Corning Incorporated
Compositional modification of glass articles through laser heating and methods for making the same

Abstract:

Glass articles and methods for modifying a composition of a surface portion of the glass article are disclosed. The method includes heating the surface portion of the glass article with a laser beam to a temperature within a range of about 1100?C to about 2200?C such that the heating evaporates one or more metalloids and/or one or more alkali metals present at the surface portion, and modifies the composition of the surface portion such that the surface portion has a lower alkali metals concentration and/or a lower metalloids concentration as compared to a portion of the glass article that is not heated by the laser beam.