Patent ID: 8524051

Claim:
A method of making a coated article, the method comprising: providing a glass substrate; sputtering a layer comprising silver on the glass substrate; sputter-depositing a layer comprising NiCr on the substrate over the layer comprising silver, so that the layer comprising NiCr contacts the layer comprising silver; after the entire layer comprising NiCr has been sputter-deposited on the substrate, ion beam treating at least an upper surface of the layer comprising NiCr with an ion beam comprising at least oxygen ions so that following said ion beam treating the layer comprising NiCr is more oxidized at a location further from the layer comprising silver than at a location closer to the layer comprising silver, wherein the ion beam comprising at least oxygen ions is generated by an ion source, and wherein an ion energy of the ion source is utilized to cause a majority of said oxygen ions to make their way only part-way through the layer comprising NiCr, resulting in an oxygen-graded layer; and following said ion beam treating, sputtering at least a dielectric layer over the layer comprising NiCr.