A method for producing a glass article is provided. The method for producing a glass article, the method including preparing a glass to be processed, the glass comprising a glass bulk and a low-refractive surface layer disposed on the glass bulk, and etching away the low-refractive surface layer to form an etched glass, wherein the etching away the low-refractive surface layer comprises: cleaning the low-refractive surface layer with an acid solution; and cleaning the low-refractive surface layer with a base solution after the cleaning it with the acid solution.

A laminated glazing includes a first transparent sheet intended, in the mounting position of the glazing, to constitute the exterior face thereof, a second transparent sheet bonded to the first by an adhesive interlayer, a heating layer supplied with electric current by leads positioned at the periphery of the glazing, and a mask also positioned at the periphery of the glazing between the first transparent sheet and the leads so as to hide the latter from view from the outside in the mounting position of the laminated glazing, wherein the heating layer and the mask are on the same plane of the laminated structure of the glazing.

Glass laminates, comprising more than one glass composition, are becoming increasingly common as the industry moves towards lighter and stronger glazing. Bending dissimilar glass compositions can present problems. A mismatch in the glass viscosity curves, especially in the viscoelastic region of the compositions can result in one layer becoming softer than one of the other layers during the thermal bending process. As a result, economical processes, such as gravity or press bending in which multiple glass layers are simultaneously bent, may not be practical to use forcing the use of more expensive single glass layer bending processes. By thermal treatment processes the fictive temperature of at least one of the glass compositions prior to bending can be shifted to better match the other compositions allowing the glass layers to be simultaneously bent.

A laminated glazing usable as a heatable glazing for means of transportation. Also, a method for producing the laminated glazing and a method for decreasing the sheet resistance of the laminated glazing.

A fire resistant vacuum insulating glazing assembly with at least one vacuum insulating glazing unit having first and second glass panes; a set of discrete pillars between the glass panes; a hermetically bonding seal sealing the distance between the glass panes; an internal volume defined by the glass panes and closed by the hermetically bonding seal, wherein there is a vacuum of absolute pressure of less than 0.1 mbar. The inner pane faces face the internal volume, and the glazing assembly further includes at least one intumescent unit having a layer of intumescent material, an intumescent unit glass pane, and an intumescent unit peripheral spacer. The intumescent unit glass pane and the intumescent unit peripheral spacer define an intumescent unit volume, and the layer of intumescent material and the intumescent unit peripheral spacer face one of the outer pane faces of the first or second glass panes.

Techniques for laser processing of electrochromic glass or other thin-film devices where one or more layers are sandwiched between two thin-film conductive layers include directing a laser beam onto a first position on a surface of a workpiece. The laser beam includes substantially collimated pulses of electromagnetic radiation having an energy density from about 1 J/cm.sup.2 to about 10 J/cm.sup.2 in a spot having a characteristic dimension of at least about 5 mm at the surface of the workpiece. The laser beam removes the material from the first position, then is moved to a second position on the surface of the workpiece and removes material from the second position. The laser beam is then moved to one or more additional positions on the surface of the workpiece and removes material from the one or more additional positions.

A method of preparing a glazing, comprising: stacking a first glass sheet, a first interlayer, a photopolymer film, a second interlayer, and a second glass sheet to provide a lamination stack; &airing the lamination stack; autoclaving the lamination stack to provide a laminated glazing; applying a reactive light to the photopolymer film in the laminated glazing, wherein reactive light is applied to the laminated glazing through a master holographic film; and bleaching the laminated glazing such that the photopolymer film is no longer reactive to light exposure.

Methods of manufacturing electrochromic windows are described. Insulated glass units (IGU's) are protected, e.g. during handling and shipping, by a protective bumper. The bumper can be custom made using IGU dimension data received from the IGU fabrication tool. The bumper may be made of environmentally friendly materials. Laser isolation configurations and related methods of patterning and/or configuring an electrochromic device on a substrate are described. Edge deletion is used to ensure a good seal between spacer and glass in an IGU and thus better protection of an electrochromic device sealed in the IGU. Configurations for protecting the electrochromic device edge in the primary seal and maximizing viewable area in an electrochromic pane of an IGU are also described.

Methods for preparing multi-layer optical laminates include placing an optical film that is free form an adhesive layer between first and second glass substrates that are free of an adhesive layer, placing this laminate under vacuum, and then heating the laminate under pressure to a temperature above the softening temperature of the optical film. The glass substrates are free of an adhesive layer but may include a silane surface treatment. The resulting multi-layer laminate is optically clear and does not show scattering of reflected light by the optical film.

A method for manufacturing neutral color antireflective glass substrates by ion implantation, the method including ionizing a N.sub.2 source gas so as to form a mixture of single charge and multicharge ions of N, forming a beam of single charge and multicharge ions of N by accelerating with an acceleration voltage A between 20 kV and 25 kV and setting the ion dosage at a value between 6×10.sup.16 ions/cm.sup.2 and −5.00×10.sup.15×A/kV+2.00×10.sup.17 ions/cm.sup.2. A neutral color antireflective glass substrates including an area treated by ion implantation with a mixture of simple charge and multicharge ions according to the method.