Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 8
Claim 1
Independent Claim
187 words
A method of forming a porous antireflective surface layer on a glass article which comprises the steps of: providing an article of phase-separable glass which, upon heat treatment, is capable of separating into at least two phases of different solubility, subjecting the glass article to a first heat treatment at a temprature under the phase separation liquidus temperature, said temperature being sufficiently high and being applied for a sufficient duration of time to enhance phase separation in said glass; contacting said glass article with a treating solution for a time sufficient to leach from a surface layer of said article the most soluble of said phases, at least the least soluble of said phases remaining as a porous skeletonized layer which exhibits a gradient refractive index thereacross, and subjecting said glass article to a second heat treatment at a temperature at least as high as its phase separation liquidus temperature for a period of time sufficient to increase the durability of said article by initiating the recombination of said at least two phases into a homogeneous glass the optical properties of porous skeletionized layer remaining substantially unchanged.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
187 words
A method of forming a porous antireflective surface layer on a glass article which comprises the steps of: providing an article of phase-separable glass which, upon heat treatment, is capable of separating into at least two phases of different solubility, subjecting the glass article to a first heat treatment at a temprature under the phase separation liquidus temperature, said temperature being sufficiently high and being applied for a sufficient duration of time to enhance phase separation in said glass; contacting said glass article with a treating solution for a time sufficient to leach from a surface layer of said article the most soluble of said phases, at least the least soluble of said phases remaining as a porous skeletonized layer which exhibits a gradient refractive index thereacross, and subjecting said glass article to a second heat treatment at a temperature at least as high as its phase separation liquidus temperature for a period of time sufficient to increase the durability of said article by initiating the recombination of said at least two phases into a homogeneous glass the optical properties of porous skeletionized layer remaining substantially unchanged.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 1 wherein said second heat treatment temperature is at least 685° C.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
41 words
The method of claim 1 wherein said glass article consists of a borosilicate glass and the step of subjecting said glass article to a second heat treatment comprises heating said article to a temperature in the range of about 750° C.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
58 words
The method of claim 3 wherein said glass article is composed of a glass having an oxide composition, in weight percent, of about 72-82% SiO 2 , 13-16% B 2 O 3 , 3-10% total of alkali metal oxides, and 0-4% Al 2 O 3 , these constituents constituting at least about 93 weight percent of the glass.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the step of contacting said glass article with an aqueous treating solution is terminated while the thickness of said surface layer is less than 10,000A.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the step of contacting said glass article with an aqueous treating solution is terminated while the percent reflectance from said layer is at its first minimum level.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
52 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the borosilicate glass article has an oxide composition, in weight percent, of about 76-82% SiO 2 , 13-15% B 2 O 3 , 4-6% Na 2 O, and 1-4% Al 2 O 3 , these oxides making up at least 99% by weight of the glass.