7 ms·

How Corning Created the Ultrathin, Ultrastrong Material of the Future

199 points by lnguyen 14y ago

tomrod 14y ago
Fantastic read! I like how old discoveries can become relevant again. Applications of lateral thinking really make a good read.
tisme 14y ago
Beautiful and what a fantastic attitude for a company that size. Reminds me of the old HP. Glass is amazing material, if you like this nad you haven't seen them yet google for aerogel.
knite 14y ago
"The story of their collaboration—including Jobs’ attempt to lecture Weeks on the principles of glass and his insistence that such a feat could be accomplished—is well known." It's not well known to everyone. This is the first I've heard of this, and a quick search didn't turn up anything beyond the details in this article. Excellent article otherwise!
- brian_cloutier 14y ago
  The story was in Walter Issacson's biography of Jobs.
  - prostoalex 14y ago
    A worthwhile read, and a funny story about Jobs calling Corning's corporate number, not getting to the CEO and then making fun of him for being "all corporate". Corning CEO later called Apple's listed number, asked to speak to Steve Jobs, got a runaround, and secured a good response to Jobs' remarks next time they had a meeting.
- defen 14y ago
  From the Isaacson biography: Jobs described the type of glass Apple wanted for the iPhone, and Weeks told him that Corning had developed a chemical exchange process in the 1960s that led to what they dubbed “gorilla glass.” It was incredibly strong, but it had never found a market, so Corning quit making it. Jobs said he doubted it was good enough, and he started explaining to Weeks how glass was made. This amused Weeks, who of course knew more than Jobs about that topic. “Can you shut up,” Weeks interjected, “and let me teach you some science?” Jobs was taken aback and fell silent. Weeks went to the whiteboard and gave a tutorial on the chemistry, which involved an ion-exchange process that produced a compression layer on the surface of the glass. This turned Jobs around, and he said he wanted as much gorilla glass as Corning could make within six months. “We don’t have the capacity,” Weeks replied. “None of our plants make the glass now.” “Don’t be afraid,” Jobs replied. This stunned Weeks, who was good-humored and confident but not used to Jobs’s reality distortion field. He tried to explain that a false sense of confidence would not overcome engineering challenges, but that was a premise that Jobs had repeatedly shown he didn’t accept. He stared at Weeks unblinking. “Yes, you can do it,” he said. “Get your mind around it. You can do it.”
  - tomrod 14y ago
    Jobs. I sure respect the man. Uncompromising vision!
    - lucian1900 14y ago
      Really? Reading that I was thinking "what an asshole, no respect for the scientist and engineer talking to him."
      - newhouseb 14y ago
        (Weeks is actually an accountant by education)
        saraid216 14y ago
        Who was capable of explaining modern glassmaking. At some point, your degree stops mattering when talking about labels like "scientist" and "engineer".
mercuryrising 14y ago
For some reason, on Chrome, the linked article is teeny (text is completely unreadable). Anyway - it's funny how some of the best discoveries are accidental. I don't know anything about Don Stookey, but I'm guessing this played a large part of his induction into the inventor's hall of fame. But he didn't really do anything, he didn't set out to make the next best glass, but he accidentally did. Usually hall of fames are for decided effort to do something awesome (like a baseball hall of fame, you need some luck, but its a lot of skill and practice). I've been wondering lately about the sheer number of cracked iPhone 4/4S/ will be 5 screens. If this glass is so great, why does it break so frequently from small heights? Does the metal casing around it transfer the blunt of the force to the glass and make it crack? I haven't seen too many other phones with cracked screens, would a plastic casing surrounding the glass absorb some of the fall?
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- ComputerGuru 14y ago
  For some reason, on Chrome, the linked article is teeny (text is completely unreadable). You probably once zoomed out on a previous Wired.com article: Chrome retains text zoom settings per-domain. cmd+0 or ctrl+0 to zoom to actual size and reset.
- ghshephard 14y ago
  " he didn't really do anything" I think what you are missing out, is that this invention came about from hard work, lots of experiments, and recognizing what he had on his hands when he saw it: "Don Stookey knew he had botched the experiment. One day in 1952, the Corning Glass Works chemist placed a sample of photosensitive glass inside a furnace and set the temperature to 600 degrees Celsius. At some point during the run, a faulty controller let the temperature climb to 900 degrees C. Expecting a melted blob of glass and a ruined furnace, Stookey opened the door to discover that, weirdly, his lithium silicate had transformed into a milky white plate. When he tried to remove it, the sample slipped from the tongs and crashed to the floor. Instead of shattering, it bounced." See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penicillin#Discovery http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penicillin#Discovery "It was a fortuitous accident: in his laboratory in the basement of St. Mary's Hospital in London (now part of Imperial College), Fleming noticed a Petri dish containing Staphylococcus plate culture he mistakenly left open, was contaminated by blue-green mould, which formed a visible growth. There was a halo of inhibited bacterial growth around the mould. Fleming concluded the mould released a substance that repressed the growth and lysing the bacteria. He grew a pure culture and discovered it was a Penicillium mould, now known to be Penicillium notatum."
prostoalex 14y ago
"Scientists were soon hurling fortified tumblers off their nine-story facility and bombarding the glass, known internally as 0317, with frozen chickens." What's the deal with frozen chicken tests? Don't some other objects, like tennis balls, work just the same but are a smaller hassle logistically?
- prototrout 14y ago
  Chickens are used to test airplane windshields for bird impact resistance[1]; perhaps that's why. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_gun http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_gun
  - modernshoggoth 14y ago
    Well, I'm going home. That's pretty easily the coolest thing I've heard of today.
  - bigiain 14y ago
    "Why do our windscreens keep breaking?" "Thaw the chicken" (Yeah I know: http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blthaw.htm http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blthaw.htm)
Wingman4l7 14y ago
I got peeved with Corning the other day when I found out they let another company produce Pyrex-brand glass under license which is not borosilicate glass. The whole point of Pyrex was resistance to heat, which you don't get with the cheaper soda-lime glass. At least I learned how to tell them apart (soda-lime has a blueish color, and borosilicate is clear).
- InclinedPlane 14y ago
  I didn't really appreciate the weaknesses of modern soda-lime "pyrex" until I tried to use a baking dish to steam my oven for baking bread (normally I use a cast iron pan). The pyrex instantly shattered into a gazillion pieces, which was tons of fun to clean up. In the future I plan on picking up proper borosilicate glass cookware (marinex appears to be one brand that makes such).
- js2 14y ago
  Only in the US where Pyrex is made by World Kitchen. In Europe, Arc Internationl still uses borosilicate for Pyrex-brand glass. Also, FWIW, a popular US glass bakeware manufacturer claims tempered soda-lime glass is stronger while still as heat resistant as borosilicate: http://www.anchorhocking.com/Bakeware_Facts.html#BORSILICATE http://www.anchorhocking.com/Bakeware_Facts.html#BORSILICATE
  - ak217 14y ago
    That's really funny, because a glass baking form made by Anchor shattered in my oven recently, spraying the whole oven with glass shards, ruining my food, and making it a huge pain to clean up. So... as heat resistant as pyrex? Not in my experience.
  - Wingman4l7 14y ago
    Unfortunately not true; the Pyrex I've seen sold in Australia is soda-lime glass as well.
pcl 14y ago
"In some cases, a Prince Rupert’s drop can explode with such force that it will actually emit a flash of light." This got me wondering... and Google turned up a hit from an 1855 (!) edition of the Encyclopaedia Brittanica [1], and a fascinating Wikipedia article about triboluminescence [2]. What a cool world we live in! [1] http://books.google.com/books?id=92xBAAAAcAAJ&lpg=PA564&ots=cRE1I06mtw&dq=prince%20ruperts%20drop%20flash%20of%20light&pg=PA564#v=onepage&q=prince%20ruperts%20drop%20flash%20of%20light&f=false http://books.google.com/books?id=92xBAAAAcAAJ&lpg=PA564&... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triboluminescence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triboluminescence
- twoodfin 14y ago
  Ha, I had forgotten about the Wint-O-Green Lifesavers trick, and never had it explained.
Flenser 14y ago
Why couldn't the images in the article have shown these: Corning’s headquarters in upstate New York looks like a Space Invaders alien: Designed by architect Kevin Roche in the early ’90s, the structure fans out in staggered blocks. From the ground, though, the tinted windows and extended eaves make the building look more like a glossy, futuristic Japanese palace. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Corning+headquarters&tbm=isch https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Corning+headquarters&t... In some cases, a Prince Rupert’s drop can explode with such force that it will actually emit a flash of light. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Prince+Rupert’s+drop&tbm=isch https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Prince+Rupert’s+drop&t...
anotherbadlogin 14y ago
Now if they could only invent a version with a matte finish. Maybe even Apple would finally abandon this retrograde glossy crap and make viewable displays again.
Geee 14y ago
Gorilla glass is far from perfect material for smartphone displays, because it shatters so easily. There are pretty good plastic materials too, especially those used in eyeglasses. Apparently, glass still offers the best scratch-resistance, but I would rather have a non-shattering display.
- dpark 14y ago
  Plastic isn't shatter-proof, either, especially not if it's sturdy enough and thin enough to be considered a replacement for gorilla glass. Even if plastic were shatter-proof, I'd much rather have a display that's clear and breakable than one that's unbreakable but scratched all to hell. I've never had a pair of glasses (high-end plastic lenses) that didn't get noticeably scratched within a couple of years, and they get a lot less abuse than my phone.

199 points by lnguyen 14y ago

Fantastic read! I like how old discoveries can become relevant again. Applications of lateral thinking really make a good read.

tisme 14y ago

Beautiful and what a fantastic attitude for a company that size. Reminds me of the old HP. Glass is amazing material, if you like this nad you haven't seen them yet google for aerogel.

knite 14y ago

"The story of their collaboration—including Jobs’ attempt to lecture Weeks on the principles of glass and his insistence that such a feat could be accomplished—is well known." It's not well known to everyone. This is the first I've heard of this, and a quick search didn't turn up anything beyond the details in this article. Excellent article otherwise!

brian_cloutier 14y ago
The story was in Walter Issacson's biography of Jobs.
- prostoalex 14y ago
  A worthwhile read, and a funny story about Jobs calling Corning's corporate number, not getting to the CEO and then making fun of him for being "all corporate". Corning CEO later called Apple's listed number, asked to speak to Steve Jobs, got a runaround, and secured a good response to Jobs' remarks next time they had a meeting.
defen 14y ago
From the Isaacson biography: Jobs described the type of glass Apple wanted for the iPhone, and Weeks told him that Corning had developed a chemical exchange process in the 1960s that led to what they dubbed “gorilla glass.” It was incredibly strong, but it had never found a market, so Corning quit making it. Jobs said he doubted it was good enough, and he started explaining to Weeks how glass was made. This amused Weeks, who of course knew more than Jobs about that topic. “Can you shut up,” Weeks interjected, “and let me teach you some science?” Jobs was taken aback and fell silent. Weeks went to the whiteboard and gave a tutorial on the chemistry, which involved an ion-exchange process that produced a compression layer on the surface of the glass. This turned Jobs around, and he said he wanted as much gorilla glass as Corning could make within six months. “We don’t have the capacity,” Weeks replied. “None of our plants make the glass now.” “Don’t be afraid,” Jobs replied. This stunned Weeks, who was good-humored and confident but not used to Jobs’s reality distortion field. He tried to explain that a false sense of confidence would not overcome engineering challenges, but that was a premise that Jobs had repeatedly shown he didn’t accept. He stared at Weeks unblinking. “Yes, you can do it,” he said. “Get your mind around it. You can do it.”
- tomrod 14y ago
  Jobs. I sure respect the man. Uncompromising vision!
  - lucian1900 14y ago
    Really? Reading that I was thinking "what an asshole, no respect for the scientist and engineer talking to him."
    - newhouseb 14y ago
      (Weeks is actually an accountant by education)
      - saraid216 14y ago
        Who was capable of explaining modern glassmaking. At some point, your degree stops mattering when talking about labels like "scientist" and "engineer".

mercuryrising 14y ago

For some reason, on Chrome, the linked article is teeny (text is completely unreadable). Anyway - it's funny how some of the best discoveries are accidental. I don't know anything about Don Stookey, but I'm guessing this played a large part of his induction into the inventor's hall of fame. But he didn't really do anything, he didn't set out to make the next best glass, but he accidentally did. Usually hall of fames are for decided effort to do something awesome (like a baseball hall of fame, you need some luck, but its a lot of skill and practice). I've been wondering lately about the sheer number of cracked iPhone 4/4S/ will be 5 screens. If this glass is so great, why does it break so frequently from small heights? Does the metal casing around it transfer the blunt of the force to the glass and make it crack? I haven't seen too many other phones with cracked screens, would a plastic casing surrounding the glass absorb some of the fall?

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
ComputerGuru 14y ago
For some reason, on Chrome, the linked article is teeny (text is completely unreadable). You probably once zoomed out on a previous Wired.com article: Chrome retains text zoom settings per-domain. cmd+0 or ctrl+0 to zoom to actual size and reset.
ghshephard 14y ago
" he didn't really do anything" I think what you are missing out, is that this invention came about from hard work, lots of experiments, and recognizing what he had on his hands when he saw it: "Don Stookey knew he had botched the experiment. One day in 1952, the Corning Glass Works chemist placed a sample of photosensitive glass inside a furnace and set the temperature to 600 degrees Celsius. At some point during the run, a faulty controller let the temperature climb to 900 degrees C. Expecting a melted blob of glass and a ruined furnace, Stookey opened the door to discover that, weirdly, his lithium silicate had transformed into a milky white plate. When he tried to remove it, the sample slipped from the tongs and crashed to the floor. Instead of shattering, it bounced." See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penicillin#Discovery http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penicillin#Discovery "It was a fortuitous accident: in his laboratory in the basement of St. Mary's Hospital in London (now part of Imperial College), Fleming noticed a Petri dish containing Staphylococcus plate culture he mistakenly left open, was contaminated by blue-green mould, which formed a visible growth. There was a halo of inhibited bacterial growth around the mould. Fleming concluded the mould released a substance that repressed the growth and lysing the bacteria. He grew a pure culture and discovered it was a Penicillium mould, now known to be Penicillium notatum."

prostoalex 14y ago

"Scientists were soon hurling fortified tumblers off their nine-story facility and bombarding the glass, known internally as 0317, with frozen chickens." What's the deal with frozen chicken tests? Don't some other objects, like tennis balls, work just the same but are a smaller hassle logistically?

prototrout 14y ago
Chickens are used to test airplane windshields for bird impact resistance[1]; perhaps that's why. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_gun http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_gun
- modernshoggoth 14y ago
  Well, I'm going home. That's pretty easily the coolest thing I've heard of today.
- bigiain 14y ago
  "Why do our windscreens keep breaking?" "Thaw the chicken" (Yeah I know: http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blthaw.htm http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blthaw.htm)

Wingman4l7 14y ago

I got peeved with Corning the other day when I found out they let another company produce Pyrex-brand glass under license which is not borosilicate glass. The whole point of Pyrex was resistance to heat, which you don't get with the cheaper soda-lime glass. At least I learned how to tell them apart (soda-lime has a blueish color, and borosilicate is clear).

InclinedPlane 14y ago
I didn't really appreciate the weaknesses of modern soda-lime "pyrex" until I tried to use a baking dish to steam my oven for baking bread (normally I use a cast iron pan). The pyrex instantly shattered into a gazillion pieces, which was tons of fun to clean up. In the future I plan on picking up proper borosilicate glass cookware (marinex appears to be one brand that makes such).
js2 14y ago
Only in the US where Pyrex is made by World Kitchen. In Europe, Arc Internationl still uses borosilicate for Pyrex-brand glass. Also, FWIW, a popular US glass bakeware manufacturer claims tempered soda-lime glass is stronger while still as heat resistant as borosilicate: http://www.anchorhocking.com/Bakeware_Facts.html#BORSILICATE http://www.anchorhocking.com/Bakeware_Facts.html#BORSILICATE
- ak217 14y ago
  That's really funny, because a glass baking form made by Anchor shattered in my oven recently, spraying the whole oven with glass shards, ruining my food, and making it a huge pain to clean up. So... as heat resistant as pyrex? Not in my experience.
- Wingman4l7 14y ago
  Unfortunately not true; the Pyrex I've seen sold in Australia is soda-lime glass as well.

pcl 14y ago

"In some cases, a Prince Rupert’s drop can explode with such force that it will actually emit a flash of light." This got me wondering... and Google turned up a hit from an 1855 (!) edition of the Encyclopaedia Brittanica [1], and a fascinating Wikipedia article about triboluminescence [2]. What a cool world we live in! [1] http://books.google.com/books?id=92xBAAAAcAAJ&lpg=PA564&ots=cRE1I06mtw&dq=prince%20ruperts%20drop%20flash%20of%20light&pg=PA564#v=onepage&q=prince%20ruperts%20drop%20flash%20of%20light&f=false http://books.google.com/books?id=92xBAAAAcAAJ&lpg=PA564&... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triboluminescence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triboluminescence

twoodfin 14y ago
Ha, I had forgotten about the Wint-O-Green Lifesavers trick, and never had it explained.

Flenser 14y ago

Why couldn't the images in the article have shown these: Corning’s headquarters in upstate New York looks like a Space Invaders alien: Designed by architect Kevin Roche in the early ’90s, the structure fans out in staggered blocks. From the ground, though, the tinted windows and extended eaves make the building look more like a glossy, futuristic Japanese palace. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Corning+headquarters&tbm=isch https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Corning+headquarters&t... In some cases, a Prince Rupert’s drop can explode with such force that it will actually emit a flash of light. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Prince+Rupert’s+drop&tbm=isch https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Prince+Rupert’s+drop&t...

anotherbadlogin 14y ago

Now if they could only invent a version with a matte finish. Maybe even Apple would finally abandon this retrograde glossy crap and make viewable displays again.

Geee 14y ago

Gorilla glass is far from perfect material for smartphone displays, because it shatters so easily. There are pretty good plastic materials too, especially those used in eyeglasses. Apparently, glass still offers the best scratch-resistance, but I would rather have a non-shattering display.

dpark 14y ago
Plastic isn't shatter-proof, either, especially not if it's sturdy enough and thin enough to be considered a replacement for gorilla glass. Even if plastic were shatter-proof, I'd much rather have a display that's clear and breakable than one that's unbreakable but scratched all to hell. I've never had a pair of glasses (high-end plastic lenses) that didn't get noticeably scratched within a couple of years, and they get a lot less abuse than my phone.