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Fiber Array Fabrication Techniques (view source)
Revision as of 23:35, 27 October 2008
, 23:35, 27 October 2008→Gluing
* The preparation begins with placing all the properly polished fibers/scintillators into the chimneys as seen in the picture to the right. This task, of course, is simple, however there are some important things to keep in mind that will help insure a successful gluing. These things are:
* The preparation begins with placing all the properly polished fibers/scintillators into the chimneys as seen in the picture to the right. This task, of course, is simple, however there are some important things to keep in mind that will help insure a successful gluing. These things are:
{| cellpadding="3" style="text-align:center; margin: 1em auto 1em auto"
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| [[Image:Chimneywg.JPG|right|300 px]] || || [[Image:Chimneyscint1.JPG|left|300 px]]
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** When placing the waveguides in their chimney, be sure to arrange the fibers so that the ends to be glued are extruding out from the chimney no more then about 3 to 4 mm. The reasoning for this is that the channels in the chimney are wider then the fibers allowing for "wiggle room" and the shorter the amount of fiber sticking out is the less the waveguide will move.
** When placing the waveguides in their chimney, be sure to arrange the fibers so that the ends to be glued are extruding out from the chimney no more then about 3 to 4 mm. The reasoning for this is that the channels in the chimney are wider then the fibers allowing for "wiggle room" and the shorter the amount of fiber sticking out is the less the waveguide will move.
** Once the waveguides are in place screw down the top plate to hold them firmly in place. Then secure the waveguide chimney to a flat surface using c-clamps as seen in the picture below. Add the extra c-clamp in the middle to ensure that the waveguides will not move and are lying flat in the channels.
** Once the waveguides are in place screw down the top plate to hold them firmly in place. Then secure the waveguide chimney to a flat surface using c-clamps as seen in the picture below. Add the extra c-clamp in the middle to ensure that the waveguides will not move and are lying flat in the channels.
** The chimney with the scintillators should not be secured with the top plate like the waveguides because during the application process, as will be discussed further down, the scintillators will need to be able to move. However the chimney itself should be secured to the flat surface with the waveguides. (See to the picture above)
** The chimney with the scintillators should not be secured with the top plate like the waveguides because during the application process, as will be discussed further down, the scintillators will need to be able to move. However the chimney itself should be secured to the flat surface with the waveguides. (See to the picture above)
** Once both chimneys are secured to the plate, use the tweezers and the watchmaker's loupe 10x to gently slide each of the scintillators up to their waveguide counterpart to make sure that they are aligned properly.
** Once both chimneys are secured to the plate, use the tweezers and the watchmaker's loupe 10x to gently slide each of the scintillators up to their waveguide counterpart to make sure that they are aligned properly. Most likely the fibers will not line up exactly. To make major adjustments loosen the clamps holding down the scintillator chimney and move the entire group. For minor adjustments, loosen the extra clamp holding the waveguides and make the adjustments to the fibers using the tweezers. Once every thing is lined up its time to start gluing.
<u/>Note:</u> When the fibers are aligned and clamped down it is important not to move, bump, breathe on, etc. because the set up is very sensitive and any disturbance will mean about an hour of extra work.
* For gluing follow the instructions for mixing and pipetting the epoxy. The procedure for applying the epoxy to multiple fibers is very much like the applying to single fiber, that is; inject glue between waveguide and scintillator, gently close the gap between scintillator and waveguide, remove excess run off if there is any, finally verify that the fibers are still in proper alignment. For a single set of fibers this procedure requires some care and delicacy, for multiple fibers the difficulty increases exponentially. One pitfall to beware of is that the epoxy has a pot life of 30 to 45 minutes, and after allowing time to let the bubbles escape for the freshly mixed epoxy leaves only about 20 to 30 minutes before it should be disposed of. This should be enough time to apply the epoxy to all the fibers properly, however, if for whatever reason, one of the waveguide/scintillator pairs are now misaligned, there is not much time to make the necessary adjustments. If making adjustments to misaligned fibers takes too long, separate the problem scintillator from the waveguide but do not try and remove anything from the set as that will most likely disturb the other fiber pairs.
=== Removing Cured Excess Epoxy ===
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| [[Image:Gluebump.JPG|right|300 px]] || || [[Image:Glueremovalstarted1.JPG|left|300 px]]
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| [[Image:Glueremovalfinished.JPG|left|300 px]]
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== Protochimney ==
== Protochimney ==