Alkali-fusion-based Removal of Vacuum-compatible Heat-resistant Epoxy Resins using KOH-NaOH Eutectic Melt

20 June 2025, Version 2
This content is a preprint and has not undergone peer review at the time of posting.

Abstract

We propose a process for decomposing and removing vacuum-compatible heat-resistant epoxy resins adhered to vacuum components by alkali fusion. We demonstrated the reworking of Al2O3 substrates with printed electrode patterns from the worn-out qPlus sensors using KOH-NaOH eutectic melt under atmospheric pressure. The substrate was reworked with minimal oxidation damage to the circuit pattern at a heating temperature of 510 °C and duration of 5 min. The proposed method is an efficient removal technique for vacuum-compatible heat-resistant epoxy resins that can be performed at the laboratory level without special reagents or equipment. It enables reworking a wide range of vacuum components sufficiently resistant to the alkali melt.

Keywords

Vacuum-compatible Epoxy Resin
Alkali Fusion
Thermal Degradation
qPlus AFM
Ultra-High Vacuum

Supplementary materials

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Title
Supplementary Material
Description
S1. SEM-EDX elemental composition analysis of epoxy adhesives H74, H20E and H70E. S2. SEM-EDX analyses of microstructure and chemical composition on the Al2O3 substrate surface before and after reworking process. S3. Thermal vibration spectra measurement and AFM experiment using the refabricated sensors.
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