The Sapphire Industry Just Wasn't Ready For The New iPhone

Business Insider ^ | 09/10/2014 | SE YOUNG LEE AND MICHAEL GOLD

[SeekAndFind]

Apple Inc. may have disappointed many consumers by not putting sapphire glass covers on its new iPhone, but the scratch-resistant material is gradually making its way into mobile devices despite manufacturing challenges and high costs.

Speculation had been rife in the weeks leading up to Tuesday's unveiling of the iPhone 6 that some models would have the extra protection after Apple partnered in November with U.S.-based GT Advanced Technologies Inc. , a mineral crystal specialist, to make sapphire materials for its devices.

Apple said sapphire glass would be used on its first smartwatch. It also continues to use the durable material to cover the iPhone's camera lens and home button, but it gave no hints as to if, or when, the glass would be used on iPhone screens.

China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. [HWT.UL] last week became the first major handset maker to announce the use of sapphire screen covers, saying it would release a limited edition version of its high-end phone with such protection.

Sapphire glass is the hardest material in nature after diamonds. It is used in LED lighting, high-end jewelry and military equipment like submarine and rocket windows.

According to a recent survey by the used-phone marketplace www.uSell.com, the most wanted new iPhone 6 feature had been sapphire glass, which is also more sensitive to the touch than other screen protectors.

JPMorgan expects the adoption of sapphire faceplates for smartphones to rise several times next year, albeit from a very low base.

Some Asian handset makers have been talking with the world's two biggest suppliers of raw sapphire glass: U.S.-based Rubicon Technology and South Korea's Sapphire Technology <123260.KQ>.

"All smartphone manufacturers have been meeting with all the major sapphire producers including Rubicon," William Weissman, chief financial officer of Rubicon, told Reuters by email.

[knarf]

never heard of this stuff but ... can they make eye glasses from it ?

[Loud Mime]

ping

[Bob]

Submarine windows????

[SeekAndFind]

Hardness and durability is the main reason for Apple’s interest in sapphire glass. On the hardness scale, the only material tougher than sapphire is diamond. What this means is that it is immensely scratch resistant in a way that no other comparable material is — both in terms of “flaw initiation” (i.e. when it starts to scratch) and toughness (when it cracks).

[Durus]

Anything is possible but the cost of trying to make lenses out of material almost as hard as diamond would be prohibitive.

[thackney]

Transparent Aluminum (Aluminum Oxide)

You might not like the price or the weight for your eyeglasses. Double the density compared to the same index of refraction.

http://www.eyeglasslenses.com/content/knowledgebase/kb_materialsandtypes.asp

http://www.mt-berlin.com/frames_cryst/descriptions/sapphire.htm

[Moonman62]

Submarine windows????

...

They are right next to the screen door.

[Moonman62]

Man made sapphires used for jewelry are sometimes given a coating of diamond to make them more durable and give them a better appearance. Sapphire is better than what they use now for displays, but it will still scratch.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Really? Never heard of sapphire?

[knarf]

not sapphire glass

[TexasGator]

“Man made sapphires used for jewelry are sometimes given a coating of diamond to make them more durable and give them a better appearance.”

Didn’t know that. Do you have more info on this?

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

“Submarine windows????”

There are submersibles with windows...

http://www.blanson.com/home/submersible_viewports_domes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osprey-class_submersible

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/26/science/26alvi.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

[Moonman62]

I can’t find the company that was doing it. It’s been a couple of years since I was looking into it. According to a Google search, some companies seem to coat cubic zirconia.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Sapphire glass is not really glass as glass is comprised mostly of silicone dioxide. Sapphire glass is composed of colorless aluminum oxide. The gemstones are colored because of impurities in the sapphire.

[Swordmaker]

Hardness and durability is the main reason for Apple’s interest in sapphire glass. On the hardness scale, the only material tougher than sapphire is diamond. What this means is that it is immensely scratch resistant in a way that no other comparable material is — both in terms of “flaw initiation” (i.e. when it starts to scratch) and toughness (when it cracks).

There are actually several materials harder than sapphire but softer than diamond. One in particular, Silicon Carbide, is also a colored (from deep black through browns, reds, oranges, yellows, greens, blues, all the way to transparent colorless) and transparent gemstone that in its colorless, transparent form has 2.4 times the fire of a diamond.

Dispersion of Moissanite (left) compared to Diamond (right)
Moissanite, unlike Diamond, is birefringent
producing scintillating color flashes.

Sapphire rates a 9 on the Mohs relative hardness scale where diamond rates the highest at 10 when Frederich Mohs created his scale based on what minerals could scratch each other. There are now a few rare synthetic materials that are harder than natural diamond: Wurtzite —Boron Nitrite which is about 5% harder than diamond—and Lonsdaleite —aggregated hexagonal diamond nanotubes which are an amazing 10% harder than natural diamond— but so far, these have been created only in microscopic quantities.

Incidentally, Black Diamonds are slightly harder, and slightly lighter, than any other fancy colored diamond by a fractional percentage due to the enormous pressures of where it's thought they were all created in the center of a supernova.

Synthetic Silicon Carbide, called Moissanite in its pure colorless form which is sold in mid to high end jewelry, rates 9.4 on the Mohs scale. Other varieties of Silicon Carbide, depending on the impurities that give it the colors, can rate as low as 9.2, which still harder than Sapphire is also used in jewelry but in its darker opaque colors it's used as an abrasive.

Colors of gem Moissanite (Silicon Carbide)


Black Moissanite gems —— Green Moissanite gem —— White Mmoissannite gems


Silicon Carbide abrasives — sandblast grit and sandpaper.

American made gem quality transparent cut stones sell for as much as $6,000 for a 10 carat stone. . . I know because I bought one to put in a ring I had made for my girlfriend. ;^)

14.50mm, 10.34ct Forever Brilliant® Round Brilliant Charles & Colvard Created Moissanite Gemstone® $5,999.00—Charles & Colvard Created Moissanite

A diamond of that size, with less fire, would cost in the six if not seven figures. But, at those prices, I doubt it would be too economical to make iPhone screens out of Moissanite. LOL!

A Moissanite of equivalent diameter to a diamond weighs about 12% less so you may see them listed at "Diamond Equivalent Weight, or DEW, i.e. a 1 carat diamond would be the same size as a .89 carat Moissanite. The accepted practice in selling diamond stimulants of any kind, Moissanites included, is to list the .89 Carat Moissanite as a "1 carat DEW." In other words, it will look exactly the same size as a diamond of that carat size, regardless of how much it actually weighs. CZs are 1.6 times heavier than diamonds.

A black gem cut Moissanite can be bought on eBay for as low as $5.00 per carat. . . and industrial grade abrasive silicon carbide grit runs $7 to $32 per pound depending on grind. . . Or even less in 55 gallon drums.

Naturally occurring Silicon Carbide Moissanite is found in meteorites. . . and is extremely rare and valuable. The vast majority of Silicon Carbide is synthetic, made in electric furnaces.

Growing Moissanite in bolluses large enough for screens might not be feasible. But I've seen black Silicon Carbide cut round "Moissanite" gems as large as 2 1/4" across coming out of India. The Indian synthesizers haven't quite gotten the formula quite right yet to grow pure Moissanite, but they're getting better. I've seen some large (5 carat or so), gorgeous blue and green coming out of India. . . and a few similar just slightly cloudy white ones. These are probably around 9.3-9.35 on the Mohs scale. I bought a 4.7 carat Imperial Topaz color Indian Moissanite on eBay for just a little over $100 that is truly gorgeous. . . I'm going to mount it as a solitaire in Rose Gold for my girlfriend for her birthday. SHHHH! Don't tell her.

[Swordmaker]

Oh SNAP! No sapphire iPhone screens! PING!

No Apple Sapphire Screen Ping!

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me. http://www.worldwidehippies.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Obama_Howdy_Doodat.jpg

[Swordmaker]

Man made sapphires used for jewelry are sometimes given a coating of diamond to make them more durable and give them a better appearance. Sapphire is better than what they use now for displays, but it will still scratch.

I think you have that upside down and backwards. Certain simulated diamonds are coated with sapphire to strengthen the surface to both prevent scratches and to improve surface reflectivity. DiamondNexus simulant stones have a Mohs hardness of 8.4, and a dispersion and refraction almost exactly the same as a diamond. That softness means there are a lot of materials that could potentially scratch the stone. To harden the surface and prevent scratches, it's coated with clear synthetic sapphire.

[Mark17]

They are right next to the screen door.

Which is next to the pay toilet. Neither one of them went over well, did they?

[kevkrom]

My understanding is that it’s not only a supply issue, but a suitability issue. Sapphire glass is very thin and scratch-resistant, but is not (likely due to its thinness) as impact-resistant as something like Gorilla Glass. I’ll note that for the new Apple Watches, two of the three lines use the sapphire glass, but the “sport” line will use a more traditional tempered glass, presumably because that model is more likely to be put into athletic situations where impacts are likely.