First Contact^® Photonic Cleaning Solutions

Specially formulated to safely remove all contaminants from optical surfaces, First Contact^® is a proprietary blend of solvents designed to clean first surface mirrors, diffraction grating and diffractive optics to the molecular level. First Contact^® is low-adhesion, leaves no residue, and is carefully designed not to thermally shock or remove coatings–apply, dry and peel to reveal an atomically clean, contaminant-free surface.

First Contact^® may also be used to clean and protect sample surfaces for AFM, profilometry, STM, and other surface-sensitive measurements. It can also be used to clean some etched or patterned surfaces. For example, our AFM Test Gratings.

The small kit (#24501) contains the polymer, an example coated sample, showing the mesh, string and tabs used to make it easy to remove the coating, and a complete set of instructions. The standard size kit (#24502) contains enough material to clean 280 sq. inches (1800 cm²) of surface area.

Using First Contact^® Cleaning Solution

An example of a SiO₂ on silicon etched AFM XY standard. The polymer is applied to the surface and allowed to dry. This is an excellent means of cleaning a surface, or protecting it for storage/shipping. When ready, the film is simply peeled off.

First Contact^® Cleaning Solution Results

Shown below, is the AFM Block Test Grating (#629-10AFM) before (left) and after (right) a single application of First Contact^® Polymer. After cleaning, SEM shows no contamination in the patterned area.