Ultra-thin glass produced in China breaks world record

Ultra-thin glass produced at Bengbu Glass Industry Design Research Institute for use in electronic touch screens has set a new world record for its thinness, reports People's Daily.

A worker measures the thickness of the ultra-thin glass. [Photo: thepaper.cn]

The new glass is just 0.12 mm thick, beating the previous world record of 0.15 mm. The new type of ultra-thin glass has several advantages over current glass technology. It has high light transmittance, and is extremely tough – it is hard to break even when it is bent into a ring.

Ultra-thin glass is a critical material for smartphones, tablet computers, and other electronic products, and manufacturers of these devices face pressure from consumers to produce lighter and thinner products.

The technology needed to manufacture ultra-thin glass – glass less than 1.1 mm thick – was not available in China until 2013, when Bengbu Building Materials Information Display Materials Co. Ltd.in East China's Anhui Province started researching ultra-thin glass. They were supported in this work by the Glass Industry Design Research Institute.