Chemically strengthened glass’s next act: Car windshields

Abstract

The glass most people deal with every day—as cups, jars, windows, and lightbulbs—shatters easily. But not all glass is fragile. Some types, like the bulletproof stuff produced for windows used in banks, embassies, and head-of-state limousines, are downright tough. Somewhere between the kind that cracks when two delicate wine glasses clink just a bit too hard and the variety that stands up to a speeding bullet lies chemically strengthened glass. Nowadays, the most common application of that kind of glass is on the screens of smartphones and other mobile devices. Chemically toughened glass has also been used for years in computer hard disks, photocopiers, and pharmaceutical devices. But while the enormous popularity of smartphones and the nagging problem of people dropping their devices and cracking their screens keeps the spotlight focused on those applications, chemically toughened glass is finding a new one: automobile windshields. Last year, Ford began using hybrid