Glass-to-metal Seal - Glass-to-metal Bonds

Glass-to-metal Bonds

Glass and metal can bond together by purely mechanical means, which usually gives weaker joints, or by chemical interaction, where the oxide layer on the metal surface forms a strong bond with the glass.

For achieving a vacuum-tight seal, the seal must not contain bubbles. The bubbles are most commonly created by gases escaping the metal at high temperature; degassing the metal before its sealing is therefore important, especially for nickel and iron and their alloys. This is achieved by heating the metal in vacuum or sometimes in hydrogen atmosphere or in some cases even in air at temperatures above those used during the sealing process. Oxidizing of the metal surface also reduces gas evolution. Most of the evolved gas is produced due to the presence of carbon impurities in the metals; these can be removed by heating in hydrogen.

The glass-oxide bond is stronger than glass-metal. The oxide forms a layer on the metal surface, with the proportion of oxygen changing from zero in the metal to the stoichiometry of the oxide and the glass itself. A too thick oxide layer tends to be porous on the surface and mechanically weak, flaking, compromising the bond strength and creating possible leakage paths along the metal-oxide interface. Proper thickness of the oxide layer is therefore critical.