Fabrication of ultra-thin glass sheet by weight-controlled load-assisted precise thermal stretching
Yapeng Yuan, Yaxiaer Yalikun, Satoshi Amaya, Yusufu Aishan, Yigang Shen, Yo Tanaka
Abstract
Glass is a common material used in various microsystems including sensors, actuators, and microfluidic devices due to its extraordinary properties. However, lack of flexibility and elasticity limits its potential for further applications. To solve this issue, thinning the thick glass plate to a few microns is a solution. However, conventional methods for thinning thick glass plates are complex, risky, time-consuming, and difficult for implementation at the laboratory level. This paper reports an efficient and convenient fabrication method for an independent ultra-thin glass sheet (UTGS) (≤ 3 μm, the world’s thinnest) by utilizing a weight-controlled load-assisted (WCL-assisted) thermal stretching. Unlike other methods requiring a full melting of the glass material, the key point of the proposed method is using a WCL to precisely stretch a commercial thick glass plate to achieve the desired glass sheet thickness. To fabricate UTGSs of the desired thicknesses, experimental conditions including temperatures (630°C–700°C), cooling times (1.5 h–2.5 h), and weights of loads (1 g–9 g) were investigated. Furthermore, the potential advantage of using the fabricated UTGS for indicator applications in micro-systems was proven by fabricating a pressure indicator having higher sensitivity than presently available devices. For the same working conditions, the maximum sensitivity of the new indicator was improved by 86.8 % compared with the sensitivity previously obtained.