Pittsburgh, Penn. – Kopp Glass has released a technical presentation and paper of a comparative study on how molded optics can be used to increase UV LED efficiency and performance titled, “The Effects of UV Glass Optics on UV LED Arrays.” The technical paper and companion presentation are now available for public download. The study was recently presented to industry professionals at the acclaimed RadTech UV+EB Technology Conference in Rosemont, IL by Justine Galbraith, PhD, Glass Engineer.

Kopp performed an optical simulation on both the commonly used fused quartz rod optic and a UV transmitting borosilicate Total Internal Reflection (TIR) optic. The study demonstrates that compared to a UV LED array without an optic, both the rod and TIR optics increase peak irradiance and refract more energy toward the curing target surface. While both optic types have their unique advantages and disadvantages, the results are clear in demonstrating that UV glass TIR optics are more efficient at capturing stray rays of light and increasing peak irradiance. Adding this optical element results in the ability to control the collimation of the light beam and the irradiance pattern at the measurement surface, which yields a higher-performance UV LED curing system. 

Click here to download the case study: http://bit.ly/2O0T9oq.