Tsunami - Beckman Institute Laser Resource Center

Tsunami
"Clean" is a relative description; nothing is ever perfectly clean and no
cleaning operation can ever completely remove contaminants. Cleaning is -
a process of reducing objectionable materials to acceptable levels.
Equipment Required:
Standard Cleaning Procedures
dry, filtered nitrogen or canned air
rubber squeeze bulb
optical-grade lens tissue
spectroscopic-grade methanol andlor acetone
hemostats
clean, lint-free finger cots or powderless latex gloves
Follow the principles below whenever you clean any optical surface.
Clean only one element at a time, then realign that element for maximum
output power.
If optics are removed and replaced as a group, some might get
swapped. At best, all reference points will be lost, making realignment
extremely difficult.
Work in a clean environment and, whenever possible, over a soft,
lint-free cloth or pad.
Wash your hands thoroughly with liquid detergent.
Body oils and contaminants can render otherwise fastidious cleaning
practices useless.
Always use clean, powderless and lint-free finger cots or gloves when
handling optics and intracavity parts.
Remember not to touch any contaminating surface while wearing
gloves; you can transfer oils and acids onto the optics.
Use filtered dry nitrogen, canned air, or a rubber squeeze bulb to blow
dust or lint from the optic surface before cleaning it with solvent; permanent
damage can occur if dust scratches the glass or mirror coating.
Use spectroscopic-grade solvents.
Since cleaning simply dilutes contamination to the limit set by solvent
impurities, solvents must be pure as possible. Use solvents sparingly
and leave as little on the surface as possible. As any solvent evaporates,
it leaves impurities behind in proportion to its volume.
Store methanol and acetone in small glass bottles.
These solvents collect moisture during prolonged exposure to air.
Avoid storing methanol and acetone in bottles where a large volume
of air is trapped above the solvent.
Use Kodak Lens Cleaning Paper" (or equivalent photographic cleaning
tissue) to clean optics.
Use each piece of lens tissue only once; dirty tissue merely redistributes
contamination-it does not remove it.
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