Gadget Tech Explained: How Gorilla Glass Works

If you own a smartphone, then you’ve probably heard of the material, Gorilla Glass. It’s the screen tech used by most smartphone companies. Gorilla Glass is produced by the company Corning. The glass is the made to be smooth, crystal-clear, resilient, and scratch-proof. So how is this glass fabricated, and what makes it so strong?

Image source : macrumors.com

A little history, the Corning glass’s discovery is actually a superhero origin story. In 1952, a scientist at Corning placed a piece of photosensitive glass in a furnace for testing. At some point, the furnace’s temperature suddenly increased from 600 degrees Celsius to 900 degrees. Expecting a failure, the scientist removed the sample and was shocked to find an opaque sheet of material rather than a melted blob of molten mess. He accidentally dropped the sample and instead of shattering, it bounced.
Scientist Don Stookey, accidentally created a glass-ceramic Hybrid.
Here’s Corning’s explanation from its Gorilla Glass website:

Ion exchange is a chemical strengthening process where large ions are “stuffed” into the glass surface, creating a state of compression. Gorilla Glass is specially designed to maximize this behavior. The glass is placed in a hot bath of molten salt at a temperature of approximately 400°C. Smaller sodium ions leave the glass, and larger potassium ions from the salt bath replace them. These larger ions take up more room and are pressed together when the glass cools, producing a layer of compressive stress on the surface of the glass. Gorilla Glass’s special composition enables the potassium ions to diffuse far into the surface, creating high compressive stress deep into the glass. This layer of compression creates a surface that is more resistant to damage from everyday use.

Image source : ytmigh.com

Joshua Hunt here. I’m a gadget technician from Texas. I enter rodeos during my free time. Follow me on Twitter to get more updates.