New optical materials from Panacol

 

Panacol will present new optical grade resins for imprinting and optical bonding applications at the SPIE Photonics West exhibition in San Francisco, US from 28-30 January 2025. These new adhesives are typically used for light carpets in the automotive industry.  They are also used in smart device sensors, wearables, and to create structured light in projectors or time-of-flight sensing applications, both for automotive and consumer products.

The company has successfully formulated resins for imprint replication of refractive lenses and diffractive optical elements (DOEs). These materials are highly suitable for micro- and nanoimprint lithography or wafer level optics. In addition to the suitability of these materials for commonly used glass wafers, the new generation products demonstrate outstanding adhesion to trending new polymer substrates including optical grade PET, PC or COP. Once applied and imprinted, the adhesives are quickly cured by UV light, creating a precise and durable structure. The optical properties are specifically tailored to meet the requirements of the targeted substrate.

One of the latest generations of optical materials, Vitralit UC 1633, features a further improved yellowing resistance, higher optical transmission, and superior shape retention. It is easy to demold from PDMS molds which makes it the perfect material to form microlenses such as those used in smart watches.

For unique optical applications and assembly, Panacol offers black UV-curable materials for shading and masking properties. Black&Light adhesives, such as Vitralit BL UC 1103, can be cured in thicker layers by light only, resulting in optical densities of up to 6 (highly blocking). For assembly of optical components there is a wide range of UV curable adhesives for bonding and alignment. For curing in shadow zones dual cure adhesives with a secondary moisture or heat curing step are available.

These optical materials and adhesives for optical bonding are efficiently cured with high intensity LED curing systems from Hönle, which perfectly match the wavelengths of the Panacol photoinitiators. Once cured, their optical grade adhesives are flexible and tension equalizing, reducing the stress on dissimilar substrates.

About Panacol
Panacol-Elosol GmbH was founded in 1978 as a German subsidiary of the Swiss Panacol AG in Frankfurt. In 2008, Panacol was acquired by Munich-based Dr Hönle AG, a leading global supplier of industrial UV equipment technology. As a member of the Hönle Group, Panacol is a knowledgeable and reliable provider of adhesives, coatings, and UV/LED curing equipment for OEM and contract manufacturers around the world.

Source: Panacol

Caption: The new UV adhesive Vitralit® UC 1633 is used for microlenses on smart watch sensors (Image: Panacol).

www.panacol.com

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