Analysis of the internal glass surfaces of vacuum glazing

XPS has been used to study the internal glass surfaces of vacuum glazing. In order to retain the vacuum state of the sample and to avoid carbon contamination of the test area, specially evacuated samples were designed in this study. A customized sample holder was made and a lever device was incorporated into the preparation chamber of an XPS system to break these samples in situ. The relative atomic concentration of different elements on commercial low-emittance tin-oxide-coated and uncoated glass was compared. The effect of high temperature outgassing on the carbon concentration on the internal glass surfaces of vacuum glazing has been investigated. The study shows that when the sample is baked at high temperatures, the carbon concentration on the glass surface can be reduced to a low level.