Optical Materials
Solve Manufacturing Challenges
Designing for strength with silicone-powered optical solutions
Suitable for a wide range of applications, optical silicones offer long-term stability, material flexibility and proven processing performance. Silicone technologies can help solve pressing design and manufacturing challenges such as bonding, sealing, protecting, insulating and improving productivity by streamlining manufacturing costs and cycle time.
Display
An optical gel can be used as a liquid coupling agent for display applications. Optical gels have been used extensively to seal and protect optoelectronics due to their stress relieving capability, high refractive index and the stability of these properties over time. Cured gels retain much of the stress-relieving and self-healing qualities of a liquid while providing the dimensional stability of an elastomer, making them increasingly useful for delicate components.
Lighting
For LED-illuminated lamps and luminaires, moldable silicones make complex shapes easier than either organic polymers or glass. Moldable silicones can reduce cycle times in injection molding and streamline other processes to reduce total system costs.
The chemical backbone of silicones makes them heat resistant and particularly well suited to manage the increasingly high temperatures of new high-power LED lighting systems. They are also suitable for many other applications, including:
- Secondary lenses
- Freeform collimators
- Micro-lens array
- Light pipes
- Light guides
- Other optical components
Silicone optical encapsulants and gel materials provide superior protection from moisture, thermal stress, shock and impact, and offer excellent optical performance. They also offer minimal yellowing and degradation while maintaining consistent light quality over the product lifespan and ensuring reliable performance from LED modules in tough conditions.
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