Science

Gorilla Glass maker unveils ultra-thin and flexible Willow Glass

Gorilla Glass maker unveils ultra-thin and flexible Willow Glass
Willow Glass is said to be the thinnest and most flexible glass Corning has ever produced
Willow Glass is said to be the thinnest and most flexible glass Corning has ever produced
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Willow Glass is manufactured in long continuous sheets with a method analogous to that used for newsprint
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Willow Glass is manufactured in long continuous sheets with a method analogous to that used for newsprint
Willow Glass is said to be the thinnest and most flexible glass Corning has ever produced
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Willow Glass is said to be the thinnest and most flexible glass Corning has ever produced

Corning announced details of a major new glass design at the eighth annual Display Week in Boston, a trade event hosted by the Society for Information Display. Named Willow Glass, Corning’s new glass is manufactured in such a way that allows it to reach temperatures of up to 500°C (932ºF) while maintaining a thickness of just 100 microns – or about that of a sheet of paper.

The company's Gorilla Glass was first brought into being to meet Steve Jobs' need for a hard-wearing glass screen for the original iPhone, and has since appeared on smartphones from almost every major manufacturer, in addition to a host of tablets and televisions. Therefore, any new innovation claimed by Corning will be sure to grab the close attention of interested parties such as Apple, Nokia and Samsung.

Where Willow Glass differs from Gorilla Glass, however, is its unusual thinness and flexibility, two properties which seem to all but guarantee that it be utilized by smartphone and tablet manufacturers in new and novel ways. Indeed, Corning states that Willow Glass also performs exceptionally well with touch sensor technology, though as samples of the glass are only just being sent out, we can expect a significant wait before it starts appearing on devices.

Willow Glass is manufactured in long continuous sheets with a method analogous to that used for newsprint
Willow Glass is manufactured in long continuous sheets with a method analogous to that used for newsprint

Willow Glass will support thinner backplanes and color filters for both OLED and LCD displays, making it suitable for smartphones, tablets and notebook computers, in addition to more exotic implementations for gadgets which require a curved display - perhaps opening the way for a more lightweight and wraparound version of Google's Project Glass.

Though Willow Glass is not the only flexible display product available to manufacturers, Corning's reputation coupled with an efficient production process seems to hand the company an advantage over the current competition.

The creation of Willow Glass is said to resemble that of a printing press, with glass produced in a continuous sheet - further insight into the manufacturing process can be gained from the short video below:

Corning ® Willow™ Glass for Roll-to-Roll Processing

Source: Corning

4 comments
4 comments
Charles Bosse
Any information on whether this has the same durability as gorilla glass? I would keep my nearly scratch proof screen over a thin sheet any day, though the two together would be great.
matthew.rings
Would be great on a thin, flexible OLED display...
Mark McGraw
2 words...parabolic screens!
Andrej Radoš
With a grid of readymade cracks only 0.1mm deep which would be almost invisible, In the glass on a plastic backing. New accidental cracks would not propagate and remain more inconspicious saving the look.