Advancements in adhesive mounting of optics

Adhesive mounting of lenses can allow flexible position control of each optical element, low stress, low part count, and precise alignment of lens assemblies in addition to high durability with respect to thermal expansion, shock, and vibration. Historic implementations of this method carried risk of UV degradation, photo contamination, long term stability, and long assembly cycle times. Others have developed non-adhesive friction/contact approaches to mount lenses but with significant compromises in durability and product cost. These two methods are compared and an optimal approach to achieve high lens mounting durability, low cycle time and negligible photo-contamination is demonstrated. Durability of this adhesive mounting solution will be established with examples including shock and vibration, mechanical stress decoupling factors, and optical stability over a wide range of shipping temperatures.