Sapphire is blessed with extraordinary physical attributes which provide significant performance advantages over glass & plastic.
Cooler devices – sapphire’s thermal conductivity is ~40x higher than glass. Cooler devices have longer battery lives, longer OLED lives & faster processing times
Better touch sensitivity – sapphire’s dielectric constant is 30-60% > glass (depending on sapphire orientation), enabling high touch sensitivity & advanced biometrics
Scratch resistance – only diamond is harder than sapphire. Sapphire is ~3x harder than glass & cannot be scratched by sand, concrete or asphalt – all of which are serious problems for glass & plastic, causing scratches, weaknesses & poor precision
Mechanical strength – sapphire is ~3-5x stronger than chemically-strengthened glass; it’s the material of choice for premium watches, phone camera covers, retail point-of-sale terminals, optical sensors & ruggedized devices requiring optical precision
Great for processes with high temperatures, high pressures & harsh chemicals – sapphire’s high melting point (2040 C), high strength & chemical resistance fit well with processes for semiconductors, direct deposition, chemical etching & explosion-proof applications
Higher transmission than glass in infrared light & not damaged by UV – better than glass for IR applications (security, thermal imaging) & UV environments
Sapphire’s crystalline structure & low thermal expansion enable epitaxial alternatives – amorphous glass does not