Patent ID: 8147632

Claim:
A method for sintering a frit to a glass plate, said method comprising the steps of: providing the glass plate; depositing a frit onto the glass plate; placing the glass plate with the deposited frit into an oven; sintering the frit to the glass plate within the oven by: ramping-up a temperature within the oven to a predetermined temperature, where the predetermined temperature is higher than a glass transition temperature (T g ) of a glass within the frit but less than a crystallization temperature of the glass in the frit; holding the predetermined temperature within the oven for a predetermined time; and maintaining an oxygen level within the oven at a predetermined level within a range of about 1,200 ppm-22,220 ppm while holding the predetermined temperature within the oven for the predetermined time; and ramping-down a temperature within the oven; and removing the glass plate with the sintered frit from the oven.