Light emitting diodes operating in the near ultraviolet offer considerable advantage for adhesive curing in demanding applications, including flexibility of deployment, and uniformity of illumination. Wavelength limitations however must be considered when choosing LED curing solutions to ensure correct cure of adhesive for maximum performance.
Varying the intensity of illumination used to cure photoactivated adhesives has been applied in medical and dental applications to improve the performance of polymer materials. For example, it has been observed that dental polymer composite materials express reduced shrinkage, important for durability of non-amalgam restorations, by introducing a phased time-intensity cure schedule. This work identified that curing conditions could influence the final properties of materials, and suggested the possibility of extending the characteristics that could be influenced beyond shrinkage to humidity resistance, Tg, outgassing and other important material properties. Obviously, these results have important ramifications for the photonic industry, with current efforts focused on improved manufacturing techniques. Improvement in low cost packaging solutions, including adhesives, will have to be made to bring the component cost down to address the needs of Metro and similar markets. However, there are perceived problems with the widespread use of adhesives, the most prevalent of these involving long term durability of the bond. Devices are typically aligned to sub-micron precision using active feedback and then must be locked in position to maintain performance. In contrast to traditional fastening methods, adhesive bonding is a highly attractive option due to the ease of deployment, lower equipment costs, and improved flexibility. Moreover, using methods analogous to those employed in dental applications, materials properties of photonic adhesives may be tailored using a programmed cure approach.
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