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Adhesives (bonds or cements) are used in optics for two main purposes:
1. To bond optical elements to their housing, and
2. To bond optical elements to each other, including lens to lens (for doublets or triplets) and prism to prism (for beamsplitters).
This chapter refers to the latter. When determining how to join the optical elements, the right consideration must be taken when drawing the element to be cemented and then choosing the right adhesive to achieve the best results. These considerations are made by the optical designer while designing the optical elements to be bonded.
(Bonding optical elements to their housing should be performed according to relevant written procedures that also include instructions for inspection and tests to verify the conformity of the bonding results to the written requirements. Those requirements are established by the designer and are not a part of this guide.)
UV-curing adhesives (Figs. 7.1 and 7.2) are one-component materials that are cured upon exposure to UV light. These UV adhesives dominate the market for bonding optical elements due to their ease of use and fast cure time. This chapter refers basically to UV materials. Most of the following descriptions apply to other optical adhesives (two-component cements), as well.
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