Heat treatable coated article with diamond-like carbon (DLC) and/or zirconium in coating
View Patent ↗In certain example embodiments, a coated article includes respective layers including diamond-like carbon (DLC) and zirconium nitride before heat treatment (HT). During HT, the hydrogenated DLC acts as a fuel which upon combustion with oxygen produces carbon dioxide and/or water. The high temperature developed during this combustion heats the zirconium nitride to a temperature(s) well above the heat treating temperature, thereby causing the zirconium nitride to be transformed into a new post-HT layer including zirconium oxide that is scratch resistant and durable.
1. A method of making a heat treated coated article, the method comprising:
having a glass substrate supporting a coating comprising a layer comprising zirconium nitride and a layer comprising carbon, wherein the layer comprising zirconium nitride is located on and directly contacting the glass substrate;
thermally tempering the glass substrate supporting the coating; and
wherein during said tempering the layer comprising carbon is subject to combustion or burns off and the layer comprising zirconium nitride transforms into a heat treated layer comprising zirconium oxide in the heat treated coated article.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the heat treated layer comprising zirconium oxide comprises a nanocrystalline cubic lattice structure.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the heat treated layer comprising zirconium oxide comprises from about 30-80% oxygen.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the heat treated layer comprising zirconium oxide comprises from about 50 to 70% oxygen.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the heat treated layer comprising zirconium oxide comprises from about 20-60% Zr.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the heat treated layer comprising zirconium oxide comprises from about 30-55% Zr.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the heat treated layer comprising zirconium oxide comprises from about 30-45% Zr and from about 0-10% N.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the heat treated layer comprising zirconium oxide includes Zr x O y , wherein y/x is from about 1.2 to 2.5.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the heat treated layer comprising zirconium oxide includes Zr x O y , wherein y/x is from about 1.4 to 2.1.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the layer comprising carbon comprises DLC, and wherein during the tempering the layer comprising zirconium nitride is heated to a temperature higher than a temperature used by a heat treating furnace due to combustion of the layer comprising DLC, so as to allow the heat treated layer comprising zirconium oxide to grow at least partially in cubic form.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the coated article prior to the heat treating comprises and additional layer comprising carbon and an additional layer comprising zirconium nitride.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the layer comprising carbon comprises DLC, and wherein the heat treated coated article includes at least one dielectric layer located between the glass substrate and the layer comprising zirconium oxide.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the layer comprising zirconium oxide is an outermost layer of the heat treated coated article.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein visible transmission % of the coated article increases by at least 30% due to the heat treating.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein visible transmission % of the coated article increases by at least 40% due to the heat treating.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the heat treated coated article has a transmissive a* value of from −4 to 0, and a transmissive b* value of from −3 to +3.
17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the heat treated coated article has a visible transmission of at least 70%.
18. A method of making a heat treated coated article, the method comprising:
having a glass substrate supporting a coating comprising a layer comprising zirconium nitride and a layer comprising carbon, and a layer comprising silicon nitride located directly between and directly contacting each of the glass substrate and the layer comprising zirconium nitride;
thermally tempering the glass substrate supporting the coating; and
wherein during said tempering the layer comprising carbon is subject to combustion or burns off and the layer comprising zirconium nitride transforms into a heat treated layer comprising zirconium oxide in the heat treated coated article.