| EMI has developed an epoxy with the lowest shrinkage on cure and the lowest coefficient of thermal expansion of any epoxy, anywhere. It is OPTOCAST 3415 � with a CTE of 12-13 ppm/�C. It is curable with long wave UV and UV plus heat or heat alone. It can be dispensed through a needle as small as 21 gauge. It is aimed at opto-electronic/fiber optic uses where these properties are critical. EMI has developed an acrylic based sun light curing adhesive, coating, or encapsulant that can be used for wide variety of applications. The formulation will polymerize to a flexible, tough solid of Shore D-45 hardness upon exposure to electromagnetic radiation in the 290-550nm range of direct sun light. It can also be cured with a typical UV light source. It has a Newtonian viscosity of 4.0 x 103cps @ 10.0 rpm/#15/RV and has good adhesion to various polymeric substrates. We have been working with an outside physical-testing laboratory to test for properties that we can not test for here at the EMI facility�specifically; tensile, lap shear adhesion, refractive index, CTE, and many others. If you have a customer or are a customer that would like concrete data for specific physical properties, we can have it tested for a fee of approximately $300 per test and it usually takes 2-3 weeks for results. We can use standard substrates like aluminum, glass, stainless steel, and some plastics, or you can supply your own substrates in the form necessary for the type of testing required. OFC Show EMI exhibited at the recent OFC (Optical Fiber Communication) Show in Baltimore. In a word �DYNAMIC� it�s an exploding technology. Unlike many industries we sell into, the fiber-optic people know UV, probably use UV, want UV, and particularly want epoxy UV systems for low shrinkage, low CTE, low out-gassing, etc. We have created a �Focused� product line �OPTOCAST - developed specifically for the fiber-optic/opto-electronic users. Cure systems for use in the optical path, filled very low cure shrinkage and CTE systems for aligning, focusing it and fixturing it, super fast UV systems, and UV cure only and UV and/or heat, heat/RT cure only, etc. We are slowly inching up on the industry moisture resistance standard (The Bellcore Bogey) of 85/85 � 5,000 hours. According to customers tests our OPTOCAST 3553 is the best they have seen to date, and we are still working on improving it. |