequent etching process. For example, the thermoplastic etch mask material may be removed with a suitable solvent (depending on the thermoplastic), with hot water, or by other methods of heating (e.g., an IR heater).

Regardless of the composition of the etch mask, once the etch mask is applied, the glass is removed from the glass sheet to form channels 60, leaving the etch mask (and adhesion promoter, if present) to result in an LGP having alternating rows of channels 60 and peaks 62 (fig. 8E). In some embodiments, the glass is removed by exposing the glass sheet to an etchant (etching solution).

While high resolution screen printing is conducive to rigid-walled mesh (stiff-walled mesh), such as those employing stainless steel-based screens, the sidewall smoothness of the etched channels also depends on the interplay between the rheology of the viscoelastic screen ink passing through the screen emulsion-pattern gaps and screen openings during printing. The specific shear thinning forces shown are related to the squeegee speed of the screen (e.g., 5cm/s) and the applied pressure (e.g., 3psi or 20.7 kpascal, above ambient conditions), screen-to-glass surface gap (e.g., 2mm-5mm), emulsion thickness (e.g., 5 μm-30 μm), screen thickness and chord angle (0 ° -30 °). Fig. 9 is a SEM image (100 x magnification) in the form of a screen that can be used to produce an all-glass surface structured LGP with a high LDI value. The deposited patterned screen 76 comprised a stainless steel 360 mesh screen 78 with 56 μm openings, 22 ° chord angle, and a 15 μm thick screen emulsion with 150 μm wide stripes 80. Chord angle refers to the angle of the individual wires of the wire mesh relative to the edge of the cured emulsion row (strip 80) forming the patterned mesh.

The screen is angled relative to the cured emulsion strip so that when a line is printed, the print medium (e.g., the etch mask material) is not along the edge of the wire ("string"). This can easily lead to "line jumping", where instead of the edge that is intended to be straight, it jumps back and forth over the thread (because the emulsion edge is completely along it), so there is no straight line printed. While a chord angle of 22.5 ° was found to be a generally optimal chord angle to help eliminate line jumps, other angles may also be advantageous depending on the etch mask material (e.g., mask material viscosity). For example, 30 ° works well, although 22.5 ° causes line printing problems in some cases. In some cases, a 45 chord angle of the straight pattern causes printing problems because the mask ink can fall onto the repeating pattern where the threads intersect each other. However, other patterns favor chord angles of 45 °. Accordingly, the chord angle may range from about 20 ° to about 45 °, although other chord angles may be acceptable.

To better understand the effect of etchant formulation on glass removal, 12 etching solutions were tested: 10% HF-10% HNO₃A solution; 10% HF-20% HNO₃A solution; 10% HF-30% HNO₃A solution; 10% HF-20% H₂SO₄A solution; 10% HF-20% H₂SO₄A solution; 10% HF-30% H₂SO₄A solution; 10% HF-10% HCl solution; 10% HF-20% HCl solution; 10% HF-30% HCl solution; and 3 concentrations of HF etching solution: 10%, 20% and 30% HF. The conditions and results of the etching are shown in table 1 below. The etching was performed with an etching solution temperature of 21 c and an exposure time of 30 minutes. Table 1 presents, from left to right, the etching solution composition, etchant temperature, etch rate, presence or absence of haze after etching, androughness of the unetched main surface (backside) of the glass sheet. Data show that H is mixed₂SO₄HF of (a) yields the fastest etch rate, which is desirable for commercial processes, but other solutions also yield acceptable results.

TABLE 1

Although all of the etchant recipes in Table 1 are capable of forming channels in the

glass substrate

28, 10% HF-20% H₂SO₄The solution produced the fastest etch rate with the least observable striations on the etched surface after etching was complete, with 10% HF-30% H₂SO₄The solution produced significant streaking. These streaks appear as wavy residues on the etched glass surface. Channel height measurements were performed by white light interferometry using a Zygo instrument.

Subsequent testing showed that agitation (e.g., with a "rice" stir bar at 400 rpm) helped to minimize streaking. Using 10% HF-20% H₂SO₄Solution, agitation is particularly effective for reducing streaking.

According to table 1, suitable etchants may include the following aqueous solutions (by volume): about 10% HF combined with HNO in an amount of about 10% to about 30%₃E.g. about 12% HNO₃To about 30% HNO₃About 14% HNO₃To about 30% HNO₃About 16% HNO₃To about 30% HNO₃About 18% HNO₃To about 30% HNO₃About 20% HNO₃To about 30% HNO₃About 22% HNO₃To about 30% HNO₃About 24% HNO₃To about 30% HNO₃About 26% HNO₃To about 30% HNO₃About 28% HNO₃To about 30% HNO₃About 10% HNO₃To about 28% HNO₃About 10% HNO₃To about 26% HNO₃About 10% HNO₃To about 24% HNO₃About 10% HNO₃To about 22% HNO₃About 10% HNO₃To about 20% HNO₃About 10% HNO₃To about 3018HNO₃About 10% HNO₃To about 16% HNO₃About 10% HNO₃To about 14% HNO₃And about 10% HNO₃To about 12% HNO₃Including all ranges and subranges therebetween.

Suitable etchants may include the following aqueous solutions (by volume): about 10% HF binds H in an amount of about 10% to about 30%₂SO₄E.g. about 12% H₂SO₄To about 30% H₂SO₄About 14% H₂SO₄To about 30% H₂SO₄About 16% H₂SO₄To about 30% H₂SO₄About 18% H₂SO₄To about 30% H₂SO₄About 20% H₂SO₄To about 30% H₂SO₄About 22% H₂SO₄To about 30% H₂SO₄About 24% H₂SO₄To about 30% H₂SO₄About 26% H₂SO₄To about 30% H₂SO₄About 28% H₂SO₄To about 30% H₂SO₄About 10% H₂SO₄To about 28% H₂SO₄About 10% H₂SO₄To about 26% H₂SO₄About 10% H₂SO₄To about 24% H₂SO₄About 10% H₂SO₄To about 22% H₂SO₄About 10% H₂SO₄To about 20% H₂SO₄About 10% H₂SO₄To about 18% H₂SO₄About 10% H₂SO₄To about 16% H₂SO₄About 10% H₂SO₄To about 14% H₂SO₄About 10% H₂SO₄To about 14% H₂SO₄And about 10% H₂SO₄To about 12% H₂SO₄Including all ranges and subranges therebetween.

Suitable etchants may include the following aqueous solutions (by volume): about 10% HF to about 30% HF, for example: from about 12% HF to about 30% HF, from about 14% HF to about 30% HF, from about 16% HF to about 30% HF, from about 18% HF to about 30% HF, from about 20% HF to about 30% HF, from about 22% HF to about 30% HF, from about 24% HF to about 30% HF, from about 26% HF to about 30% HF, from about 28% HF to about 30% HF, from about 10% HF to about 28% HF, from about 10% HF to about 26% HF, from about 10% HF to about 24% HF, from about 10% HF to about 22% HF, from about 10% HF to about 20% HF, from about 10% HF to about 18% HF, from about 10% HF to about 16% HF, from about 10% HF to about 14% HF, and from about 10% HF to about 12% HF, including all ranges and subranges therebetween.

Suitable etchants may include the following aqueous solutions (by volume): about 10% HF incorporates an amount of HCl of about 10% to about 30%, such as about 12% HCl to about 30% HCl, about 15% HCl to about 30% HCl, about 18% HCl to about 30% HCl, about 20% HCl to about 30% HCl, about 22% HCl to about 30% HCl, about 24% HCl to about 30% HCl, about 26% HCl to about 30% HCl, and about 28% HCl to about 30% HCl, about 10% HCl to about 28% HCl, about 10% HCl to about 26% HCl, about 10% HCl to about 24% HCl, about 10% HCl to about 22% HCl, about 10% HCl to about 20% HCl, about 10% HCl to about 18% HCl, about 10% HCl to about 16% HCl, about 10% HCl to about 14% HCl, and about 10% HCl to about 12% HCl, including all ranges and subranges therebetween.

Referring now to fig. 10, it should be readily appreciated that during the etching process, the etchant causes the glass substrate to dissolve simultaneously in a direction N perpendicular to the normal direction of the major surfaces of the glass sheet, and also in a direction parallel to one or both of the major surfaces of the glass sheet (a lateral distance M parallel to the plane of the glass sheet), thereby forming undercut region 75. The distance M extends from the edge of the acid-resistant material (e.g., the edge of the ribbon) to the intersection of the major surface of the glass and the acid-resistant material (or adhesion promoter). Such lateral undercutting is detrimental to the performance of the LGP because it limits the resolution of surface structures (e.g., peaks and channels), that is, how close these structures can be placed (e.g., the narrowness of the structures). Thus, in some embodiments, it is desirable to maximize dissolution in the normal directionThe lateral glass dissolution is minimized while maximizing. It was determined experimentally that a lateral-to-normal distance ratio M/H (where H is the depth of the etched channel) of about 1.2 to about 1.8 is optimal for achieving a peak width of about 50 microns, but other ratios, such as about 1/1 to 30/1, are achievable, such as 3.5/1, 5/1 or 7/1. To achieve the M/H ratio, multiple pieces 5cm x 5cm with a thickness T of 2mm were prepared using the protocol described above

IRIS^TMSamples of glass sheet 28 (with increasingly finer patterns of resistant material (reduced line widths)) are then etched with various etching solutions. Application of resistant material by screen printing: the screen is first flushed with a resistive material to wet the screen before printing. After printing the pattern of resistant material onto the major surface of the glass sample (e.g., first and/or second

major surfaces

30, 32 of glass sheet 28), the glass sheet (including the pattern of resistant material) is baked at 120 ℃ for 30 minutes to cure the resistant material.

It should also be noted that the size of the undercut can be controlled to create a specific shape of the structure, i.e. the channels and peaks. For example, a more aggressive undercut (increase in M) may be used to obtain a sharper, more well-defined peak. The undercut can be controlled by varying the temperature of the etching solution, the duration of exposure of the glass substrate to the etching solution, and the aggressiveness of the acid solution (e.g., the choice of acid and its concentration).

It has also been found that the size of the undercut can be controlled by varying the adhesion of the masking material to the glass surface. That is, altering the adhesion properties of the adhesion promoter (either as a separate layer 72 or formulated in an etch mask material (e.g., an ink jet ink or screen printing ink)) can result in different characteristics of the structured surface. As described above, this can be achieved by using different etch mask materials that produce different degrees of adhesion.

Very small peak and/or channel widths can be obtained using the etching methods disclosed herein. For example, in one experiment, a 175 μm row width of acid resistant material (edge-to-edge) was used, wherein rows of resistant materialWith a gap of 50 μm apart. The substrate was then exposed to a solution containing 10 vol% HF and 20 vol% H₂SO₄(the balance being H)₂O) in an acid solution bath. The resulting pattern of raised peaks exhibited a width of about 125 μm, as measured from one channel floor to the opposite channel floor defining the peaks of the raised portions. If a M/H ratio of about 1.5 is achieved, a peak width equal to or less than about 125 μ M, for example, as small as 50 μ M or less, may be obtained.

Several methods can be used for etching, including bath etching and spray etching. In a bath etching process, a glass sheet with a patterned etch mask is placed in a bath of a selected etchant. The etchant may be circulated or, in other embodiments, the etchant may be agitated, for example, by slowly shaking. During the etching process, the etchant is maintained at a suitable temperature, such as equal to or greater than about 21 ℃, such as equal to or greater than about 23 ℃. The glass sheet is exposed to the etchant bath for a period of time sufficient to form the desired structured surface (e.g., peak and channel topography), for example, from about 30 minutes to about 1 hour, and then removed and rinsed. The rinsing may be performed by: the glass sheet is first placed in a bath of deionized water (DI) for about 1 minute, removed and rinsed under flowing hot water (e.g., tap water) for an additional 1 minute, and then N is used₂And drying the gas. The etchant may be replaced periodically, for example, based on the number of glass sheets that have been etched. If desired, residual etch mask material not removed during rinsing may be removed using a Parker Transmission cleaning Solution (Paker Cross clean Solution) from Parker Laboratories (Parker Laboratories) diluted to about 4% with DI water, or other suitable cleaning Solution (e.g., semi-clean KG, NaOH).

Alternatively, spray etching may be performed. The etch mask patterned glass sheet is cleaned with DI water and exposed to an etchant spray, for example for a period of 30 to 40 minutes depending on the desired etch (channel) depth, and then rinsed with DI water. If desired, the remaining etch mask material can be removed with NaOH and then rinsed with DI water.

In other embodiments, such as shown in fig. 11, channels may be created in the glass sheet using abrasive blasting (e.g., sand blasting, wet abrasive blasting (e.g., water jet), dry ice blasting, or similar processes) to remove material by abrading the surface of the glass sheet to form the channels. Advantageously, the abrasive removal of the glass can be carried out rapidly (removal rate of about 50 μm/s) and is scalable and automatable. In addition, steeper channel sidewalls than can be achieved with wet etching can be achieved. Post-processing after shaping to make the abrasive channel smooth may include flame polishing and abrasive water jet. These and other aspects are described in more detail below.

According to one or more embodiments, an abrasion resistant material (mask) is applied to at least one major surface of the glass sheet (with or without optional adhesion promoter layer 72 as desired) in a predetermined pattern, such as by ink jet or screen printing according to the manufacturer's recommended practice. A suitable resistant material that is able to resist moderate periods of abrasion is Kiwo. Mask deposition may be followed by a post-deposition heating (baking) process to remove volatile components and cure the mask material. Post-deposition heating for about 60 minutes to about 90 minutes may be performed at a temperature of, for example, about 60 ℃ to about 90 ℃, but more rapid curing for about 30 minutes is performed at a higher temperature (e.g., 120 ℃) (the curing temperature of Kiwo should not exceed 150 ℃). To promote optimal defoaming of the etch mask material, the glass sheet should be allowed to stand undisturbed at ambient temperature for a period of time (e.g., 1 to 2 minutes) after application of the etch mask material before forced drying in any manner is used.

Once the etch masking material is deposited and baked, an abrasive applicator (82) (a sander) may be used to abrade away the material of the unmasked (unprotected) areas of the glass sheet with an abrasive (e.g., alumina particles entrained in a fluid (e.g., air or water) stream 84) to form channels 60. Smaller grit sizes produce smoother surface finishes and reduce the amount of post-abrasion smoothing that may be required to achieve the desired surface roughness, but at the expense of longer processing times. Grit sizes from about 10 μm to about 20 μm have been shown to produce acceptable results, but other grit sizes may also be used. The abrasive applicator may include a nozzle 86 for directing the entrained abrasive. For example, in an embodiment, the nozzle 86 may be a slit nozzle that provides a wide and uniform spreading of abrasive particles along the nozzle travel path relative to the major surface of the glass sheet during the experiment and produces uniform abrasion of the glass sheet surface over areas of the glass sheet surface not protected by the etch mask 74.

In an embodiment, the nozzle 86 may traverse the same path multiple times before moving to the next path. For example, in experimental tests, an abrasive delivery device (Comco Accuflow microbbler) traversed a total of 6 times over the glass sheet along a first path at a speed of about 20mm/s, with the device nozzle being about 0.85cm from the surface of the glass sheet. The nozzle, which was about 0.5mm in diameter, was then advanced about 1mm in a direction perpendicular to the first path and traversed 6 more times along a second path parallel to the first path (but offset by a 1mm step). The back pressure of the abrasive transfer device (e.g., the pressure of the delivery gas) is about 0.55 megapascals (MPa). The above process is continued in 1mm steps until the desired abrasion is completed.

Using the abrasion process described above, it was found that linear channels between etched mask stripes can be quickly created in the glass sheet, the location of these channels being between and defining peaks under the mask. The channels extend in linear rows. The depth H of these channels (i.e., the direction perpendicular to the plane of the glass sheet) is about 37 μm and is produced with a period P of about 385 μm.

It should be noted that while the etch mask material (e.g., Kiwo, described above) may be resistant to abrasion, it may still be abraded away after exposure to the abrasive particle stream for a sufficient period of time. Therefore, care should be taken to use a minimum residence time for directing the abrasive particles anywhere on the glass sheet. This may depend on the size and characteristics (e.g., hardness and "sharpness") of the abrasive particles, the pressure of the gas used to propel the particles, the size of the impact area of the particles, the traverse speed of the impact area, and the distance between the nozzle and the workpiece (e.g., glass sheet).

Once the abrasion of the glass sheet is complete and the channels are formed to a desired depth, the abraded channels can be smoothed to reduce the surface roughness of the abraded portions. Attempts to incorporate HF- (NH) in HCl₄)HF₂The buffer solution, but was found to be too aggressive and resulted in unacceptable undercutting of the mask area if applied with the mask placed, whereas with the mask removed, material was removed from the entire surface of the glass sheet, including the peaks just formed in the surface of the glass sheet.

An alternative to wet chemical smoothing is an abrasive liquid jet process, in which abrasives of sufficiently small grit size are entrained in a liquid (e.g., water) and directed at high pressure to the abraded surface before the glass sheet.

Another alternative method of smoothing the abraded surface of the glass sheet includes flame or plasma polishing by heating the abraded surface sufficiently to cause the glass to flow, but care should be taken not to overheat and cause distortion of the glass surface.

The glass sheet (more specifically the surfaces of the channels, and still more specifically the sidewalls of the channels) should be smoothed such that the RMS roughness of the sidewalls is equal to or less than about 5 μm, for example equal to or less than about 1 μm, when measured by white light interferometry. Once the abrasion step and optional smoothing step are completed, the glass sheet may be washed, for example with NaOH, to remove all mask material and abrasive residue. Further washing and drying may be carried out as required, for example with water and dry nitrogen (N), respectively₂)。

In other embodiments, the channels 60 (or peaks 62) may be formed during the glass forming process, for example, after the glass ribbon 88 is drawn from the forming body 89 but before the ribbon cools to form a glass sheet, the glass ribbon may be formed by a float process, a down draw process (e.g., a fusion down draw process, a slot draw process, or any other process capable of forming a glass ribbon), before cooling, the glass ribbon may be sufficiently viscous to be manipulated to produce a desired characteristic, for example, the channels 60 (or peaks) may be formed via manipulation of direct contact forces using, for example, the embossing rollers 90 (e.g., opposing counter-rotating embossing rollers as shown in FIG. 12). the embossing rollers 90 may be machined to produce a desired structure when printed on the glass ribbon 88. in the viscous region of the glass forming process, the glass ribbon may be drawn between the rollers to produce a desired channel or peak.

As shown in FIG. 13, channels 60 and peaks 62 may additionally be formed on the surface of the glass ribbon by providing localized heating and/or cooling regions relative to the remainder of the ribbon, such regions may be created by localized heating and/or cooling elements 92, for example, by impinging the glass ribbon with hot and/or cold gases (e.g., air from a series of tubes arranged across the width of the glass ribbon 88. the aspect ratio (H/W) of the peaks or the aspect ratio (H/S) of the channels may be controlled by, for example, direct or indirect heating and/or cooling, by varying the pore size of the gas flow channels, and/or by varying the gas flow rate. exemplary methods of localized heating and/or cooling of the glass ribbon may employ, for example, a tool that operates as a heat sink, one or more tubes arranged to blow a heating and/or cooling fluid (e.g., air) directly onto the glass ribbon, a system comprising multiple tubes arranged to blow the heating and/or cooling fluid onto a plate or other structure placed between the tubes and the glass ribbon, or other localized heating and/or cooling fluid may be provided in other embodiments 353 and/or similar embodiments wherein the heating and cooling methods may be applied to glass ribbon^-7Second of<η/E<1.6x 10^-5And second.

The performance of 1D light-limited local dimming optics can be evaluated by several parameters, such as LDI and Straightness Index (SI), all expressed as a percentage. As shown in fig. 14, at a distance E from the LED input edge_iLDI and SI at distance Z may be defined as follows:

in the formula, L_mArea A of region m at a distance Z from the LED input edge_mLuminance (m ═ n-2, n-1, n, n +1, n + 2). Each area A_mCan pass by width W_AAnd height H_AAnd (4) defining. LDI and SI are functions of the luminance of an area of the LGP and serve to facilitate performance measurements. In practice, LDI measures the degree of light confinement injected into a given area of an LGP, i.e., how much light is left in that area. The larger the size of the LDI, the better the light confinement performance of the LGP (more light is confined in the light injection region). Conversely, the straightness index SI measures the amount of light leaking from the light injection region into other regions. Therefore, the smaller the magnitude of the straightness index SI, the better the performance of the LGP.

Tables 2A-5B show calculated LDI values for model channels of various configurations for two glass sheets of 1.1mm and 2.1mm thickness and various geometries. All H, W and S values given are in microns (. mu.m). Glass sheets having an LDI greater than 0.70 are considered acceptable (acceptable), wherein glass sheets having an LDI equal to or less than 0.70 are considered unacceptable. It should be noted, however, that 0.70 is subjective as a cut between pass and fail, and the pass/fail criteria may vary depending on the particular application and requirements. For example, in some applications, the acceptable LDI may be less than 0.70.

Table 2A provides data for a step-like cross-sectional shape (e.g., fig. 3A) and table 2B provides data for an arcuate cross-sectional shape (e.g., fig. 3B). The data show that as the depth (H) of the channel increases, the LDI also increases. The data shows that as the sheet thickness decreases, channels with smaller H/S ratios become sufficiently effective for 1D local dimming (LDI ≧ 0.7), while channels with the same H/S ratios formed on thicker glass may not be sufficiently effective for 1D local dimming. This advantage may not be readily available for PMMA or other plastic based light guides, since for large size TV applications, thin PMMA suffers from low mechanical strength and high thermal expansion. All individual H, S and W values given in tables 2A-5B are in microns.

TABLE 2A

TABLE 2B

Tables 3A (step) and 3B (bow) below show the calculated LDIs for glass sheets of 1.1mm and 2.1mm thickness obtained by varying the peak width W between the channels, including glass sheets having different W/S ratios but the same H/S ratio. The channels themselves remain uniform. For channels having the same depth-to-width ratio H/S but different peak widths W and thus different W/S ratios, a 1.1mm thick glass sheet exhibits a better LDI than a 2.1mm thick glass sheet. The data also show that channels with larger W/S ratios become more effective for 1D local dimming as the sheet thickness becomes smaller (LDI ≧ 0.7).

TABLE 3A

TABLE 3B

Tables 4A (step) and 4B (bow) below and tables 5A (step) and 5B (bow) below show the calculated LDI values for glass sheets containing channels as a result of varying channel depth for a 0.6mm thick glass sheet. For channels having the same W/S ratio but different H/S ratios as a result of varying channel depth H, the 0.6mm thick glass sheet exhibited better LDI than any of the 1.1mm or 2.1mm thick glass sheets present in tables 2A, 2B and 3A, 3B for the same H, S and W values.

Tables 5A and 5B present the same modeling data for glass sheets as tables 4A and 4B, but assume that the peak width W and channel width S are half the peak width W and channel width S assumed to be specified in tables 4A and 4B. Comparing tables 4A, 4B with tables 5A, 5B, the reduced period P exhibits similar behavior. All H, S and W values given are in microns.

TABLE 4A

TABLE 4B

TABLE 5A

TABLE 5B

Fig. 15 plots LDI as a function of channel wall angle θ for different channel depths from top to bottom (0.8001mm, 0.7001mm, 0.6001mm, 0.5001mm, 0.4001mm, 0.3001mm, 0.2001mm, 0.1001mm, 0.0001mm) at a distance of 300mm from the light input edge for a trapezoidal channel shape (see fig. 7A). As shown, LDI increases as the channel depth increases. LDI also increases as the wall angle θ increases. As the channel depth increases, the influence of the wall angle θ becomes stronger. For the above parameters, an LDI of 75% or greater can be achieved with a channel depth of at least about 0.4mm and a wall angle of at least about 150. With greater channel depth, similar LDI values can be achieved with smaller wall angles.

Table 6 below shows LGP, LED and structured surface parameters for a backlight unit including a glass sheet having a structured major surface as shown in fig. 4A.

TABLE 6

LGP thickness T (mm)	1.1
		LGP Width (mm)	500
LGP Length (mm)	750
		LGP refractive index	1.50
Peak Width W (mm)	0.866
		Peak height H (mm)	0.15
Local dimming area width (mm)	150
		Number of LEDs in a single local dimming area	10
LED-LGP gap (mm)	0.01
		Width of LED	1.0
Length of LED	4.5

Tables 16A-16B show the model LDI and SI as a function of channel width S at distances of 300 and 450mm from the light input edge, respectively, for the LGPs described in Table 6. As shown in fig. 16A, LDI decreases as the channel width S increases. In contrast, as shown in fig. 16B, the SI increases as the channel width S increases. With the above parameters, good local dimming performance (expressed as LDI greater than 80% and straightness less than 0.2%) can be achieved when a gap width U of 0.2mm or less is employed between adjacent peaks at a distance of 450mm from the input edge.

Fig. 17A-17B show models LDI and SI, respectively, for the same backlight unit described in table 6, but with a second structured surface opposite and coincident with the first structured surface (e.g., fig. 5A). LDI and SI at distances of 300 and 450mm from the LED input edge were again calculated as a function of the channel width S between adjacent channels. Both LDI and SI are improved for glass sheets having two opposing structured surfaces as compared to glass sheets having only a single structured major surface (see fig. 16A-16B). At a distance of 450mm from the light input edge and a gap U of 0.22mm, LDI is as high as 91% and SI is as low as 0.1%, indicating excellent local dimming performance. Furthermore, greater than 80% LDI can be achieved over a much wider gap width U (from about 0 to about 0.9mm) for glass sheets comprising two opposing structured major surfaces, providing greater manufacturing latitude, as compared to glass sheets having only a single structured major surface.

Table 7 below shows LGP, LED and structured surface parameters for another backlight unit that includes a glass sheet having a structured major surface as shown in fig. 18.

TABLE 7

LGP thickness T (mm)	1.1
		LGP Width (mm)	500
LGP Length (mm)	750
		LGP refractive index	1.50
Channel width S (mum)	112.5
		Channel depth H (μm)	50
Local dimming area width (mm)	150
		Number of LEDs in a single local dimming area	10
LED-LGP gap (mm)	0.01
		Width of LED	1.0
Length of LED	4.5

Fig. 19A shows a plot of model LDI as a function of peak width W calculated at a distance of 450mm from the light input edge for a glass LGP having a single structured surface as shown in fig. 3B (curve 100) and two opposing structured surfaces (curve 102, see fig. 14). The channel width S is 112.5 μm and the channel depth H is 50 μm. The data shows that LDI decreases with increasing peak width W for both single and dual structured surfaces, with LDI being slightly better for the two opposing structured surfaces than for the single structured surface. However, the data also show that the better LDI performance of LGPs comprising glass sheets with two opposing structured surfaces can tolerate nearly 2 times the peak width variation for the same LDI value. This increases the manufacturing capability of the LGP by simplifying the tolerance necessity of LGP manufacturing.

Fig. 19B is also a plot of model SI as a function of channel width (

curves

104, 106, respectively) for the same LGP as fig. 19A for both single structured surfaces (fig. 3B) and dual structured surfaces (fig. 18). The data show that as the peak width W increases, so does the SI. That is, as the peak width increases, more light leaks from the light injection region into the adjacent region. The data reveals that for a given peak width, a single structured surface has significantly more light leakage from the light injection region than a double structured surface.

Taken together, fig. 19A and 19B show that for channel widths less than about 1.1mm, LDIs greater than 80% and straightness indices less than about 1% (e.g., equal to or less than about 0.68%) can be achieved, indicating that excellent light confinement (or local dimming) performance can be achieved for a wide range of peak widths. Thus, an LGP incorporating a glass sheet having two opposing structured major surfaces may provide a wider operating window for LGP manufacturing, which is advantageous for both manufacturing process options and process costs.

Fig. 20A is a graph of model LDI as a function of peak width at a distance of 300mm from the light input edge of the LGP for an LGP incorporating a glass sheet comprising two opposing structured surfaces (fig. 18), also with reference to table 7. Fig. 20A shows that the light restriction represented by LDI increases as the measured distance changes from 450mm in fig. 19A to 300mm in fig. 20A. In contrast, in fig. 20B, the degree of light leakage from the light injection region, which is indicated by SI, is reduced.

Fig. 21A shows the model LDI as a function of channel depth (peak height) at 450mm from the input edge for a glass sheet having one structured surface (curve 108) (see fig. 3B) and having two opposing structured surfaces (curve 110) (see fig. 18). The peaks and channels of one structured surface were both 112.5 μm. The two opposing structured surfaces were uniform and also had channel and peak widths of 112.5 μm. All other LGP parameters are as disclosed in table 7.

Fig. 21B shows the SI of the same LGP as fig. 21A with a single structured surface (112) and two opposing structured surfaces (curve 114). As before, the peak and channel widths W, S, respectively, for one structured surface were 112.5 μm. It is also assumed that the two opposing structured tables have channel and peak widths of 112.5 μm. All other LGP parameters are as disclosed in table 7.

Comparing an LGP with one structured surface to an LGP with two opposing structured surfaces, fig. 21A-21B show that both LDI and SI are significantly improved for the two opposing structured surface case. The data show that for the case of two opposing structured surfaces, for channel depths (peak heights) H greater than 0.015mm, LDI greater than 80% and SI less than about 1% (e.g., equal to or less than about 0.5%, such as equal to or less than about 0.36%) can be achieved, which is much lower than for LGPs with single-sided lenticular features with comparable performance (H >0.03 mm). Again, this implies that LGPs with two opposing structured surfaces provide a much wider manufacturing operating window with potential benefits to manufacturing process and process cost.

FIG. 22 shows normalized brightness for three cases, where a single LED is placed adjacent to the input edge of the glass sheet, and the brightness is measured as a function of the lateral position of the glass sheet from the LED at a particular distance. In the first case, the LED injects light into a glass sheet without a structured surface (e.g., an unetched glass sheet). The luminance curve of the first case shows a broad distribution pattern, indicating almost no light confinement. The brightness was measured at 180mm from the input edge of the glass sheet.

In the second case, LEDs are used to inject light into the input edge of a glass sheet comprising a single structured surface (see fig. 3B). The channel depth H was 41 μm, and the channel width S and peak width W were the same (112.5 μm). The brightness was measured at a distance of 285mm from the input edge of the glass sheet. As expected, the measured brightness shows a narrower distribution, indicating better light confinement than a glass sheet without a structured surface, although the distance over which the brightness is measured is almost 60% greater than in the first case.

In the third case, the LED injected light into a glass sheet comprising two opposing structured surfaces (see fig. 18), and the brightness was measured 285mm from the input edge of the glass sheet. Also, the luminance distribution display is narrow. The channel depth H was 45 μm, and the channel width S and peak width W were the same (112.5 μm).

The data of fig. 22 supports the data of fig. 19A-21B, i.e., a glass sheet with two opposing structured surfaces (comprising alternating rows of peaks and channels) can be used to obtain better confinement of injected light along a narrow path perpendicular to the input edge. That is, a typical zone width of 150mm may be reduced to about 50mm according to the use of the LGP embodiments described herein.

The light confinement with a surface structure as disclosed herein may significantly depend on the longitudinal sidewall smoothness. It was found that LDI values below 80% are common in the presence of sidewall "scalloping" or "waving". This is believed to be due to the confinement of photon impingement on local roughness, disturbing the Total Internal Reflection (TIR) conditions, manifested as optical loss and driving the LDI metric below 80%.

Fig. 23 shows Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images of two samples with different sidewall smoothness. The top left SEM image (shown at 100 magnification) shows the relative wall smoothness of the first sample compared to the top right SEM image (shown at 150 magnification). The left sample of the smoother wall was made by an ESTS etch mask material diluted to 5 wt% with an aromatic solvent (ER-Solv18) without additional adhesion promoter. The screen used for this etch mask application was a stainless steel 360 mesh screen with 56 μm openings, 22 ° chord angle and 15 μm thick screen emulsion with 150 μm wide emulsion stripes 80 (see fig. 9). The "kinked tube" profile of the right sample was prepared with CGSN, with additional adhesion promoter, and the glass sample was pretreated with a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition plasma prior to applying the CGSN etch mask. The screen was a polyester 380 mesh screen with 32 μm openings, 10 ° chord angle, and 15 μm thick emulsion with a 200 μm wide cured emulsion pattern 80 (stripes). Below each SEM image is the associated brightness image for measuring LDI. The LDI value for the "smooth" wall sample on the left was about 85%, while the LDI value for the "kinky tube" shaped structure on the right was well below 80%. The high degree of light confinement of the smooth-walled structure on the left is shown by low scattering near the injection end (bottom) of the LED for the image, light traveling along the length of the LGP, and illuminating the far edge opposite the injection edge. The "kinked tube" luminance image on the right does not see this spread and illumination of the distal edge and visually sees poor light confinement, low LDI and very significant large scattering loss of light emitted near the LED edge, appearing as large saturated luminance. For the surface structured LGP produced by the right conditions, the LDI value can be made higher than 80% by screen printing with a Stainless Steel (SS) mesh screen.

Performing pen profile measurements (Stylus profile) and Zygo^TM(white light interference spectroscopy) measurements to characterize wall smoothness. By profiler and Zygo^TMWhite light interferometry was performed on sample sidewalls with low LDI values due to "torque tube" geometry (generated using CGSN etch mask). By Zygo^TMWhite light interferometry was used to measure sample sidewalls with high LDI values due to "smooth" geometry (produced using ESTS or Kiwo etch masks). The samples produced by the ESTS were additionally measured by a profilometer. The profilometer used to make the sidewall measurements was KLA-Tencor P11 with a diamond pen. All scans were performed as follows: 5877 μm scan length, 50 μm/s scan speed, 100Hz sampling rate, 2 mg pen force, 2 μm pen radius. No scan filter is applied. To sample the sidewall with a 2 μm pen, the scan track was fabricated to cover many peaks and channels.

Shown in fig. 24 are specific regions of the CGSN samples used to make the sidewall RMS roughness calculations. The RMS value of CGSN sidewall roughness is 10.276 μm. Shown in fig. 25 are specific regions of the ESTS samples used to make the sidewall RMS roughness calculations. The RMS value of the ESTS sidewall roughness was 0.604 μm. Thus, by white light interferometry, it is believed that RMS roughness values equal to or less than about 12 μm can be achieved.

Also using Zygo^TMWhite light interferometry was used to measure the peak-channel sidewall roughness for all three samples described above (CGSN, ESTS, and Kiwo). Fig. 26 summarizes the measured peak-to-channel values of the sidewall roughness.

Peak-to-channel sidewall roughness Zygo of sidewalls generated by CGSN measured by white light interferometry^TMThe measurements showed a significant statistically significant roughness, which was greater than the roughness of the Kiwo sidewalls, as expected. Although less than the CGSN sidewall roughness, the ESTS sidewall roughness is not statistically significant.

The data show that channel sidewalls comprising equal to or less than about 5 μm, e.g., equal to or less than about 1 μm, equal to or less than about 0.7 μm, equal to or less than about 0.5 μm, equal to or less than about 0.3 μm, e.g., equal to or less than about <0.2 μm, as measured by white light interferometry, can be obtained. In addition, a peak-to-channel roughness of equal to or less than about 5 μm, e.g., equal to or less than about 1 μm, equal to or less than about 0.7 μm, equal to or less than about 0.5 μm, equal to or less than about 0.3 μm, e.g., equal to or less than 0.2 μm, as measured by white light interferometry, can be achieved.

Using the various masking and etching processes disclosed herein, LGPs with smooth channel sidewalls can be obtained that include low roughness and low roughness that produce LDI values equal to or greater than about 50%, such as equal to or greater than about 60%, equal to or greater than about 70%, equal to or greater than about 80%, such as equal to or greater than 90%, for a 150mm region width. Further, for a 150mm zone, an LGP having a straightness index SI of equal to or less than 5%, such as equal to or less than about 1%, such as equal to or less than about 0.5%, such as equal to or less than about 0.1%, may be obtained by the methods described herein.

It is shown in the literature that HF chemically etched aluminosilicate glass surfaces are subjected to preferential leaching, contamination and/or roughening (Mellott et al, "Evaluation of Surface and Interface Analysis for glass", 31, p 362-368, 2001). The etching process disclosed herein was found to give a change in composition at the glass surface as evidenced by x-ray fluorescence (XRF). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data (XPS) confirmed the significant consumption of both sodium and aluminum. FIG. 27 shows three glass plate samples (Corning)

IRIS^TMGlass) normalized results of x-ray fluorescence measurements performed: untreated sample (middle); in a reactor containing 10% by volume of HF and 30% by volume of H₂SO₄The sample etched in the etching bath (top); and with a composition comprising 10% by volume of HF and 20% by volume of H₂SO₄The etchant of (a) was sprayed on the etched sample (bottom). XThe RF data confirmed significant aluminum consumption in the spray etched Iris glass surface within about 1 μm depth from the glass sample surface, while in the bath etched sample both aluminum and magnesium were consumed. This appears to increase the silicon exhibited during the etching process, especially as is common for spray etching processes, and is an artifact of etching and subsequent XRF measurements. The effect of etching on surface chemistry was characterized by x-ray fluorescence on unetched and etched glass samples and comparing elemental concentrations.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the embodiments herein without departing from the scope and spirit thereof. Thus, it is intended that the present disclosure cover the modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method of making a glass article comprising:

depositing an etch mask onto a first major surface of a glass sheet, the etch mask forming a plurality of parallel rows on the first major surface;

exposing the glass sheet to an etchant, thereby removing glass from the first major surface of the glass sheet between the plurality of parallel rows, the removing of the glass forming a plurality of channels in the first major surface of the glass sheet; and

the etch mask is removed, and the resulting glass article comprises a glass sheet having a plurality of channels formed in a first major surface, at least one channel of the plurality of channels comprising a depth H of about 5 μm to about 300 μm, a width S defined at H/2, and wherein the ratio of S/H is about 1 to about 15.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising depositing an adhesion layer on the first major surface prior to depositing the etch mask.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the adhesion layer comprises a silane layer or a siloxane layer.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the adhesion layer comprises an epoxy silane layer.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the adhesion layer is applied by spin coating.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the adhesive layer is applied by dip coating.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the etch mask is applied by a screen printing process.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the screen printing process comprises a cured emulsion pattern on a surface of the woven screen, and a chord angle of the woven screen relative to the cured emulsion pattern ranges from about 20 ° to about 45 °.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the woven wire mesh comprises stainless steel wire.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the etchant comprises HF.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the etchant further comprises HNO₃、H₂SO₄Or HCl.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the etchant comprises 10 vol% HF and H in an amount from about 10 vol% to about 30 vol%₂SO₄An aqueous solution of (a).

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the etchant comprises H₂SO₄The amount of (a) is about 10% to about 20% by volume.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the exposing comprises spraying an etchant onto the glass sheet.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the exposing comprises placing the glass sheet into an etchant bath.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the exposing comprises agitating the etchant during the exposing.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising controlling the undercut of the glass sheet below the etch mask by controlling adhesion of the etch mask to the glass sheet.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein a ratio M/H of the maximum undercut M to the channel depth H is controlled in a range of about 1.2 to about 1.8.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the sidewalls of the at least one channel have an RMS roughness of about 5 μ ι η or less as measured by white light interferometry.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the RMS roughness is less than or equal to about 1 μm.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the glass article is a light guide plate.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the maximum thickness T of the glass sheet is about 0.1mm to about 2.1 mm.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein T is about 0.6mm to about 2.1 mm.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the etch mask comprises a thermoplastic material.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the thermoplastic material is applied to the glass sheet through a heated nozzle.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein the thermoplastic material has a coefficient of thermal expansion that is within about 10% of the coefficient of thermal expansion of the glass sheet.

27. A method of making a glass article comprising:

exposing the glass sheet to a stream of abrasive material, thereby removing glass from the first major surface of the glass sheet between the plurality of parallel rows, the removal of glass forming a plurality of channels in the first major surface of the glass sheet; and

removing the etch mask, wherein the resulting glass article comprises a glass sheet having a plurality of channels formed in the first major surface, at least one channel of the plurality of channels comprising a depth H of about 5 μm to about 300 μm, a width S defined at H/2, and wherein the ratio of S/H is about 1 to about 15.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising smoothing surfaces of the plurality of channels.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the smoothing process comprises flame polishing.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein the smoothing comprises abrasive polishing.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the sidewall of the at least one channel has an RMS roughness of about 5 μm or less as measured by white light interferometry.