The strength of uncoated and coated ultra-thin flexible glass under cyclic load

Ultra-thin flexible glass with thicknesses of 100 µm or below is a substrate in the fields of optics, electronics, and semiconductors. Its brittleness is challenging in production processes like physical vapor deposition processes, especially in roll-to-roll production. In many cases, multiple geometric deformations take place and each step, like coating or cutting, influences the glass strength. By now, the relation between the strength of ultra-thin glass under quasi-static conditions and its strength under cyclic load has not been studied. Moreover, the effect of coatings has not been investigated. Both aspects are crucial to design reliable production processes. Therefore, the strength of ultra-thin glass under cyclic load was studied for uncoated and coated substrates. Two coating types were investigated: a single indium tin oxide film and a seven-layer antireflective layer stack. The coatings significantly influence the strength of the underlying glass in both test modes. The barrier properties, thin film stress, and the morphology/crystalline structure are identified as the major characteristics influencing the strength.