Solar Control Glass with Neutral Color for Automobiles

This paper describes monolithic solar control glass with high durability and neutral color (colorless reflection) for automotive windows. Layer systems of the solar control coating are composed of double layers (oxide/nitride/glass) and triple layers (oxide/nitride/oxide/glass), where a titanium nitride film is chosen for solar energy reduction and a novel zirconium based oxide film with a low refractive index is used as a protective layer together with reducing optical interference color. The nitride film and the oxide film are prepared by reactive dc magnetron sputtering from a titanium target and an alloy target without intentional substrate heating, respectively. Durability of the double layer coating is investigated against abrasion, chemicals and weathering. When the coating is applied to all windows of a passenger car, the reduction of a solar heat load is evaluated through an air-conditioner at simulated car speed under simulated solar radiation.