Glass in 1962 has been used in high-tech

Since 2008, the world’s largest manufacturer of glass screens for phones and other mobile devices has become an American Corporation of Corning, the company with 159 years of history, known in Russia for his St. Petersburg Scientific Center and the developments in fiber optics.

Few people know that the Heavy-Glass Gorilla Glass brand of alyuminosilikata was received back in 1962 (original title Chemcor) and until recently, absolutely never used. Nobody could find commercial application of this material with unusual properties, while the light did not appear touch screen.

Development Project Muscle to establish a "glass, durable as steel" methods of chemical and thermal treatment began in the late 50-ies, and several years later received the first sample. It was supposed to do from the car windows, but just at that time British rival Pilkington Bros. invented a much cheaper way of mass production.

Sheets of glass cost about $30 were too expensive for the automotive industry - and the project has been dormant for almost half a century, until there was a technological revolution.

The first customer on the glass Gorilla appeared only in 2008, and the following year the company earned on its sales of $170 million, the screens with a protective coating from the glass were installed in 40 million mobile phones and other devices. Since 2011, the first Asian manufacturers will begin to cover it with glass TV screens.

Glass Gorilla Glass is different in that it is difficult to scratch and almost impossible to break. According to its specifications it is approximately two to three times stronger than the increase in the chemical materials of ordinary glass. Thanks to its properties can be made thinner plates, which is important to maintain the aesthetic properties of telephones and televisions.

Now Gorilla Glass is used in more than 100 mobile devices, including smart-phones Motorola Droid and Netbook LG X300