Polyonics has introduced a new high temperature label material that meets the stringent ASTM E595 out-gassing requirements. Along with minimal out-gassing, the new label material, XF-528 will also survive the high temperature exposure and chemical attacks typically used in the manufacturing process for printed circuit boards.

Out-gassing is a critical issue in the manufacturer and operation of specialized electronic devices such as optical devices and hard disk drives. These devices are used in a high vacuum environment so the slightest amount of out-gas can be detrimental to their performance. When materials out-gas, they can leave residue on key components that are sensitive to low levels of deposition.

To make sure materials used in fabrication of these devices are low-outgassing, materials must meet the requirements of ASTM E595 standard. Along with hard disk manufacturers, NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) also require low out-gassing materials, including labels, be used throughout their spacecrafts. Any out-gassing can potentially condense onto optical elements, thermal radiators and/or solar cells and obscure them.

Polyonics XF-528 is a 1 mil gloss white label material with a 1 mil solvent acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive. The ASTM E595 test  results for the XF-528 met the requirement for total mass loss (TML) of less than 1.00% when evaluated in a vacuum environment for a duration of 24 hours at 125C.

The XF-528 is a robust thermal transfer printable label material that complies with the requirements of RoHS, REACH and is certified to be halogen free to the IEC 61249-2-21 levels.  It can be used in several applications, including bar code tracking of printed circuit boards, electronic component identification and warning labels for embedded batteries.