One of the best things about our CO2 cleaning systems is the fact that it has a wide range of applications in industries ranging from aeronautics to jewelry to electronics – we can build custom systems that are perfectly suited to each industry.
But one of the more unique and innovative applications is that of our CO2 based atmospheric spray system for treating optical surfaces, where we combine our CO2 spray cleaning with an atmospheric plasma tool. To get a better understanding of this system, we must learn what makes CO2 cleaning and atmospheric plasma successful, and why that led to combining the treatments.
What Are the Benefits of CO₂ Spray Cleaning?
- All Clean, No Condensation: You don’t need any additional component heating or cleaning zone segregation to prevent condensation.
- Customizable Cleaning Energy: You choose the chemistry, spray density, temperature, particle size, distance/angle, pressure and time depending on your needs.
- Removes the Thinnest of Films: The system is adept at removing exceptionally thin HC films.
- Suitable for Stubborn Compounds: Our CO2 cleaning systems can easily be modified to increase the capability to treat surfaces in order to remove finger prints and thin films more quickly or treat substrates that aren’t effectively treated with CO2 cleaning on its own.
Atmospheric Plasma Technology
CO2 spray is absolutely ideal for getting rid of residues and other
particulate materials and has been successful in many applications. What it lacks on its own is the capacity to alter the substrate’s surface chemistry. Fortunately, atmospheric plasma (pictured right) is effective at changing the surface chemistry, but isn’t as successful in the removal of residues. So, we thought, why not combine them for the best of both worlds?
Hence we developed the Omega™ AP (Atmospheric Plasma) system, a precision cleaning accessory for challenging surface preparation requirements. The system utilizes atmospheric plasma and CO2 spray treatment, which both increases the surface energy to improve cleanliness, while aiding in ink, paint and coating adhesion, and successfully removes all contaminants.
Application in Optics
The success of applying solid CO2 sprays to optical surfaces is well documented and has been shown to be an ideal cleaning method for these substrates.
We’ve found that in some applications in the optical industry, cleaning is improved by functionalizing the surface in order to help optical coatings adhere properly. To address this need, we created a 2-part cleaning spray made up of a CO2 spray as well as an atmospheric plasma module, referred to above. This method has the ability to remove residues and thin films that formed on the surface during the manufacturing process.
Types of Applications
- Plastic Lens Cleaning.
- Preparing Optical Surfaces for Coating
- Telescope Lens Cleaning
- Glass Lens Cleaning
To find out how our innovative CO2 cleaning systems for the optics industry can improve your operations, get in touch with us today. Our engineers will be happy to get an in-depth understanding of your needs in order to design a custom system that will transform the way you do things.
