DELO has introduced a new generation of light-activatable adhesives specifically developed for high-volume LiDAR system production. The technology enables up to five times higher production speeds for critical mirror and cover window bonding applications, addressing a bottleneck in the rapidly growing automotive and industrial robotics sectors.

The advanced DELO PHOTOBOND LA formulations solve the fundamental challenge facing manufacturers as the LiDAR market has quadrupled from 700,000 to over three million units annually in just three years. Traditional silicones as well as established light-activatable solutions need up to one hour to reach handling strength — time frames incompatible with automotive volume production demands.

The new adhesive achieves handling strength in minutes instead of one hour, enabling up to five times higher production throughput. After one hour, 1.1 MPa compared to 0.2 MPa for previous solutions are possible, while maintaining the flexibility essential for stress-sensitive optical applications. The technology builds on proven silane-modified polymer chemistry with light activation at 400 nm or 460 nm.

Despite accelerated strength development, the Young's modulus remains consistently low across the automotive operating temperature range from -40 °C to +125 °C, preventing stress in precision optical components. For closed optical systems, outgassing performance has been improved with condensable outgassing reduced to below 0.1%.

DELO’s comprehensive reliability testing confirms long-term durability. For aluminum/glass mirror bonding combinations, the new adhesive achieves consistent 5 MPa strength retention, while aluminum/polycarbonate cover window bonds show 4 MPa performance after 500 hours of testing under 85°C/85% relative humidity and thermal shock conditions.

The new DELO PHOTOBOND LA formulations are available for evaluation. Comprehensive technical information is available in the current whitepaper. Learn more about DELO at delo-adhesives.com.