Patent ID: 7727407

Claim:
A method of processing an amorphous material, comprising the steps of: providing an amorphous material comprising silicon oxide and an oxide selected from the group consisting of aluminum oxide and alkaline earth metal oxide; applying a predetermined pressure to selected parts of a surface of said amorphous material so as to allow compressed layers to be formed uniformly over the surface, with virtually no scratching or cracking, using particles having a hardness higher than that of the amorphous material to form high-density compressed layers; and removing a surface layer of the amorphous material in the presence of a treatment agent that has a different removal capacity in the compressed layers and a remaining uncompressed layer, thus making the compressed layers project out, by first etching with an acidic solution and then second etching with an alkaline solution, wherein the compressed layers are formed by colliding the particles into the selected parts of the surface of the amorphous material by using a wet blast method of spraying the particles onto the amorphous material or by using an air blast method of spraying the particles together with compressed air onto the amorphous material, each of the particles having a substantially spherical particle shape.