The disclosure relates to glasses that are capable of chemical strengthening by ion exchange and have intrinsic or “native” damage resistance. More particularly, the disclosure relates to such glasses that are strengthened by ion exchange and possess resistance to damage by abrasion, scratching, indentation, and other forms of sharp contact.
The ion exchange process provides a substantial improvement of glasses that are capable of being strengthened by this process to resist damage by sharp impact or indentation. To date, glasses containing network modifiers such as alkali and alkaline earth cations have been used. These cations form non-bridging oxygens (oxygens bonded to only one silicon atom), which reduce the resistance of the ion exchanged glass to damage introduced by abrasion, scratching, or the like.