APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CURING OF UV-PROTECTED UV-CURABLE MONOMER AND POLYMER MIXTURES
Methods are disclosed for curing UV-curable monomers and monomer/polymer mixtures that are in an environment in which they are protected from UV radiation.
1 . A method for making an optical element, comprising:
providing a polymerizable composition sandwiched between a first optically transparent UV-absorbing plate and a second optically transparent UV-absorbing plate, the polymerizable composition comprising a non-linear optical material; and
irradiating the polymerizable composition to thereby polymerize at least a portion of the polymerizable composition to form an optical element.
2 . The method of claim 1 in which the first optically transparent UV-absorbing plate has a fractional transmission for UV-A and UV-B bands of less than about 10 −3 .
3 . The method of claim 1 in which the polymerizable composition comprises a photoinitiator.
4 . The method of claim 3 in which the photoinitiator exhibits two photon UV absorption below 400 mm.
5 . The method of claim 3 in which the photoinitiator is selected from the group consisting of isopropyl-9H-thioxanthen-9-one, benzoin methyl ether and acylphosophine oxide.
6 . The method of claim 1 in which the polymerizable composition comprises a thiol-ene composition.
7 . The method of claim 1 in which the non-linear optical material is selected from the group consisting of potassium titanyl phosphate, potassium titanyl arsentate, beta barium borate, lithium triborate, urea, and ammonium dihydrogen phosphate.
8 . The method of claim 1 in which irradiating the polymerizable composition comprises exposing the polymerizable composition to a visible or infrared laser beam.
9 . The method of claim 1 in which at least one of the first optically transparent UV-absorbing plate and the second optically transparent UV-absorbing plate is a lens.
10 . The method of claim 1 in which the optical element is a wavefront aberrator.
11 . A method for making a wavefront aberrator, comprising:
providing a thiol-ene composition sandwiched between a first optically transparent UV-absorbing plate and a second optically transparent UV-absorbing plate, the thiol-ene composition comprising a non-linear optical material; and
irradiating the thiol-ene composition with an optical laser to thereby polymerize at least a portion of the thiol-ene composition to form a wavefront aberrator.
12 . An optical element comprising a polymerizable composition sandwiched between a first optically transparent UV-absorbing plate and a second optically transparent UV-absorbing plate, the polymerizable composition comprising a non-linear optical material.
13 . The optical element of claim 12 in which the polymerizable composition comprises a photoinitiator.
14 . The optical element of claim 13 in which the photoinitiator exhibits two photon UV absorption below 400 nm.
15 . The optical element of claim 13 in which the photoinitiator is selected from the group consisting of isopropyl-9H-thioxanthen-9-one, benzoin methyl ether and acylphosophine oxide.
16 . The optical element of claim 12 in which the polymerizable composition comprises a thiol-ene composition.
17 . The optical element of claim 12 in which the non-linear optical material is selected from the group consisting of potassium titanyl phosphate, potassium titanyl arsentate, beta barium borate, lithium triborate, urea, and ammonium dihydrogen phosphate.
18 . The optical element of claim 12 in which at least one of the first optically transparent UV-absorbing plate and the second optically transparent UV-absorbing plate is a lens.
19 . A system for making a wavefront aberrator, comprising:
a polymerizable composition sandwiched between a first optically transparent UV-absorbing plate and a second optically transparent UV-absorbing plate, the polymerizable composition comprising a non-linear optical material;
a laser source configured for irradiating the polymerizable composition;
a controller operably connected to the laser source and configured to control the irradiating of the polymerizable composition to thereby form a wavefront aberrator.
20 . The system of claim 19 in which at least one of the first optically transparent UV-absorbing plate and the second optically transparent UV-absorbing plate is a lens.