- Apr 13, 2013
- 3,144
As cellphones have become more functional, more sensitive data has been saved on them; mobile payments by the swipe of a phone are also done. With this in mind it can be seen that the loss of one's cellphone would be a cause of concern to the owner.With the coming IPhone6 this Fall Apple will add (hopefully) another layer of security that may alleviate some of the concerns if a phone is misplaced, namely a fingerprint reader.
Although fingerprint readers are certainly nothing new the implementation of such a system has been problematical on cellphones for an obvious reason: cellphone screens scratch. Even the use of super-tough glass (Gorilla Glass by Corning) has not alleviated this issue, and without a pristine screen the use of a fingerprint reader would be at best inconsistent. Apple may have solved this issue by utilizing one of my favorite items, namely precious gems. The use of sapphire in industry is nothing new; the extreme hardness (the 3rd hardest mineral known, just a bit below that of diamonds and moissanite) and inability to scratch has seen its utilization in the lens of a camera to barcode readers in stores. The trick is to make the process of creating synthetic sapphire cheap enough for mass market use.
Late last year Apple loaned quite a bit of cash (~570 million USD) to a company called GT Advanced Technologies in order to build and equip a manufacturing facility in Mesa, Arizona that will produce synthetic Sapphires. GT Advanced has developed high tech furnaces that will, after reaching temperatures of over 2000C, be able to grow sapphires from a pure base aluminum oxide (note that it's the impurities in the aluminum oxide that give gems color). The end product will be 110kg hockey puck sized crystals (called boules). These can then be cut and processed to shape. The GTAT furnaces use a variation of what's known as the Czochralski melt-growth process: it combines melting with directional cooling to create a very large sapphire crystal of very high purity. The end product will be 110kg hockey puck sized crystals (called boules). These can then be cut and processed to shape.
But on to the show and tell. There is currently a third party seller of replacement sapphire covers for older IPhones (Flight Glass SX Sapphire Crystal protective screen) and below is a product demo:
Although fingerprint readers are certainly nothing new the implementation of such a system has been problematical on cellphones for an obvious reason: cellphone screens scratch. Even the use of super-tough glass (Gorilla Glass by Corning) has not alleviated this issue, and without a pristine screen the use of a fingerprint reader would be at best inconsistent. Apple may have solved this issue by utilizing one of my favorite items, namely precious gems. The use of sapphire in industry is nothing new; the extreme hardness (the 3rd hardest mineral known, just a bit below that of diamonds and moissanite) and inability to scratch has seen its utilization in the lens of a camera to barcode readers in stores. The trick is to make the process of creating synthetic sapphire cheap enough for mass market use.
Late last year Apple loaned quite a bit of cash (~570 million USD) to a company called GT Advanced Technologies in order to build and equip a manufacturing facility in Mesa, Arizona that will produce synthetic Sapphires. GT Advanced has developed high tech furnaces that will, after reaching temperatures of over 2000C, be able to grow sapphires from a pure base aluminum oxide (note that it's the impurities in the aluminum oxide that give gems color). The end product will be 110kg hockey puck sized crystals (called boules). These can then be cut and processed to shape. The GTAT furnaces use a variation of what's known as the Czochralski melt-growth process: it combines melting with directional cooling to create a very large sapphire crystal of very high purity. The end product will be 110kg hockey puck sized crystals (called boules). These can then be cut and processed to shape.
But on to the show and tell. There is currently a third party seller of replacement sapphire covers for older IPhones (Flight Glass SX Sapphire Crystal protective screen) and below is a product demo:
