Chapter 6 - Film Formation Methods

Abstract

This chapter describes the various chemical and physical methods that can be used to produce films on glass surfaces. The formation of films on a glass surface can generally occur in a subtractive or additive way by chemical or physical processes. In the first class of film formation methods, the multicomponent glass loses some of its constituents on the surface and in regions near the surface through chemical or physical action. In the case of additive film formation methods, which represent a very large class, the glass substrates are coated with films by deposition. Such films have, in nearly all cases, a composition that is different from that of the substrate. Their adhesion is good, and in most cases, they can be made rather compact. The various methods vary considerably in the medium used to produce the film, in the required technical equipment, in the rate of film formation in the required substrate temperature, and in all the other operations performed to reproduce and stabilize the properties of the final coating. The processes that the chapter describes are the subtractive methods, physical processes, and additive methods. Chemical film formation processes are also explored in the chapter.