Optical and Micro-Mechanical Properties of Ag-Based Low-E Glass by Magnetron Sputtering

Abstract

Ag-based low-E films with a multilayer construction of top-Si3N4/SnO2/NiCrOx/Ag/ZnO/ NiCrOx/TiO2/under-SiOxNy were deposited on unheated glass by vacuum magnetron sputtering and then post-treated in the glass tempering furnace at 675±25°C for 4 min, 5 min and 6 min, respectively. The effects of tempering time on the surface morphology, optical and micro-mechanical properties have been investigated. The results show that the edge of the particles become vague with the increasing time. After tempering, the transmittance of 550 nm is higher than that of the as-deposited glass of 75.89%. Ag-based Low-E films tempered at 675±25°C for 6 min possess the biggest value of the figure of merit of 6.86×10-3 Ω-1 and exhibits the optimal optoelectronic properties. The composite nanohardness increase from 8.04 GPa to 9.23 GPa and the elastic modulus increases from 62.39 GPa to 84.58 GPa when tempered from 0 min to 6 min.