Diamond Glass: harder to crack, could be new industry standard for mobile devices

Gorilla glass, the hardened glass resistant to scratching that our smartphone touchscreens are composed of, may have some competition. Company Akhan Semiconductor is close to releasing a diamond coating for glass that is even more durable than Gorilla glass. It is four times as crack resistant and seven times as scratch-proof compared to Gorilla.

Diamond is one of the hardest materials known and is a reliable option when you’re looking to make something durable. But it’s not the first place electronic companies have looked. Sapphire glass has slowly been making its way into mobile devices such as the Apple Watch and ruggedized phones. Apple originally wanted to equip all of its iPhones with a sapphire glass screen years ago, but the company set up to supply the glass was unable to produce a sufficient amount of it and then eventually went out of business.

Akhan Semiconductor stated that diamond glass is both cheaper and easier to produce than sapphire. Scientists have been creating synthetic diamonds for years. What sets the NCD diamond apart is that it’s only a thin layer on top of regular UV glass manufactured by Corning. In sum, it grows the diamond on a glass substrate via an inexpensive process called chemical vapor deposition. That diamond component is 800 times thinner than a Gorilla Glass panel and is stronger than a pane of sapphire glass.

While this all sounds promising, diamond screens can be a challenge to implement for the same reasons sapphire has not taken over the market. Because diamond is harder, it won’t scratch, but it can shatter. Akhan says that the thinness of the diamond makes up for that, allowing the panel to be slightly flexible. Reflectivity may also be an issue with materials such as diamond and sapphire, but Akhan says it won’t be a problem because it “tunes” the crystals to lower the index of refraction.

The company expects to have the technology to produce the diamond glass at scale within the next year and is looking for licensing partners to do the production.

Via ExtremeTech