Found this in some further Apple patent documentation that gives...

Found this in some further Apple patent documentation that gives a clearer view as to how they intend to use both Alumina and Ceramic Zirconia - both products that ANO produces. We know from the patent filings that our solution is obviously the one that works for them.



In certain embodiments, both the housing 102 and the cover surface 110 may be made of a ceramic, such as zirconia, alumina and the like. As one example, the cover surface 110 may be formed from a transparent zirconia ceramic and the housing 102 from an opaque zirconia ceramic. In other embodiments, the cover surface may be colored or tinted (at least in part) while the housing has a different color or tint. For example, one of the cover surface 110 and housing 102 may be at least partially formed from black zirconia and one may be formed from white zirconia. In other embodiments, the cover surface may be alumina and the housing may be zirconia. In some embodiments, the cover surface may be a polycrystalline alumina.

The present disclosure advantageously reduces the cost of producing components made from brittle materials for use within portable electronic devices.

In a first example, a shell for a housing may be formed from a ceramic material. Example ceramic materials may include zirconia, zirconium dioxide, partially stabilized zirconia, alumina, aluminum oxides, glass, and other similar materials. In some instances, a ceramic shell is formed by placing a slurry or paste into a mold or similar shaping mechanism. The ceramic material is partially cured in order to yield a green body. This green body is then sintered, in which the green body is heated, removing any remaining moisture and hardening the green body into a ceramic shell. After sintering, the ceramic shell may be machined to form an exterior surface of the electronic device.







Thank goodness that Merck no longer have exclusively rights over our Alumina / Aluminium Oxide product and ANO is free to sell this technology to Apple and Saint Gobain for use in these applications.


Some historical info about the technology:



I suspect that we will see our zirconia, aluminium oxide other metal oxide businesses grow significantly over the next few years as we are able to take them into territories beyond cosmetics (which appears to be also growing)