Overview

Optical Film Design

Optical Testing

Production Tooling

Manufacturing

Equipment Leasing

Optical Film Supply

UV Lacquers Supply

Solar Concentrators

Included Angle Diamond Turning (InADiT)

Manufacturing Services Quality Standards and Facilities

Microsharp offers bespoke manufacturing facilities operating to ISO 9001 : 2000 standard in Class 100 and 1000 cleanrooms.

Quality assurance in based on statistical best practice, operating to tough standards for civilian as well as military markets.

Our manufacturing expertise includes UV curing of polymer thin films, polymer blending and coating using spray, blade and slot die techniques as well as etching, physical vapour deposition, micro-replication and lamination to tight tolerances.

New Precision Coating Facility - Line No2

Microsharp has recently installed a new, state of the art, Precision Microstructure Coating Line at the Oxfordshire manufacturing unit.

The new unit, unique in Europe, gives Microsharp the capacity to manufacture a wide range of UV cured nano & micro structured films on a continuous reel to reel basis.

The line is designed to Microsharps exact specification. It is a highly flexible machine intended to be used for new film development projects and cost effective short production runs.

This facility enhances our ability to undertake the design & development work and will significantly reduce project and timelines.

The machine will also be made available to our customers to conduct their own development and production projects.

Coating capability

  • Type : Reel to reel, reverse roller coater
  • Environment; Class 100 / 1000 clean room
  • Operating standard ; to ISO 9001:2000
  • Web width 450mm
  • Effective coating width 430mm
  • Coating speed 15m/min
  • Machine speed 18m/min
  • Coating thickness 2-75 microns
  • Substrate thickness 25 - 250microns
  • Viscosity 300 -3000 cups
  • Coating weight 10-50 g/m2
  • UV curing 7kW Mercury lamp

Additional Functionality

  • Laminating capability
  • Pressure sensitive adhesive release film lamination
  • Web anti static treatment
  • Double side embossing (application of 2 different surface structures to either side of a film)
  • Protective film application (to one or both sides of the film)
  • On-line slitting
  • Edge trim re-winder

Lacquers

A wide range of specialist lacquers can be applied with varying optical, mechanical and environmental properties. (Refractive indices between 1.49 & 1.60)

Base Films
Substrate options include PET, TAC, PEN, PMMA PC PE & EVA

Surface structure options

  • A wide variety of surface structures can be produced including
  • Prismatic structures
  • Lenticular and De-pixelation structures,
  • Fresnel lenses, both 1D & 2D in parquet of cut to specific sizes
  • Self cleaning films

No1 Precision Coating Facility

This machine is larger than line number 2 and is used for longer production runs of wider films. The line produces microstructured surface relief optical film up to 1m wide and consists of a UV curing module connected to a coating line. The facility also has the capability to laminate protective films and adhesives

 

Analytical Services

Our analytical services utilise state-of-the-art instrumentation with expertise in techniques such as optical and scanning electronic microscopy, Fourier transform infra-red spectrophotometry, proton and carbon NMR, gas chromatography, gel permeation chromatography and rheometry. Additionally, a full range of optical characterisation methods are available including an Eldim Conoscope for angular light dispersion measurements, a Zygo interferometer for 3D surface profiling, equipment for diffraction efficiency and contrast ratio measurements, a Haze-Gard, a visible photometer for measuring colour response of thin films and a Goniophotometer for measuring angle of view. In-line process and quality control is available using automated optical inspection systems.