An article includes a glass ceramic that has an amorphous silicate glass phase and a crystalline phase including a species of MxWO3 with 0<x<1 and M an intercalated dopant cation. The article further includes an aperture configured to be formed via local heating of a portion of the glass ceramic to a temperature that is above the softening point of the glass ceramic. The aperture comprises constituents of the silicate glass phase and the crystalline phase but is substantially free of the species of MxWO3. A ratio of a transmittance of the aperture to a transmittance of the glass ceramic not subject to the local heating is at least 6,000 with transmittance measured in %/mm at wavelengths from 500 nm to 1100 nm.

A method of forming a multi-colored glass substrate comprises: irradiating a first region of a glass substrate with a first high energy source to form a first irradiated glass substrate; and subjecting the irradiated glass substrate to a first heat treatment to form a first heat treated glass substrate, wherein the first heat treated glass substrate comprises a second region having a different transmittance color coordinate in the CIELAB color space, as measured at an article thickness of 1.33 mm under F2 illumination and a 10° standard observer angle, than the first region.

Described is in particular a method of heat treatment of a material layer (102) of a material sandwich (100) comprising the material layer (102) and a substrate (104), wherein the substrate (104) comprises a silicon-oxygen compound and the material layer (102) comprises a silicon-oxygen compound, the method comprising irradiating the material layer (102) with a pulsed laser beam (114) of a carbon dioxide laser (112). According to an embodiment the irradiating is performed so as to selectively heat the material layer (102) and a substrate portion (116) of the substrate (104), wherein the substrate portion (116) faces (e.g. contacts) the material layer (102).

A marking composition for forming marks or indicia on a substrate is provided for laser marking applications. The composition includes a glass frit, a carrier, and absorber particles. The glass frit includes alkali metal oxides, glass forming oxides, and one or more transition metal oxides. The glass frit is devoid of at least one of bismuth and zinc.

A method of forming a through hole in a glass substrate is provided. The method includes irradiating a surface of a glass substrate with a mid-infrared or far-infrared laser to form a pilot hole including a plurality of cracks extending radially outward from the pilot hole. The pilot hole is etched to expand a diameter of the pilot hole to at least encompass the plurality of cracks to form a through hole having a through hole entry diameter of about 200 micrometers to about 1.5 millimeters.

Methods for increasing the strength of a planar or strip-shaped glass substrate are provided. Electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range from 180 nm to 1100 nm is applied to the glass substrate by means of at least one pulse, wherein the at least one pulse has a radiation bandwidth of at least 100 nm and the glass substrate has a temperature of at most 200° C. prior to the at least one pulse acting thereon, and wherein the pulse energy density of the at least one pulse of electromagnetic radiation is set in the range from 0.1 Jcm-2 to 100 Jcm-2.

A process for obtaining a material including a substrate coated on one of its sides with a coating including a functional layer, includes depositing the functional layer on the substrate, then depositing an absorbent layer on top of the functional layer, then performing a heat treatment by radiation, the radiation having at least one treatment wavelength between 200 and 2500 nm, the absorbent layer being in contact with air during the heat treatment, wherein the ab sorb ent layer ab sorbs at least 80% of the radiation used during the heat treatment and transmits less than 10% thereof.

A panel-shaped glass element is provided that includes vitreous material having a thermal expansion coefficient of less than 10×10.sup.-6 K.sup.-1 as well as two opposing surfaces. The glass element furthermore has at least one recess which runs through the glass of the glass element and has a recess wall which runs around the recess and adjoins the two opposing surfaces. The recess wall has a structure with a multiplicity of mutually adjacent rounded dome-shaped depressions. A roughness of the recess wall is formed by these depressions as well as the ridges enclosing the depressions. The recess wall has a mean roughness value (Ra) which is less than 5 .Math.m.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for forming ultrafine features on a glass surface. The method and apparatus for forming ultrafine features on a glass surface are configured to directly pressurize a mold with a transmission unit or to pressurize the mold with a fluid using the transmission unit, so the mold may pressurize the glass surface with a uniform force.

In a first embodiment, the invention relates to a method for nanoimprinting a pattern on a chalcogenide-glass substrate, comprising: (A) preparing a soft operational mold, the operational mold comprising an elastomeric matrix and a reinforcement, wherein the matrix is transparent to IR radiation, and the reinforcement is opaque to IR radiation, and the mold further includes a pattern to be replicated to the substrate; (B) placing the mold on a top surface of a chalcogenide-glass substrate to form a structure, and simultaneously applying (i) IR radiation to heat an area at a top surface of the substrate to a temperature T>T.sub.g, where T.sub.g is the glass transition temperature of chalcogenide-glass, and (ii) applying a controlled pressure on the mold to effect penetration to the top surface of the chalcogenide-glass substrate, thereby to replicate the pattern of the mold to the top surface of the substrate; and (C) separating the operational mold from the patterned substrate.