Corning’s Gorilla Glass

All those new touch-screen displays need protection from scratch and breakage. The solution? An ultra-strong glass that was invented in 1962, failed to find a commercial use back then, and has been biding its time in a hilltop Corning research lab for almost a half-century.

The Gorilla Glass is two to three times stronger than chemically strengthened versions of ordinary soda-lime glass, is very hard to break, dent or scratch, and is therefore ideal as a protective layer over the screens of touch-screen devices. It is poised to become a multibillion-dollar bonanza for Corning Inc. as the latest trend in TVs requires frameless flat-screens that can be hung as chic glass artwork on a living-room wall.