Mobile electronic device comprising an ultrathin sapphire cover plate
View Patent ↗An electronic device comprising a cover plate is disclosed. The cover plate comprises one or more sapphire layers having a thickness of less than 50 microns. Also disclosed are methods for preparing these ultrathin sapphire layers using an ion implantation/exfoliation method.
1. An electronic device comprising a cover plate having at least one transparent display region, wherein the cover plate comprises one or more sapphire layers having a thickness of less than 50 microns, wherein the electronic device further comprises at least one display element having a display surface and wherein the cover plate is affixed to the display surface.
2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the sapphire layer has a thickness of less than 30 microns.
3. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the sapphire layer has a thickness of less than 25 microns.
4. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the sapphire layer has a thickness of less than 15 microns.
5. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the cover plate is one free-standing sapphire layer.
6. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the cover plate comprises more than one sapphire layer each having a thickness of less than 50 microns.
7. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the sapphire layer is an exterior layer of the cover plate.
8. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the electronic device further comprises at least one display element having a display surface and wherein the cover plate is a protective layer removably positioned on top of the display surface.
9. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the cover plate further comprises a transparent subsurface layer having a front surface, and wherein the sapphire layer is affixed to the front surface of the transparent subsurface layer.
10. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the transparent subsurface layer comprises glass.
11. The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the glass is a soda-lime glass.
12. The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the glass is a borosilicate glass.
13. The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the glass is an aluminosilicate glass.
14. The electronic device of claim 13 , wherein the aluminosilicate glass is a chemically-strengthened alkali aluminosilicate glass.
15. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the transparent subsurface layer comprises a polymeric material.
16. The electronic device of claim 15 , wherein the polymeric material is a polycarbonate.
17. The electronic device of claim 15 , wherein the polymeric material is a polymethacryate.
18. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the sapphire layer is affixed to the front surface of the transparent subsurface layer by an adhesive layer.
19. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the sapphire layer and the front surface of the transparent subsurface layer are thermally bonded.
20. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the front surface of the transparent subsurface layer is fused to the sapphire layer.
21. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the cover plate further comprises a transparent conducting oxide layer disposed on the transparent subsurface layer.
22. The electronic device of claim 21 , wherein the transparent conducting oxide layer is between the sapphire layer and the transparent subsurface layer.
23. The electronic device of claim 21 , wherein the transparent conducting oxide layer is patterned.
24. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the sapphire layer has an exterior surface coated with an anti-reflective layer.
25. The electronic device of claim 24 , wherein the anti-reflective layer has a thickness of from about 0.01 microns to about 1.5 microns.
26. The electronic device, of claim 1 , wherein the electronic device is an electronic media player, a mobile telephone, a personal data assistant, a pager, a laptop computer, or an electronic notebook.
27. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the sapphire layer comprises single crystal sapphire prepared in a crystal growth furnace.
28. The electronic device of claim 27 , where the crystal growth furnace is a heat exchanger method furnace.
29. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the sapphire layer is prepared by a method comprising the steps of:
i) providing a donor body of sapphire comprising a top surface;
ii) implanting through the top surface of the donor body with an ion dosage to form a cleave plane beneath the top surface; and
iii) exfoliating the sapphire layer from the donor body along the cleave plane.
30. The electronic device of claim 29 , wherein the ion dosage comprises hydrogen ions.
31. The electronic device of claim 29 , wherein the ion dosage comprises helium ions.
32. A cover plate of an electronic device, the cover plate having at least one transparent display region, wherein the cover plate comprises one or more sapphire layers having a thickness of less than 50 microns, wherein the electronic device further comprises at least one display element having a display surface and wherein the cover plate is affixed to the display surface.
33. The cover plate of claim 32 , wherein the cover plate comprises more than one sapphire layer each having a thickness of less than 50 microns.