Optical

Q: We are looking to clean an aluminum coated mirror with a neutral, mild effective cleaner.  What can Alconox Inc. recommend?
A:  Typical residues found in laboratory, aerospace and optics industry mirror applications are adhered dust, dirt and water spots.  Occasionally oil spots and coolant residues will be found as well. 

Q: We are cleaning both hydrophilic and hydrophobic acrylic polymers. The cleaning process we use is mostly manual, involves no extended soaking, rather short contact with rubbing, and/or usage in an ultrasonic bath. Which of your products — Alconox, Tergazyme or Liquinox — would be most suitable for the cleaning of soft acrylic intraocular lenses (IOLs)?

Q. Ultrasonic and forced DI water are not removing particles from the optical devices. We suspect that the particles are charged and that is playing a role in the difficulty of removing them. Rusting isn’t a problem but oxidation might be. Al, Ti are metals in the devices we use. The cleaning is followed by chemical etching so this can be an issue.
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Q. We are trying to clean fingerprints off optics with ground glass barrels. Liquinox® does not get the fingerprints off of the glass entirely. Why is that? What would you recommend instead and are your detergents safe for cleaning dielectrically coated optics?

There is near zero tolerance of contamination in fiber optics. Fiber optic cable needs scrupulously clean surfaces at the glass joint to assure efficient light transmission. Any cleaner which leaves a residue will make matter worse as this will attract contaminants.
The best process for cleaning fiber optic cable is…..