Patent attributes
A carrier (31) for a thin glass sheet (7) is disclosed. The carrier includes an elastomer (9) which has first (15) and second (17) opposed surfaces and a support (11) bonded to the first surface (15) of the elastomer (9). During use, the thin glass sheet (7) directly contacts and is releasably bonded to the elastomer's second surface (17). In order to provide a strong, yet releasable bond to the thin glass sheet (7), the elastomer's second surface (17) has a Shore A hardness in the range of 10-90 and a roughness less than or equal to 185 nanometers. In this way, the carrier/glass sheet assembly (13) is able to withstand the conditions encountered during manufacture of electronic components on the exposed surface (23) of the thin glass sheet (7).