Lenses can be made from many materials; the important part is to choose the material that meets your needs. Xymox works with many types of lens materials – supporting the application-specific solution that is just right for any touch sensor need.

Glass versus Polymer

Advantages of glass

  • Extremely scratch resistantGlass Lenses
  • Feels great to the touch
  • Generally no color cast from glass
  • Can get anti-reflective coatings

Disadvantages of glass

  • Modest impact resistance – can break
  • Hard to decorate
  • Expensive
  • Heavy

Advantages of polymerAcrylic Lenses

  • Easier to decorate
  • More cost effective
  • Lighter than glass
  • Many standard thicknesses
  • Very impact resistant
  • Easier to cut and shape than glass

Disadvantages of polymer

  • Can have a color-cast
  • Can yellow under harsh UV exposure
  • More susceptible to scratching and abrasion than glass

Glass choices

  • Soda-Lime glass
    • The cheapest, standard glass
  • Acrylic Lenses 1Borosilicate glass
    • Low coefficient of thermal expansion, very stable
  • Chemically strengthened glass
    • Processing increases strength 6-8 times that of non-strengthened glass

Polymer choices

  • Acrylic
    • Scratch resistant
    • Can be abrasion resistant coated to give improved properties
    • Generally resistant to UV yellowing
  • Polycarbonate
    • Very high impact resistance
    • Easy to decorate
    • Can be hardcoated to improve scratch and abrasion resistance – without coating it’s relatively soft and easy to scratch
    • Can yellow with UV exposure

There are great choices available for lens materials. Xymox puts touch sensors on all these materials for great application-specific touch screen interfaces. Get what you want and what fits your application best.