Science of Glass Stories | Science of Glass | The Glass Age | Corning

5G networks are all the buzz. What you may not know is that Corning’s optical fiber will play a role in their delivery.

TV images have been getting brighter and sharper for years. Here’s a look at high-definition imagery and where it’s headed next.

For Paul Porter, the 2018-2019 Glass Age Scholar, falling in love with glass happened by a chance encounter.

As one of the world-leading suppliers of glass substrates for LCD and advanced displays, Corning plays a key role in the LCD industry - and has helped propel the technology forward since the 1980s.

The mobile phone of the future starts and ends with glass. Check out how 3D sensing, enabled by Corning Precision Glass Solutions, works.

Corning's leadership in precision forming is the key to making some of the hottest innovations work

Glass has been enabling life-changing innovations for centuries. Check out The Atlantic feature which details the history of glass, demonstrating how this versatile material has played a vital role in our world.

First intrigued by glass through its use in architecture, the 2017-2018 Glass Age Scholar, Xin Li, will conduct glass science research in an effort to provide the missing link to understanding glass relaxation and solve age-old problems of fundamental glass science.

The windshield on any vehicle is a very important element. While it helps you to see clearly in order to navigate and drive, the technology that lies within the windshield – and any other window in your vehicle – is improving your ride in ways you might not have realized if equipped with Corning® Gorilla® Glass for Automotive.

Ever wonder what happens in Corning's research labs? Learn about Corning's R&D efforts and our committment to glass science research in the March/April 2017 edition of the MIT Tech Review.

For over forty years, Corning has been advancing clean-air technologies in cars and now, we’re helping enhance your driving experience with improved fuel efficiency and enhanced connectivity with Corning® Gorilla® Glass for Automotive. 

The information we sort through on our electronic devices each day seems to come out of nowhere. Just as we turn on a faucet and expect to get water, we assume the bandwidth is there to support our online communications demands.

But it’s the powerful, always-on capability of global optical fiber networks – enabled by more than two billion kilometers of thin glass strands– that ensure that we can post, chat, download, and transact with ease.

How can today’s high-tech glass — found on smartphones, elevator walls, public kiosks, and more — be so tough that it withstands all the dropping, scratching, and splattering of everyday life? Part of the answer lies in the ion-exchange process.

For centuries, glass has been an indispensable laboratory partner for chemists and research scientists. So important were glass vessels in lab experiments that in the years before mass production, chemists frequently did double-duty as glassblowers, creating their own labware for measuring, mixing, and storing chemicals.

No material inspires more creativity. Scientists and artists alike have revered glass for the way it handles light and color, changes shape and take on new forms, while maintaining stability and strength. Artists, architects, engineers, and designers are turning to glass for its stunning characteristics.

For thousands of years, artists have worked with glass because of how it forms, feels, and handles light, while craftsmen have used glass for practical applications because of its stability, impermeability, and transparency. In the last century, scientists have made extraordinary advances in the characterization and fabrication of glass, leading to innovative applications in diverse fields such as architecture, transportation, electronics, communications, and medicine.

The durability of your touch screen. The brilliant, high definition images on your television. The lightweight, thin form factor of your smartphone. The qualities of glass make these advantages possible. But not just any glass will do.

Nearly 2 billion people are instantaneously and simultaneously accessing the Internet because of strands of glass thinner than a human hair. This glass, referred to as optical fiber, is not only ultra-thin, but extremely flexible, pure, and rugged.

Optical fiber is an ultra-thin, extremely flexible thread of glass that enables us to transmit information at high speeds across the room or across the world. Corning invented the first commercially viable low-loss optical fiber in 1970, and this glass technology has continued to improve in order to meet the growing bandwidth demands of today’s always-on world.

Did you know that today’s devices have different layers of glass?

It’s true. In fact, each layer has a distinct glass composition that enables it to perform a specific role within smartphones, tablets, televisions, or other devices. Check out why each layer of glass matters for the overall functionality of your device.

From its chemical compounds to its superior strength, longevity, and transparency, discover how glass continues to reinvent itself and solve new problems.

Oxides – the chemical compounds that make up glass – represent most fundamental of chemical pairings:  at least one oxygen atom with one other element.

Stirring’s no simple matter when it comes to molten glass. It seems like such a simple thing: Throwing a bunch of ingredients together and stirring until everything’s well-mixed. But when it comes to making a highly technical, optical glass, the melting and stirring process is just as complex – and must be just as precise – as the glass formula itself.

When is glass not quite glass? When it’s glass-ceramic.

Like two remarkably similar cousins who eventually go their separate ways, glass and glass-ceramics have distinctly different properties and attributes – but still bear a striking family resemblance.

Two unexpected benefits of Corning® Gorilla® Glass could someday help improve your car’s sound system while making it easier for you to find controls on a smooth dashboard touchscreen without looking at it.

Mengyi Wang is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Physics of Amorphous and Inorganic Solids Laboratory (PARISlab) at the University of California, Los Angeles – she is the 2015-2016 Glass Age Scholar. 

When Henry Herbol looks at glass, he sees a world of possibilities.

“It’s such a versatile material,” he says. “Just by changing the composition or the way you process it, you get vastly different properties you never knew before. That’s what’s so exciting about it.”

Everyone loves the convenience and brilliant moving imagery of touchscreens – and they’re becoming more and more popular in public locations, from automatic teller machines to elevator directories and interactive restaurant menus.

There’s one downside to all this interactivity: Stain- and odor- causing bacteria can build up on our devices.