24 March 2023

At SMTconnect in Nuremberg, Germany, the expert for industrial adhesives, Panacol, presents the innovative „Black&Light“-technology, which allows to fully polymerize black epoxy adhesives without resorting to secondary curing mechanisms. The perfect match: UV-LED curing systems by Dr. Hönle AG.

Panacol's new "Black&Light" technology enables the complete curing of black epoxy adhesives with LED-UV light.  Depth of cure can range from a few hundred micrometres to several millimetres. The adhesives are suitable for encapsulation, glob top, or edge bonding in electronics manufacturing. Here the black, opaque epoxy resins are mostly used to secure and cover semiconductors or components to ensure know-how protection.

A typical manufacturing process using "Black&Light" technology is very user-friendly: The black adhesive is dispensed and cured with the appropriate wavelength and intensity. During the curing process, the “Black&Light” technology within the adhesive enables the UV rays to penetrate and complete a full cure.  Once the adhesive fully polymerized, the structure of the "Black&Light" technology prohibits light transmission, resulting in a fully cured adhesive system that remains irreversibly black.

A major advantage of the "Black&Light" adhesives is storage.  Many single-component, black epoxies require deep frozen transportation and storage. The "Black&Light" epoxy adhesives can be stored and shipped at room temperature or under normal refrigeration.

The "Black&Light" technology is compatible with many Vitralit® epoxy adhesives from Panacol. Custom adhesive solutions can be created to accommodate unique requirements for amount of light blocking and depth of cure.  The "Black&Light" adhesive systems can be very individually adapted to specifications of the respective application.

Perfectly matched: LED-UV curing devices by Dr. Hönle AG

As with all encapsulation applications, the optimal results of the "Black&Light" technology depend on choosing the right curing device. First choice are the LED-UV curing systems from Hönle. Their features are perfectly matched to the photoinitiators inside Panacol adhesives and, at the same time, increase the efficiency of the manufacturing process.

In fully automated production lines, as used for PCB manufacturing, LED-UV units must have a very compact design to be integrated into the plant. Whereas at stationary manufacturing processes, it is most important to find an LED-UV device with the right shape to fully cover-up the area which needs to be irradiated. With Hönle you can rely on both, great expertise and a comprehensive product range of LED-UV devices.

At SMTconnect, the UV experts show a choice of their LED-UV curing devices which are used for bonding, fixing and encapsulating components.

New: the LED Spot 200 HP IC. As all LED Spot IC devices, the LED-UV flood lamp guarantees a homogeneous, highly intensive irradiation on the substrate with up to > 5.000 mW/cm² and is available with the wavelengths 365, 385, 395, 405 und 460 nm. With a light-emitting aperture of 200 x 50 mm it is the largest member of the LED Spot family. The irradiation area can be even enlarged by stringing together several LED Spots.

The LED Powerline AC/IC array reaches extremely high irradiation intensities of up to 16.000 mW/cm². Available in two versions, it offers light-emitting apertures of whether 82 x 20 mm or 122 x 20 mm. It is also possible to string together several LED Powerlines AC/IC for a lager homogeneous irradiation.

The irradiation widths of the high-intensive LED Powerline LC can be individually tailored to any application within 76 - 3.000 mm. Due to water cooling it can be used in a clean room.

For curing smallest adhesive surfaces Hönle presents the tried and tested bluepoint LED eco. With a maximum irradiation intensity of 20.000 mW/cm² the point source provides reliable curing in a split second. Due to the possibility to program complete process sequences shortest cycle and machine throughput times can be realized especially in fully automated production lines. Likewise, bluepoint LED eco can be used in the laboratory for manual irradiation. Up to four LED heads can be connected to the very compact control unit which can emit different wavelengths (365, 385 oder 405 nm). Each LED head can be activated separately. The bluepoint LED eco autonomously recognizes the type of LED head and adapts all parameters automatically.

Learn more about our bonding solutions and visit us at SMTconnect in Nuremberg, hall 4, booth 131.