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Explore the facilities available at Light Coatings Ltd and how they can help you with your current challenges. Facilities Light Coatings have specialist facilities for the design, manufacture and analysis of a range of thin film coatings along with prototyping facilities to support rapid development at the systems level where required. Thin Film Coatings Our primary coating method is through Reactive Magnetron Sputtering of which we specialise in small batch production for prototyping and small volumes/components but with techniques which we can take to larger scale production within our own or other facilities. Our automated system can produce multilayer coatings with nm level precision and to date we have performed coatings exceeding 160 discrete layers in a single cycle. We have a range of coating materials available including; - Oxides (SiO2, ZrO2, TiO2, VO2, Al2O3) - Nitrides (Si3N4, ZrN, TiN, Al3N4, CrN) - Metals (Al, Ag, Cu, Stainless Steel, Ni, Cr) - Others (DLC, Me:DLC, HMDSO, Carbides, ITO) We also undertake materials development for new materials which we can conduct within our equipment very quickly but within a system which can be directly taken to industrialisation compared to a research system. ISO 5 Clean Room As part of our ongoing quality assurance we have the Clean Environments, fully portable, inflatable class 5 clean room with HEPA filtration. This provides a dust free environment for the most demanding of customer applications. With the portable approach we gain in flexibility without the requirement and cost of a permanent clean room. Formlabs 3 3D Printer Light Coatings have recently brought in house SLA 3D printing capabilities to support not only our internal tooling and prototyping capability but to develop our ability to print and coat final products for customers with specialist requirements. We have stock formlabs resins available and can design and print components at a lead time much faster than an equivalent aluminium or metal component. Analysis Techniques To support our coating activities and consultancy offering we have a range of test and analsyis methods available including; - Spectrophotometers (UV - NIR and MIR - FIR) - Adhesion and Durability Testing to various standards - SEM Analysis - XRF - XRD Beyond this testing we have direct access to a significant range of test facilities through our various partners. Cleaning Facilities Utilising an ultrasonic cleaning process we ensure the cleanliness of customer substrates, essential prior to coating. Two separate cleaning stages ensure no cross contamination occurs. A dedicated drying system removes any remaining moisture. Ready to take the next step to a coating solution? Contact Us

See how PVD Coatings for plastics could help you achieve improved functionality of your polymer components Coatings for Polymers Optical Coatings for Polymers Our technology is specifically designed for the coating of polymers with optical coatings such as Antireflection coatings, filters and mirrors. Polymerised Silica Light Coatings have the capability to apply Polymerised Silica sealing/buffer layers to polymers through an insitu PACVD process. Barrier Coatings Light Coatings can undertake a range of coatings to act as barriers for moisture, air or chemicals, through the application of dense Al2O3 or custom designed layers and materials to suit your specific application. Coatings for 3D Printed Polymers Through our current research projects we are developing the capability to apply hard wearing, chemically resistant and in some cases decorative coatings to a range of 3D printed polymers. Vacuum Plasma Treatment Of critical importance for coatings for polymers is the use of vacuum plasma pretreatment. This is a routine aspect of the coating process depending on the polymer type but can also be performed as a stand alone treatment for specific applications for surface energy and activation. Ready to take the next step to a coating solution? Contact Us

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See what we can offer in terms of 3D printed polymers for PVD Coatings and for use within the PVD Coatings industry. Coatings for 3D Printed Polymers Light Coatings started an Innovate UK funded project to develop a range of optical, durable and electrical functional coatings tackling the range of 3D printed polymer types and printing processes. 2023 Press Release - PVD Palm PVD Palm: Helping to put the North West at the forefront of technology Established tech business Light Coatings Ltd, based at Sci-Tech Daresbury, is delighted to announce it has received a cool £100,000 grant from Innovate UK as part of the Liverpool City Region Launchpad programme to develop its functional technology for 3D printed polymers. Light Coatings Ltd offers a range of manufacturing, consultancy and support services to the thin film and vacuum deposition industry and is hugely excited about being given the opportunity to further develop this innovative product. Over the next 12 months, the tech team from Light Coatings Ltd will develop the technology and collate the relevant technical data in order to prove the viability of PVD (physical vapour deposition) coatings on a range of commercially viable polymers. The key target is to identify the polymer materials that are compatible with the unique, low temperature PVD process, so that at the end of the project, Light Coatings hopes to be in a position to take this unique product to market. And what makes it all even more exciting is the fact that currently there is no one else in the industry offering such a service, helping to put Light Coatings in particular, and the North West tech industry in general, at the cutting edge of new technology. Directors Dr Steven Stanley and George Titley are both looking forward to moving forward with their ground-breaking product, Dr Stanley saying: “The funding from Innovate UK will greatly increase the pace at which Light Coatings can develop this exciting technology for a new market. The project builds upon new work and developments already undertaken by the innovation team at Light Coatings to bring this technology to a market first offering.” Want to discuss our R&D projects? Contact Us

UV-VIS-NIR-MIR-FIR optical coating design, specialising in prototyping, small volume and rapid development of coatings and products. Precision Optical Coatings Antireflection Coatings Antireflection Coatings reduce the reflections present the interface between an optic and the air or other background medium. These can be single wavelength coatings for lasers or complex broad or multband coatings. Light Coatings can produce coatings from UV - FIR wavelengths. Metallic Mirrors A metallic mirror can be a 1st or 2nd surface coating of metal, typically Aluminium, SIlver or Gold to a produce a wide angle, high reflectivity surface. These coatings can be complemented with optical layers to improve reflectivity in select wavelengths or with layers to protect the metal from oxidation, abrasion and chemical degredation. Beam Splitters A beam splitter coating is used to split the incident light into 2 different paths, either for rejection purposes or the split a signal. These coating types typically work by; - Splitting the wavelengths of incident light - Splitting the light based on polarisation - Splitting the intensity with a partial mirror Dielectric Mirrors A dielectric mirror is a stack of high and low index optical materials which provide a very high reflection level. These coatings are generally give the highest reflectivity (>99.9% possible) but can be very thick and time consuming to produce compared to a metal mirror. Edge Filters Edge filters are typically versions of a high/low index stack and combined antireflection optimisations to provide a sharp transition from high reflection to high transmission. These can be in the form of long or short pass filters or other iterations to selectively filter incident light. Custom Optical Coatings Light Coatings regularly undertake custom coatings including transparent conductive oxides such as ITO, speciliased functional coatings such a thermochromics as well as a range of other optoelectronic coatings. Ready to take the next step to a coating solution? Contact Us