Glass for the future: Displays and semiconductors

Glass has been a key material manipulated for human use throughout history. The earliest known glass vessels from 5,000 years ago show substantial composition sophistication in terms of color, strength, and applications. The increased diversity, complexity, and global connectivity of modern lives have driven a commensurate change in the evolution of the functionality of glass. As a substrate for displays, glass has evolved to encompass advanced display technologies from the very large to the very light and portable. As a thin strand it enables petabit communications [1, 2]. The fundamental material can be used as a high performance substrate for semiconductor applications, which is the subject of this paper. We will describe the underlying material technology innovations required to enable these applications. In conjunction with all of these materials platforms are the VLSI chips and software that work seamlessly across multiple appliance platforms.