Demonstration, explanations, and applications about surface cleaning using CO2 snow, a novel surface cleaning process for particle removal (to 5 nm) and organics. Demonstrations and explanation are at www.co2clean.com or call 908-370-3732.
Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) plans to incorporate fully automatic CO2 snow cleaning in-situ process for its segmented primary mirror. Due to the size of the primary mirror, usual single hand-held narrow coverage CO2 snow cleaning wands are no longer feasible option, though existing 2 and 4 inch wide models provided design insight. A new, extra-wide linear coverage CO2 snow horn/nozzle arrangement has been successfully developed along with appropriate liquid CO2 bulk delivery system. Challenges of such design include large CO2 flow rates at pressures providing liquid state all the way to the spray nozzles, ensuring stable and uniform transition of liquid to solids, bulk CO2 storage in the facility and coordination of the cleaning process with other telescope daytime activities. Additionally, automated rotating cleaning arms inspired by the Subaru telescope have been designed to expeditiously cover area of the TMT primary mirror at controlled speeds and reasonable time. Results of the study optimizing the cleaning parameters and test of various hardware options and combinations with respect to optics cleaning efficiency are also described.
CO2 Snow Cleaning is a quick and safe surface cleaning process for optics and many materials. CO2 snow cleaning can remove particles from many surfaces, ranging in size from fiber faces to large telescope mirrors. At the same time, hydrocarbon and organic stains can be removed without damage to thin film coatings. Particle removal ranges from visible to a few nanometers; hydrocarbon removal is similar to solvents. High velocity CO2 snow cleans all types of substrates, optics, coated optics, wafers, metals, analytical samples, and many other items. Our video shows data for precisions cleaning. The low velocity CO2 snow cleaning units are aimed at particle removal for telescopes and they are used at observatories around the world. Our equipment includes the typical tube set up and we have larger areas slot nozzles of 5 and 10 cm exit slots. We plan to introduce a 20 cm slot nozzle this winter. We also demonstrate these telescope units.
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