Abstract: A coated article includes a pyrolytic applied transparent electrically conductive oxide film of niobium doped titanium oxide. The article can be made by using a coating mixture having a niobium precursor and a titanium precursor. The coating mixture is directed toward a heated substrate to decompose the coating mixture and to deposit a transparent electrically conductive niobium doped titanium oxide film on the surface of the heated substrate. In one embodiment of the invention, the method is practiced using a vaporized coating mixture including a vaporized niobium precursor; a vaporized titanium precursor, and a carrier gas to deposit a niobium doped titanium oxide film having a sheet resistance greater than 1.2 and an index of refraction of 2.3 or greater. The chemical formula for the niobium doped titanium oxide is Nb:TiOX where X is in the range of 1.8-2.1.

Abstract: A protective coating is applied to the electrically conductive surface of a reflective coating of a solar mirror by biasing a conductive member having a layer of a malleable electrically conductive material, e.g. a paste, against a portion of the conductive surface while moving an electrodepositable coating composition over the conductive surface. The moving of the electrodepositable coating composition over the conductive surface includes moving the solar mirror through a flow curtain of the electrodepositable coating composition and submerging the solar mirror in a pool of the electrodepositable coating composition. The use of the layer of a malleable electrically conductive material between the conductive member and the conductive surface compensates for irregularities in the conductive surface being contacted during the coating process thereby reducing the current density at the electrical contact area.

Abstract: The present invention relates to reflective articles, such as solar mirrors, that include a sacrificial cathodic layer. The reflective article, more particularly includes a substrate, such as glass, having a multi-layered coating thereon that includes a lead-free sacrificial cathodic layer. The sacrificial cathodic layer includes at least one transition metal, such as a particulate transition metal, which can be in the form of flakes (e.g., zinc flakes). The sacrificial cathodic layer can include an inorganic matrix formed from one or more organo-titanates. Alternatively, the sacrificial cathodic layer can include an organic polymer matrix (e.g., a crosslinked organic polymer matrix formed from an organic polymer and an aminoplast crosslinking agent). The reflective article also includes an outer organic polymer coating, that can be electrodeposited over the sacrificial cathodic layer.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a method for coating a substrate wherein the substrate is electrically conductive, the method comprising simultaneously applying a plurality of electrically conductive liquid materials to different portions of the substrate wherein at least one of the electrically conductive liquid materials comprises an ionic compound; and applying an electrical current to at least one of the liquid materials thereby depositing the ionic compound onto the substrate.

Abstract: A protective coating is applied to the electrically conductive surface of a reflective coating of a solar mirror by biasing a conductive member having a layer of a malleable electrically conductive material, e.g. a paste, against a portion of the conductive surface while moving an electrodepositable coating composition over the conductive surface. The moving of the electrodepositable coating composition over the conductive surface includes moving the solar mirror through a flow curtain of the electrodepositable coating composition and submerging the solar mirror in a pool of the electrodepositable coating composition. The use of the layer of a malleable electrically conductive material between the conductive member and the conductive surface compensates for irregularities in the conductive surface being contacted during the coating process thereby reducing the current density at the electrical contact area.

Abstract: An electrically conductive protective coating or film is provided over the surface of a reflective coating of a solar mirror by flowing or directing a cation containing liquid and an anion containing liquid onto the conductive surface. The cation and the anion containing liquids are spaced from, and preferably out of contact with one another on the surface of the reflective coating as an electric current is moved through the anion containing liquid, the conductive surface between the liquids and the cation containing liquid to coat the conductive surface with the electrically conductive coating.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a method for coating a substrate wherein the substrate is electrically conductive, the method comprising simultaneously applying a plurality of electrically conductive liquid materials to different portions of the substrate wherein at least one of the electrically conductive liquid materials comprises an ionic compound; and applying an electrical current to at least one of the liquid materials thereby depositing the ionic compound onto the substrate.

Abstract: A coated article includes a pyrolytic applied transparent electrically conductive oxide film of niobium doped titanium oxide. The article can be made by using a coating mixture having a niobium precursor and a titanium precursor. The coating mixture is directed toward a heated substrate to decompose the coating mixture and to deposit a transparent electrically conductive niobium doped titanium oxide film on the surface of the heated substrate. In one embodiment of the invention, the method is practiced using a vaporized coating mixture including a vaporized niobium precursor; a vaporized titanium precursor, and a carrier gas to deposit a niobium doped titanium oxide film having a sheet resistance greater than 1.2 and an index of refraction of 2.3 or greater. The chemical formula for the niobium doped titanium oxide is Nb:TiOX where X is in the range of 1.8-2.1.

Abstract: A coating apparatus includes non-orthogonal coater geometry to improve coatings on a glass ribbon, and to improve yields of such coatings. The apparatus includes a first arrangement to move the ribbon along a first imaginary straight line through a coating zone provided in a glass forming chamber. The coater has a coating nozzle and an exhaust slot, each have a longitudinal axis. The coating nozzle directs coating vapors toward the coating zone, and the exhaust slot removes vapors from the coating zone. A second arrangement mounts the coater in spaced relation to the path with the coating nozzle and the exhaust slot facing the coating zone. A second imaginary straight line is normal to the longitudinal axis of the coating nozzle, and the first imaginary line and the second imaginary line subtend an angle in the range of greater than zero degrees to 90 degrees.

Abstract: A method for growing a deposit upon a substrate of semiconductor material involves the utilization of pulsed laser deposition techniques within a low-pressure gas environment. The substrate and a target of a first material are positioned within a deposition chamber and a low-pressure gas atmosphere is developed within the chamber. The substrate is then heated, and the target is irradiated, so that atoms of the target material are ablated from the remainder of the target, while atoms of the gas simultaneously are adsorbed on the substrate/film surface. The ablated atoms build up upon the substrate, together with the adsorbed gas atoms to form the thin-film deposit on the substrate. By controlling the pressure of the gas of the chamber atmosphere, the composition of the formed deposit can be controlled, and films of continuously variable composition or doping can be grown from a single target of fixed composition.

Abstract: A method for growing a deposit upon a substrate of semiconductor material involves the utilization of pulsed laser deposition techniques within a low-pressure gas environment. The substrate and a target of a first material are positioned within a deposition chamber and a low-pressure gas atmosphere is developed within the chamber. The substrate is then heated, and the target is irradiated, so that atoms of the target material are ablated from the remainder of the target, while atoms of the gas simultaneously are adsorbed on the substrate/film surface. The ablated atoms build up upon the substrate, together with the adsorbed gas atoms to form the thin-film deposit on the substrate. By controlling the pressure of the gas of the chamber atmosphere, the composition of the formed deposit can be controlled, and films of continuously variable composition or doping can be grown from a single target of fixed composition.