UValue Manual

For R&D purposes, a semi-automatic single or double-sided UV-imprinter for substrates up to 200 mm in diameter has been developed. It is ideally suited for manual sample preparation, product development, or general research. Its very high accuracy and flexibility make it a perfect tool for R&D and pre-production. With this machine, products can be manufactured like camera-objectives for mobile imaging and/or gaming applications.

The imprinting process at this machine consists of three steps and is subdivided over two modules: a pressing and an alignment module.

At the first step, lacquer is dispensed and subsequently pressed to the final targeted product thickness.
Next, at the second step, alignment takes place followed by curing of the UV resin. After one side of the lens wafer is imprinted, the process can be carried out a second time to imprint also lenses on the other side. After the second step the molds are separated from the product.
Optionally, the UValue Manual can be extended with a second module, a Bonding module, which can align and bond two lens plates (substrates) to each other. In that case, imprinted products like wafers can then be manufactured and bonded at the same equipment without any conversion time.

Another interesting application area of this machine is its ability for full wafer imprinting (i.e. imprinting without a substrate present) which enables the production of very thin products like meniscus lenses.

As the equipment is manual, an operator is needed to insert wafer substrates, molds, etc., to select the right recipes, to transport the imprinted products between the different modules, to release the product, and overall to supervise the process.

UV curing is carried out with UV LED light. This is an economically friendly solution with low heat generation that cures the imprinted structures. It provides several advantages as the UV source is only switched on when needed and its wavelength and intensity can be adjusted to the photochemistry of the resin.

The machine enables a very short time lapse between R&D and small-scale production. It is designed to handle molds up to 220 mm in size. It guarantees a minimal total thickness independent of the thickness variations of your carrier (vertex-to-vertex distance is guaranteed). Besides this, it also offers highly accurate (sub-micron accurate) alignment, not only lens-to-substrate alignment, but also lens-to-lens alignment (a key parameter for product quality). With this machine, two molds can always be aligned accurately to each other and products of excellent lens-to-lens alignment can be manufactured.

WBS offers highest precision, flexibility, ease of use and modular upgrade capabilities. The precision of this imprint- and bonding system accommodates most demanding processes in imprinting production application.

We support our customers in reducing time to market and enable them to supply demonstrators within a short span of time to their customers.

Technical information.

UV Imprinting module:

Substrate / Wafer parameters
Size up to 220mm; thickness 0.1-10mm.
Alignment methods:
Backside alignment:
Transparent alignment;
Alignment stage:
Precision nanometers, motorized
Wedge compensation:
Alignment: Fully automatic

Optional:

A UV Bonding module can be integrated into your process flow, and in combination with the UValue Manual imprinting module it offers small-scale production capabilities. More information on this equipment can be found under UV Bonding Tool (manual).
A UV Reverse imprinting module further extends the possibilities of the UValue Manual. It allows for structures/patterns of very large feature size to be imprinted with accurate shape accuracy. More information on this equipment and its possibilities can be found under UValue Reverse.
Product release tool for easy release of a product from a mold set

For any specific requirement or application that you might have please contact us. We can supply customized solutions for all your requirements.