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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

Light Coatings have SLA 3D printing capability on site to support activities related to PVD Coatings on or utilising 3D printed components. 3D Printing Formlabs 3 SLA printing of high performance Formlabs resins for superior surface quality components. The surface finish of SLA components ensure excellent aesthetics and accuracy for high performing prototyping and engineering components/prototypes. STFC Facilites Based at the STFC Daresbury site, and situated across from the campus technology HUB we have easy access of a wide range of 3D printers and printer technologies to support activities. These include metal printing as well as various polymer printing technologies. 10K Industrial Prototyping We carry stock of Formlabs 10K resin for high load, high temperature and excellent rigidity prototype and functional components. This glass filled polymer also lends itself to coating with our in house facilities. Formlabs Resins We can source many resins from the selection from formlabs and are happy to print in new polymers where this supports our additional activities and services. Ready to take the next step to a coating solution? Contact Us

Meet the team at Light Coatings Ltd and learn how they can help you achieve the goals of your next project with PVD Coatings Staff Members DR STEVEN STANLEY GEORGE TITLEY

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

Learn about the manufacturing capability of Light Coatings from Optical Coatings to PVD Coatings for Polymers and how we can support your project. Manufacturing Light Coatings supply coating solutions to our customers, from the design, specification and manufacture of coated components to providing custom coatings to customer supplied components. Our expertise in the technology and system level use of coatings ensure that the guidance provided at every step ensures the highest success for your product and end solution. Light Coatings provide a range of services for a dynamic and flexible approach for thin film coatings. We specialise in small batch production with significant flexibility in terms of materials, coatings designs and substrate types to minimise setup time, costs and interruptions allowing us to focus on the value added activity of coating. We have internal capability for 3D printing tooling for use with our equipment to keep costs and lead times short and can also offer 3D printing to support our customers where this compliments the coating processes. Precision Optical Coatings (UV - VIS - NIR - FIR) We can provide custom designed optical coatings for your application using industry standard simulation software to match a range of applications from Antireflection, edge filters, polarisers and other specialist filters. Coatings for Plastics Our low temperature process allows efficient coating of plastics for a range of applications, from optical to durable and wear performance. Component Manufacturing We can provide a complete product from within our inhouse capabilities or within our established supply chain to meet requirements from large format polymer components to complete optical devices. SLA 3D Printing As part of our offering for coatings for plastics we can provide SLA printed components through our in house Formlabs printing capability, coating by our technicians and completed in a truly rapid timescale. Ready to take the next step to a coating solution? Contact Us

View images of the latest products, research and projects going on at Light Coatings Ltd