Formation of glass-based seals using focused infrared radiation

1. A method of forming a seal between at least two glass substrates comprising:

(a) providing at least two glass substrates and an enamel paste, the enamel paste comprising at least one glass composition having a dilatometric softening point, the enamel paste covering at least a portion of at least one of the at least two glass substrates to form an assembly, the portion of the substrates so covered defining a seal area and the portion of the substrates not so covered defining a non-seal area, wherein the enamel paste comprises a lead-free and cadmium-free glass composition comprising in mole percent: 25-65% Bi2O3, 3-60% ZnO, 4-65% B2O3, 0-50% (SiO2+Al2O3), and 0-20% TiO2+ZrO2, and no V2O5,

(b) providing at least one absorber in the seal area of at least one substrate,

(c) heating the at least two substrates to a temperature below the dilatometric softening point of the at lead-free and cadmium-free glass composition using a thermal heat source, and

(d) irradiating the enamel paste with a broadband infrared source to fuse the enamel paste and thereby form a seal between the at least two glass substrates;

wherein (c) is performed prior to (d).

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein after (d), the method further comprises cooling the substrates according to a predefined cooling profile that differs from ambient cooling.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein prior to (d), the method further comprises jacketing the substrates with an insulating material.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein during cooling, an insulation is added to thermally insulate the at least two glass substrates to slow the rate of cooling relative to the cooling rate attained by turning off the irradiation.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein a light filter is positioned between the broadband infrared source and the seal area so as to selectively remove at least one light wavelength from the radiation incident on the seal area.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein a mirror is positioned relative to the broadband infrared source and the seal area such that the mirror directs at least a portion of radiation toward the seal area that would not reach the seal area without the mirror.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the mirror is parabolic.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein an enamel paste is prefired on at least one substrate prior to irradiation with broadband infrared radiation.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one absorber is present as a particulate additive.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the particulate additive is at least one black pigment.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one absorber is formed by the presence in the glass composition of at least one oxide selected from the group consisting of chromium oxides, manganese oxides, iron oxides, cobalt oxides, nickel oxides, copper oxides, praseodymium oxides, and samarium oxides.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one oxide is selected from the group consisting of Cr 2 O 3 , MnO 2 , Fe 2 O 3 , Co 3 O 4 , NiO, CuO, MoO 3 , Pr 6 O 11 , and Sm 2 O 3 .

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrates are independently selected from the group consisting of glass, ceramic, glass-ceramic, very low expansion glass ceramics, window glass, low expansion borosilicate glass, aluminosilicate glass, surface strengthened alkali aluminosilicate glass, ion exchanged alkali aluminosilicate glass, tempered glass, surface strengthened metal coated glass, glass coated with silver, conductive substrates, conductive oxides, indium tin oxide, fluorinated tin oxide, transparent conductive oxides, and coated glass substrates.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrates together with the fused enamel define a cavity, which may form or enclose at least one selected from the group consisting of vacuum insulated glass, solar cell contact, solar cell, solar cell module, organic PV device, plasma display device, tablet computer, nanocrystal display, electrochromic device, electrochromic material system, sensors, suspended particle device, micro-blind, liquid crystal device, smart window, switchable window, smart glass, eglass, quantum dot devices, thermolelectric devices, batteries, LED, SED, FED, OLED, LCD, DLP, FLD, IMOD, TDEL, QDLED, TMOS, TPD, LCL, LPD, OLET, and combinations thereof.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrates together with the fused enamel form an assembly which defines a cavity, the assembly forming part of a refrigeration unit.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the lead-free and cadmium-free glass composition further comprises 0.1-15 mol % of at least one selected from the group consisting of CuO, Fe 2 O 3 , Co 2 O 3 , MnO, NiO and Cr 2 O 3 , and combinations thereof.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein (d) is performed when the at least two substrates are at the heated temperature below the dilatometric softening point of the glass composition.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the thermal heat source is different from the broadband infrared source.