Electron beam curing equipment

TYPICAL LAYOUT OF A DYNAMTTRONEl CTRON BEAM PROCESSING FACILITY 

Traditional design of a high-energy EB unit. (Bly, J.H., Radiat. Phys. Chem. Vol 14, p. 41 (1979). With permission from Elsevier Ltd.) 

The basic electrical parameters of an electron beam processor are its acceleration voltage, the electron beam current, and the electron beam power. The ratio of electron beam power and the input electrical power defines the efficiency of an electron accelerator. The acceleration voltage determines the energy of the electrons, as pointed out in Section 2.2. 

The absorption properties of the accelerated electrons in the processed materials are the absorbed dose, the depth dose profile, the penetration range, and the dose rate. 

Process parameters involve line speed if dose rate and line speed are combined, the dose delivered to the product to be cured can be calculated. A processor specific yield factor depends on the relationship between the beam current 

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Recent Trends in Development of Electron Beam Curing Equipment and Technology... 

Electron-Beam Curing. The equipment used in th s study was an Electro-curtain curing unit from Energy Sciences Inc., Massachusetts, USA and was located at Lankro Chemicals Limited, Manchester, UK. 

Thin films were spin-coated onto virgin, optically flat NaCl disks or flat, polished Si wafers and electron beam cured at, 5-lOMrad under Nj. The oxygen content in the irradiation chamber was equipment used for electron beam curing was a CB 150 Electrocurtain Processor (Energy Sciences, Inc., Woburn, Mass.) that permits the exposure of. samples in the presence of air or an inert atmosphere like Nj. A scries of experiments were performed to determine the optimal ab-sorbed do.se for curing this was determined to be about 10 Mrads. 

Another process where electron beam equipment is widely used is curing of overprint varnishes (OPVs). OPV is applied over a printed surface to protect the ink layer and to improve the appearance of the product. The exceptionally high gloss of such finishing coatings and varnishes is achieved specifically by EB cure. ... 

Another relatively recent development is electron generators that are essentially sealed vacuum tubes with a 2.5 pm-thick silica ceramic window or a 5-10 pm titanium window as the beam exit. Such electron beam tubes or bulbs are capable of operating at 50 to 150 kV,64-67 71 and can be stacked into modules to cure wide webs. It is conceivable that a miniature electron beam could provide an efficient low-cost means to cure thin coatings, adhesives (clear and filled) and inks. Examples of such miniature electron beam equipment are shown in Figures 3.21 and 3.22. 

Radiation-source In bonding technology, equipment for the curing of UV-electron beam and light-curing adhesives. 

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