OZPEN - Carbon Dioxide Cleaning Unit

CO₂ cleaning system for optical and other components   

OZPEN™   

• CO₂ composite spray
• Superior removal of any residue
• Quick drying and solvent free cleaning process
• Designed to clean small surface areas
• Superior to solvent cleaning and wiping techniques
• More economical and versatile than snow guns with enclosures
• Cleans a variety of substrates: glass, metal, plastics, ceramics and more
• Removes dust particles, polishing compounds, fingerprints, surface films, and other contaminants

The OZPEN is a versatile small surface area precision cleaning system for critical fibre optics and other small components. The OZPEN generates and propels an adjustable spray of clean dry air or nitrogen containing small CO₂ 'dry ice' particles to efficiently remove foreign matter from a surface.

Applications

• Effective cleaning of high power fibre optic connectors and other components
• Optical element cleaning, optical coating preparation/cleaning
• Sensors, probes, styli and medical device cleaning
• Semiconductor and biomedical components surface cleaning

The OZPEN replaces or augments conventional solvent-aided wiping cleaning techniques which can spread, smear, shed, or redeposit trace residues and particles over critical surfaces.

The composite spray cleaning technique is a patented process where one can deliver controlled shear stress on surface contaminants using the chemically active, dry CO₂ spray for efficient and effective removal of inorganic and organic surface contamination from critical substrate surfaces.

The cleaning unit delivers a precisely controlled accelerated stream of solid carbon dioxide particles at high velocity. This snow is created from the conversion of liquid CO₂ to solid CO₂ particles and CO₂ gas at the spray nozzle. The nozzle, propellant pressure, and temperature can be adjusted for an optimal cleaning process.

The main method for removal of particulate and other loosely bound contaminants is momentum transfer. In this process, an incoming CO₂ particle strikes a particle on the surface. The resulting force overcomes the force holding the particle to the surface, and the CO₂ gas spray/propellant plume then carries the particle away. This unique dry process can remove very small particles (< 100 nm in size) without the need for using other wet cleaning techniques.

Note: Embedded debris must be cleaned or loosened by means of ultrasonic cleaning prior to cleaning with CO₂.

Thin film organic contamination may also be removed by CO₂ composite snow cleaning. To remove organic species they must be soluble in liquid CO₂. Typical light oils are good candidates for CO₂ cleaning.

The solid CO₂ spray within the plume is at a temperature of around -78 °C. The cooling properties of CO₂ can be used to remove contaminant with high water content, first by freezing, then by fracturing it from the underlying substrate.

Each OZPEN is equipped with a flexible coaxial tube, spray pen applicator, and foot switch. The basic system provides precision cleaning capability right out of the box and includes all components for precision cleaning apart from the process gases.

OZ Optics website