From vito.logiudice at uwaterloo.ca Sat Nov 2 07:41:05 2013 From: vito.logiudice at uwaterloo.ca (Vito Logiudice) Date: Sat, 2 Nov 2013 11:41:05 +0000 Subject: [labnetwork] CVD of silicon nanowires: vendors & particular safety considerations Message-ID: Dear Colleagues, A colleague is interested in setting up a lab which will include silicon nanowire growth via CVD. I would appreciate the community's feedback on possible equipment vendors as well as insights on any particular operational & safety considerations related to setting up such a capability. While we have in-house experience with typical PECVD & LPCVD processes for SiN, PolySi, etc., none of us here have worked with such nanowire growth systems. We would greatly appreciate hearing from those of you whom have. Thank you Regards, Vito Logiudice -- Vito Logiudice M.A.Sc., P.Eng. Director of Operations, Quantum NanoFab University of Waterloo 200 University Avenue West Waterloo, ON Canada N2L 3G1 Tel: 1-519-888-4567 ext. 38703 Email: vlogiudi at uwaterloo.ca Website: https://qncfab.uwaterloo.ca/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From julia.aebersold at louisville.edu Mon Nov 4 16:39:07 2013 From: julia.aebersold at louisville.edu (Aebersold,Julia W.) Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2013 21:39:07 +0000 Subject: [labnetwork] Suss now sharging for phone tech support Message-ID: We have a Suss MA6/BA6 aligner and Suss SB6e bonder in our facility. In my discussions for technical support by e-mail and over the phone support for our multitude of tools I have never come across a vendor that wants to charge for technical support. Or did I just miss the boat and this is a changing trend? We just received notice from Suss that in order for them to serve us better they will now start charging $150 per support call starting on September 15, 2013. This does not affect customers currently under service contracts or factory warranty. Now I won't express my true opinion or vent on this change in policy, but I wanted to ask the network if there is a 3rd party that supports these tools and possibly spare parts. Cheers! Julia Aebersold, Ph.D. MNTC Cleanroom Manager Shumaker Research Building, Room 233 2210 South Brook Street University of Louisville Louisville, KY 40292 502-852-1572 http://louisville.edu/micronano/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From IRHarvey at eng.utah.edu Mon Nov 4 18:36:11 2013 From: IRHarvey at eng.utah.edu (Ian Harvey) Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2013 16:36:11 -0700 Subject: [labnetwork] Bosch etch foreline and pump powder residue question... Message-ID: <18E314D3-69D5-40ED-A66F-F5BF84C8756A@eng.utah.edu> Dear Labnetwork colleagues, We are installing a used STS DRIE tool acquired from the used tool market and used for Bosch-Si etch. We are unsettled by the large amount of white powder collected in the foreline and inside the large turbopump. The turbo is becoming unbalanced as flakes come off, and we are getting ready to trade in the large maglev pump for a refurb, and clean the forelines. Does anyone have experience with what the powder is (F-C-S-O / EDS analysis attached), its risks, and how to safely manage it during pump removal, packing and declaration for shipping? Thanks! Ian ******************************************** Ian R. Harvey, Ph.D. Associate Director, Utah Nanofab & Micron Microscopy Core 2511 SMBB (USTAR) University of Utah 801/585-6162 (voicemail) 801/581-5676 (lab main number) www.nanofab.utah.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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URL: From rmorrison at draper.com Tue Nov 5 06:13:03 2013 From: rmorrison at draper.com (Morrison, Richard H., Jr.) Date: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 11:13:03 +0000 Subject: [labnetwork] Suss now sharging for phone tech support In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hi Julia Here at Draper we use the following vendor for MA6 Mask Aligner Service, LLC. 240 Merestone Circle Fuquay--?Varina, NC, 27526 PHONE: +1.919.270.0000 FAX: +1.919.285.2949 EMAIL: service at einmas.com WEB: www.einmas.com Rick Draper Laboratory Group Leader Microfabrication Operations 555 Technology Square Cambridge Ma, 02139-3563 www.draper.com rmorrison at draper.com W 617-258-3420 C 508-930-3461 From: labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu [mailto:labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu] On Behalf Of Aebersold,Julia W. Sent: Monday, November 04, 2013 4:39 PM To: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu Subject: [labnetwork] Suss now sharging for phone tech support We have a Suss MA6/BA6 aligner and Suss SB6e bonder in our facility. In my discussions for technical support by e-mail and over the phone support for our multitude of tools I have never come across a vendor that wants to charge for technical support. Or did I just miss the boat and this is a changing trend? We just received notice from Suss that in order for them to serve us better they will now start charging $150 per support call starting on September 15, 2013. This does not affect customers currently under service contracts or factory warranty. Now I won?t express my true opinion or vent on this change in policy, but I wanted to ask the network if there is a 3rd party that supports these tools and possibly spare parts. Cheers! Julia Aebersold, Ph.D. MNTC Cleanroom Manager Shumaker Research Building, Room 233 2210 South Brook Street University of Louisville Louisville, KY 40292 502-852-1572 http://louisville.edu/micronano/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From elzen at lnf.umich.edu Tue Nov 5 08:20:17 2013 From: elzen at lnf.umich.edu (Brian Vanderelzen) Date: Tue, 5 Nov 2013 08:20:17 -0500 Subject: [labnetwork] Suss now sharging for phone tech support In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: The LNF has used Class One with good results. www.*classone*equipment.com On Mon, Nov 4, 2013 at 4:39 PM, Aebersold,Julia W. < julia.aebersold at louisville.edu> wrote: > We have a Suss MA6/BA6 aligner and Suss SB6e bonder in our facility. In > my discussions for technical support by e-mail and over the phone support > for our multitude of tools I have never come across a vendor that wants to > charge for technical support. Or did I just miss the boat and this is a > changing trend? > > > > We just received notice from Suss that in order for them to serve us > better they will now start charging $150 per support call starting on > September 15, 2013. This does not affect customers currently under service > contracts or factory warranty. Now I won?t express my true opinion or vent > on this change in policy, but I wanted to ask the network if there is a 3 > rd party that supports these tools and possibly spare parts. > > > > Cheers! > > > > Julia Aebersold, Ph.D. > > MNTC Cleanroom Manager > > Shumaker Research Building, Room 233 > > 2210 South Brook Street > > University of Louisville > > Louisville, KY 40292 > > > > 502-852-1572 > > http://louisville.edu/micronano/ > > > > _______________________________________________ > labnetwork mailing list > labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu > https://www-mtl.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo.cgi/labnetwork > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From shott at stanford.edu Tue Nov 5 11:24:21 2013 From: shott at stanford.edu (John Shott) Date: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 08:24:21 -0800 Subject: [labnetwork] Bosch etch foreline and pump powder residue question... In-Reply-To: <18E314D3-69D5-40ED-A66F-F5BF84C8756A@eng.utah.edu> References: <18E314D3-69D5-40ED-A66F-F5BF84C8756A@eng.utah.edu> Message-ID: <52791BB5.4010402@stanford.edu> Ian: While you will likely get more thorough responses from others on this matter, let me share some or our experiences in this area. In particular, these tools generate a lot of polymer. The same chemistry that you are relying on generating the polymer on your wafers during half of the switched etch/deposition process is also going to produce a low-grade polymer everywhere else. Much of the polymer that you find in the foreline tends to be rather gummy and difficult to remove ... at least that is our experience. Many (but not all) machines have heated turbo pumps and I believe that had been found to be pretty effective in terms of minimizing polymer build up in one of your most expensive components on these tools. One of our machines has a water cooled trap between the heated turbo and the remainder of the foreline ... but, to be honest, that trap has not proven to be particularly effective in our case. Because the forelines tend to get pretty well coated with a sticky, gummy polymer, we have found them to be pretty difficult to clean. One "trick" that seems to work pretty well in the case of the forelines is to very carefully pour some liquid nitrogen down the foreline which will freeze it and cause it to fall off in chunks. This, of course, has to be done VERY carefully due to the hazards of working with liquid nitrogen including worrying about "burns" due to the extreme cold and asphyxiation due to displacement of oxygen in the air. One thing that we haven't tried, but may be easier than dealing with liquid nitrogen is to see whether packing a length of foreline in dry ice may have the same effect ... dry ice has it's own problems because of it's very low temperature and sublimation of something that can displace oxygen, but it is probably easier to handle than liquid nitrogen. While the polymer itself isn't wildly toxic or flammable in the way that some of your pumps and forelines on other deposition tools are (things that pump silane and DCS, for example) we treat all forelines very carefully and, in particular, for anything that is the least bit "powdery or dusty" make sure that we have adequate protection to avoid inhaling or ingesting anything coming from these pump lines. Finally, depending on the distance your foreline pump lives from the main tool, you may need to consider upsizing the diameter of your foreline a bit to help offset the constriction that will take place as your get polymer build up between periodic cleaning. Good luck, John On 11/4/2013 3:36 PM, Ian Harvey wrote: > Dear Labnetwork colleagues, > > We are installing a used STS DRIE tool acquired from the used tool > market and used for Bosch-Si etch. > > We are unsettled by the large amount of white powder collected in the > foreline and inside the large turbopump. The turbo is becoming > unbalanced as flakes come off, and we are getting ready to trade in > the large maglev pump for a refurb, and clean the forelines. > > Does anyone have experience with what the powder is (F-C-S-O / EDS > analysis attached), its risks, and how to safely manage it during pump > removal, packing and declaration for shipping? > > Thanks! > > Ian > > ******************************************** > Ian R. Harvey, Ph.D. > Associate Director, Utah Nanofab > & > Micron Microscopy Core > 2511 SMBB (USTAR) > University of Utah > > 801/585-6162 (voicemail) > 801/581-5676 (lab main number) > www.nanofab.utah.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From julia.aebersold at louisville.edu Tue Nov 5 13:49:48 2013 From: julia.aebersold at louisville.edu (Aebersold,Julia W.) Date: Tue, 5 Nov 2013 18:49:48 +0000 Subject: [labnetwork] Bosch etch foreline and pump powder residue question... In-Reply-To: <18E314D3-69D5-40ED-A66F-F5BF84C8756A@eng.utah.edu> References: <18E314D3-69D5-40ED-A66F-F5BF84C8756A@eng.utah.edu> Message-ID: Ian, we noticed the same when we had to replace our turbo pump (very expensive) and were careful with the byproducts from the buildup from the etching process. It is recommended and we installed a heater on the line from the roughing/backing pump to the turbo, so that the byproducts do not condense and are properly exhausted. The particles can also buildup on your foreline valve causing it to become stuck or not actuate. Cheers! Julia Aebersold, Ph.D. MNTC Cleanroom Manager Shumaker Research Building, Room 233 2210 South Brook Street University of Louisville Louisville, KY 40292 502-852-1572 http://louisville.edu/micronano/ From: labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu [mailto:labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu] On Behalf Of Ian Harvey Sent: Monday, November 04, 2013 6:36 PM To: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu Subject: [labnetwork] Bosch etch foreline and pump powder residue question... Dear Labnetwork colleagues, We are installing a used STS DRIE tool acquired from the used tool market and used for Bosch-Si etch. We are unsettled by the large amount of white powder collected in the foreline and inside the large turbopump. The turbo is becoming unbalanced as flakes come off, and we are getting ready to trade in the large maglev pump for a refurb, and clean the forelines. Does anyone have experience with what the powder is (F-C-S-O / EDS analysis attached), its risks, and how to safely manage it during pump removal, packing and declaration for shipping? Thanks! Ian ******************************************** Ian R. Harvey, Ph.D. Associate Director, Utah Nanofab & Micron Microscopy Core 2511 SMBB (USTAR) University of Utah 801/585-6162 (voicemail) 801/581-5676 (lab main number) www.nanofab.utah.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bob.henderson at etchedintimeinc.com Tue Nov 5 17:16:00 2013 From: bob.henderson at etchedintimeinc.com (Bob Henderson) Date: Tue, 5 Nov 2013 14:16:00 -0800 Subject: [labnetwork] Bosch etch foreline and pump powder residue question... In-Reply-To: References: <18E314D3-69D5-40ED-A66F-F5BF84C8756A@eng.utah.edu> Message-ID: <000c01ceda74$a21b6950$e6523bf0$@henderson@etchedintimeinc.com> Has anyone considered using an oxygen/fluorine plasma for removal of the polymer. Since most DRIE systems have an ICP source a fair amount of O/F will be generated that can be used to etch away the carbon rich polymer maybe as far as the gate valve and turbopump. The reactive species probably won't have a lifetime that will extend very far down the foreline but I have seen downstream plasmas that will go a few feet into the foreline before extinguishing. Bob Henderson From: labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu [mailto:labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu] On Behalf Of Aebersold,Julia W. Sent: Tuesday, November 05, 2013 10:50 AM To: Ian Harvey; labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu Subject: Re: [labnetwork] Bosch etch foreline and pump powder residue question... Ian, we noticed the same when we had to replace our turbo pump (very expensive) and were careful with the byproducts from the buildup from the etching process. It is recommended and we installed a heater on the line from the roughing/backing pump to the turbo, so that the byproducts do not condense and are properly exhausted. The particles can also buildup on your foreline valve causing it to become stuck or not actuate. Cheers! Julia Aebersold, Ph.D. MNTC Cleanroom Manager Shumaker Research Building, Room 233 2210 South Brook Street University of Louisville Louisville, KY 40292 502-852-1572 http://louisville.edu/micronano/ From: labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu [mailto:labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu] On Behalf Of Ian Harvey Sent: Monday, November 04, 2013 6:36 PM To: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu Subject: [labnetwork] Bosch etch foreline and pump powder residue question... Dear Labnetwork colleagues, We are installing a used STS DRIE tool acquired from the used tool market and used for Bosch-Si etch. We are unsettled by the large amount of white powder collected in the foreline and inside the large turbopump. The turbo is becoming unbalanced as flakes come off, and we are getting ready to trade in the large maglev pump for a refurb, and clean the forelines. Does anyone have experience with what the powder is (F-C-S-O / EDS analysis attached), its risks, and how to safely manage it during pump removal, packing and declaration for shipping? Thanks! Ian ******************************************** Ian R. Harvey, Ph.D. Associate Director, Utah Nanofab & Micron Microscopy Core 2511 SMBB (USTAR) University of Utah 801/585-6162 (voicemail) 801/581-5676 (lab main number) www.nanofab.utah.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From IRHarvey at eng.utah.edu Tue Nov 5 17:19:34 2013 From: IRHarvey at eng.utah.edu (Ian Harvey) Date: Tue, 5 Nov 2013 15:19:34 -0700 Subject: [labnetwork] Fwd: Bosch etch foreline and pump powder residue question... References: <52791BB5.4010402@stanford.edu> Message-ID: Dear John, Julia and all respondents: Thank you all for your helpful feedback. We now have a reasonable procedure to use when the refurbished pump and bonnet valve kit both arrive. Summarizing from what we learned and from the collective responses: PPE: disposable tyvek suit + C-filtered respirator, treating any volatiles as nasty - perhaps carcinogenic, and changing gloves often. Treating wipes and gloves as hazardous waste. Snorkel exhaust and cleanroom vacuum for dust, foil capping and bagging of the components, and brass wire brush / solvent+wipes / LN2 for foreline cleaning in the fume hood. We will document the shipping materials for the returned pump with the source gases used (SF6, C4F8) and include the EDS analysis (also found out that Oerlikon is familiar with the residue and accepts this back properly capped). Going forward: Make sure all the heater elements are working, along with temperature interlocks, and keep your eyes on it for periodic maintenance. Also: PM the system or budget for pump replacement before the thing blows up and the core return has no value. FYI: Among the responses, I received verification for why it is so important to pay attention to such a large pump going out of balance with caked-on materials: "In the end it destroyed a $40K maglev turbo threw parts into the main chamber and the whole way back to the rough pump 25 ft away. It also bent a 2 inch thick stainless steel throttle valve and sheared off 4 ??? thick stainless steel bolts, and dented the side of the system from the force of the abrupt stop. The only part that I kept is what remains of the central portion of the pump that had the veins (once) attached. Here are two pictures of how catastrophic it was. The first one (3480) is what it looked like when we unhooked the turbo. We didn?t just dump parts into the containment vessel for the turbo that is how it came apart. The other one you can see the sheared off bolts and where the clamps grabbed the gate valve. Too bad I didn?t get a picture of how bent it was. Enjoy and I hope you can fix your system before that happens." --Dave Dave sent some fascinating photos of his pump, which casing thankfully contained all the schrapnel, and which looks like metal-noodle soup. Labnetwork is a great resource and thank you again to colleagues who make this job so much easier because of your freely shared knowledge and experience. ?Ian Begin forwarded message: From: John Shott Subject: Re: [labnetwork] Bosch etch foreline and pump powder residue question... Date: November 5, 2013 9:24:21 AM MST To: Ian Harvey Cc: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu Ian: While you will likely get more thorough responses from others on this matter, let me share some or our experiences in this area. In particular, these tools generate a lot of polymer. The same chemistry that you are relying on generating the polymer on your wafers during half of the switched etch/deposition process is also going to produce a low-grade polymer everywhere else. Much of the polymer that you find in the foreline tends to be rather gummy and difficult to remove ... at least that is our experience. Many (but not all) machines have heated turbo pumps and I believe that had been found to be pretty effective in terms of minimizing polymer build up in one of your most expensive components on these tools. One of our machines has a water cooled trap between the heated turbo and the remainder of the foreline ... but, to be honest, that trap has not proven to be particularly effective in our case. Because the forelines tend to get pretty well coated with a sticky, gummy polymer, we have found them to be pretty difficult to clean. One "trick" that seems to work pretty well in the case of the forelines is to very carefully pour some liquid nitrogen down the foreline which will freeze it and cause it to fall off in chunks. This, of course, has to be done VERY carefully due to the hazards of working with liquid nitrogen including worrying about "burns" due to the extreme cold and asphyxiation due to displacement of oxygen in the air. One thing that we haven't tried, but may be easier than dealing with liquid nitrogen is to see whether packing a length of foreline in dry ice may have the same effect ... dry ice has it's own problems because of it's very low temperature and sublimation of something that can displace oxygen, but it is probably easier to handle than liquid nitrogen. While the polymer itself isn't wildly toxic or flammable in the way that some of your pumps and forelines on other deposition tools are (things that pump silane and DCS, for example) we treat all forelines very carefully and, in particular, for anything that is the least bit "powdery or dusty" make sure that we have adequate protection to avoid inhaling or ingesting anything coming from these pump lines. Finally, depending on the distance your foreline pump lives from the main tool, you may need to consider upsizing the diameter of your foreline a bit to help offset the constriction that will take place as your get polymer build up between periodic cleaning. Good luck, John On 11/4/2013 3:36 PM, Ian Harvey wrote: > > Dear Labnetwork colleagues, > > We are installing a used STS DRIE tool acquired from the used tool market and used for Bosch-Si etch. > > We are unsettled by the large amount of white powder collected in the foreline and inside the large turbopump. The turbo is becoming unbalanced as flakes come off, and we are getting ready to trade in the large maglev pump for a refurb, and clean the forelines. > > Does anyone have experience with what the powder is (F-C-S-O / EDS analysis attached), its risks, and how to safely manage it during pump removal, packing and declaration for shipping? > > Thanks! > > Ian > > ******************************************** > Ian R. Harvey, Ph.D. > Associate Director, Utah Nanofab > & > Micron Microscopy Core > 2511 SMBB (USTAR) > University of Utah > > 801/585-6162 (voicemail) > 801/581-5676 (lab main number) > www.nanofab.utah.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From julia.aebersold at louisville.edu Wed Nov 6 12:47:51 2013 From: julia.aebersold at louisville.edu (Aebersold,Julia W.) Date: Wed, 6 Nov 2013 17:47:51 +0000 Subject: [labnetwork] Bosch etch foreline and pump powder residue question... In-Reply-To: References: <52791BB5.4010402@stanford.edu> Message-ID: Holy flying shrapnel! Glad the system contained the flying bits. That could have been very bad if not contained and went into the facility or hit personnel. Cheers! Julia Aebersold, Ph.D. MNTC Cleanroom Manager Shumaker Research Building, Room 233 2210 South Brook Street University of Louisville Louisville, KY 40292 502-852-1572 http://louisville.edu/micronano/ From: Ian Harvey [mailto:IRHarvey at eng.utah.edu] Sent: Tuesday, November 5, 2013 5:20 PM To: John Shott; Aebersold,Julia W. Cc: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu Subject: Fwd: [labnetwork] Bosch etch foreline and pump powder residue question... Dear John, Julia and all respondents: Thank you all for your helpful feedback. We now have a reasonable procedure to use when the refurbished pump and bonnet valve kit both arrive. Summarizing from what we learned and from the collective responses: PPE: disposable tyvek suit + C-filtered respirator, treating any volatiles as nasty - perhaps carcinogenic, and changing gloves often. Treating wipes and gloves as hazardous waste. Snorkel exhaust and cleanroom vacuum for dust, foil capping and bagging of the components, and brass wire brush / solvent+wipes / LN2 for foreline cleaning in the fume hood. We will document the shipping materials for the returned pump with the source gases used (SF6, C4F8) and include the EDS analysis (also found out that Oerlikon is familiar with the residue and accepts this back properly capped). Going forward: Make sure all the heater elements are working, along with temperature interlocks, and keep your eyes on it for periodic maintenance. Also: PM the system or budget for pump replacement before the thing blows up and the core return has no value. FYI: Among the responses, I received verification for why it is so important to pay attention to such a large pump going out of balance with caked-on materials: "In the end it destroyed a $40K maglev turbo threw parts into the main chamber and the whole way back to the rough pump 25 ft away. It also bent a 2 inch thick stainless steel throttle valve and sheared off 4 ?'" thick stainless steel bolts, and dented the side of the system from the force of the abrupt stop. The only part that I kept is what remains of the central portion of the pump that had the veins (once) attached. Here are two pictures of how catastrophic it was. The first one (3480) is what it looked like when we unhooked the turbo. We didn't just dump parts into the containment vessel for the turbo that is how it came apart. The other one you can see the sheared off bolts and where the clamps grabbed the gate valve. Too bad I didn't get a picture of how bent it was. Enjoy and I hope you can fix your system before that happens." --Dave Dave sent some fascinating photos of his pump, which casing thankfully contained all the schrapnel, and which looks like metal-noodle soup. Labnetwork is a great resource and thank you again to colleagues who make this job so much easier because of your freely shared knowledge and experience. -Ian Begin forwarded message: From: John Shott > Subject: Re: [labnetwork] Bosch etch foreline and pump powder residue question... Date: November 5, 2013 9:24:21 AM MST To: Ian Harvey > Cc: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu Ian: While you will likely get more thorough responses from others on this matter, let me share some or our experiences in this area. In particular, these tools generate a lot of polymer. The same chemistry that you are relying on generating the polymer on your wafers during half of the switched etch/deposition process is also going to produce a low-grade polymer everywhere else. Much of the polymer that you find in the foreline tends to be rather gummy and difficult to remove ... at least that is our experience. Many (but not all) machines have heated turbo pumps and I believe that had been found to be pretty effective in terms of minimizing polymer build up in one of your most expensive components on these tools. One of our machines has a water cooled trap between the heated turbo and the remainder of the foreline ... but, to be honest, that trap has not proven to be particularly effective in our case. Because the forelines tend to get pretty well coated with a sticky, gummy polymer, we have found them to be pretty difficult to clean. One "trick" that seems to work pretty well in the case of the forelines is to very carefully pour some liquid nitrogen down the foreline which will freeze it and cause it to fall off in chunks. This, of course, has to be done VERY carefully due to the hazards of working with liquid nitrogen including worrying about "burns" due to the extreme cold and asphyxiation due to displacement of oxygen in the air. One thing that we haven't tried, but may be easier than dealing with liquid nitrogen is to see whether packing a length of foreline in dry ice may have the same effect ... dry ice has it's own problems because of it's very low temperature and sublimation of something that can displace oxygen, but it is probably easier to handle than liquid nitrogen. While the polymer itself isn't wildly toxic or flammable in the way that some of your pumps and forelines on other deposition tools are (things that pump silane and DCS, for example) we treat all forelines very carefully and, in particular, for anything that is the least bit "powdery or dusty" make sure that we have adequate protection to avoid inhaling or ingesting anything coming from these pump lines. Finally, depending on the distance your foreline pump lives from the main tool, you may need to consider upsizing the diameter of your foreline a bit to help offset the constriction that will take place as your get polymer build up between periodic cleaning. Good luck, John On 11/4/2013 3:36 PM, Ian Harvey wrote: Dear Labnetwork colleagues, We are installing a used STS DRIE tool acquired from the used tool market and used for Bosch-Si etch. We are unsettled by the large amount of white powder collected in the foreline and inside the large turbopump. The turbo is becoming unbalanced as flakes come off, and we are getting ready to trade in the large maglev pump for a refurb, and clean the forelines. Does anyone have experience with what the powder is (F-C-S-O / EDS analysis attached), its risks, and how to safely manage it during pump removal, packing and declaration for shipping? Thanks! Ian ******************************************** Ian R. Harvey, Ph.D. Associate Director, Utah Nanofab & Micron Microscopy Core 2511 SMBB (USTAR) University of Utah 801/585-6162 (voicemail) 801/581-5676 (lab main number) www.nanofab.utah.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From codreanu at udel.edu Wed Nov 6 18:08:56 2013 From: codreanu at udel.edu (Iulian Codreanu) Date: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 18:08:56 -0500 Subject: [labnetwork] Particle filters on bulk N2 Message-ID: <527ACC08.4070508@udel.edu> Esteemed Colleagues, What is the micron rating of the filters you use after the vaporizers on your bulk N2 system? Would a 0.003 um filter clog too fast in a system with brazed Cu piping and aluminum vaporizers? Thank you very much. Iulian -- iulian Codreanu, Ph.D. Director of Operations, UD NanoFab University of Delaware 149 Evans Hall Newark, DE 19716 302-831-2784 From spaolini at cns.fas.harvard.edu Wed Nov 6 18:27:41 2013 From: spaolini at cns.fas.harvard.edu (Paolini, Steven) Date: Wed, 6 Nov 2013 23:27:41 +0000 Subject: [labnetwork] Bosch etch foreline and pump powder residue question... In-Reply-To: References: <52791BB5.4010402@stanford.edu> Message-ID: Ian, I couldn't find an opportunity to open the photos and I REALLY want to see them! Just to add to the importance of keeping the turbo clean, I recently installed a new DRIE/Bosch system in my facility and the tool vendor would not sign off until I Rawl anchored the system to the concrete floor. I asked why this seemed important since we don't have seismic events like the folks on the west coast do and he told me about a similar event (I wonder if it's the same) with a customer that when the Maglev locked up, it created enough torque to actually knock the whole system on its side. I got to thinking about the physics of that......take a 50 pound rotor, spin it at 30,000 RPM and make it stop instantaneously.......wow! Play it safe folks and keep the turbo as hot as the manufacturer recommends. Steve Paolini Equipment Dood Harvard University Center for Nanoscale Systems From: labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu [mailto:labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu] On Behalf Of Aebersold,Julia W. Sent: Wednesday, November 06, 2013 12:48 PM To: Ian Harvey; John Shott Cc: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu Subject: Re: [labnetwork] Bosch etch foreline and pump powder residue question... Holy flying shrapnel! Glad the system contained the flying bits. That could have been very bad if not contained and went into the facility or hit personnel. Cheers! Julia Aebersold, Ph.D. MNTC Cleanroom Manager Shumaker Research Building, Room 233 2210 South Brook Street University of Louisville Louisville, KY 40292 502-852-1572 http://louisville.edu/micronano/ From: Ian Harvey [mailto:IRHarvey at eng.utah.edu] Sent: Tuesday, November 5, 2013 5:20 PM To: John Shott; Aebersold,Julia W. Cc: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu Subject: Fwd: [labnetwork] Bosch etch foreline and pump powder residue question... Dear John, Julia and all respondents: Thank you all for your helpful feedback. We now have a reasonable procedure to use when the refurbished pump and bonnet valve kit both arrive. Summarizing from what we learned and from the collective responses: PPE: disposable tyvek suit + C-filtered respirator, treating any volatiles as nasty - perhaps carcinogenic, and changing gloves often. Treating wipes and gloves as hazardous waste. Snorkel exhaust and cleanroom vacuum for dust, foil capping and bagging of the components, and brass wire brush / solvent+wipes / LN2 for foreline cleaning in the fume hood. We will document the shipping materials for the returned pump with the source gases used (SF6, C4F8) and include the EDS analysis (also found out that Oerlikon is familiar with the residue and accepts this back properly capped). Going forward: Make sure all the heater elements are working, along with temperature interlocks, and keep your eyes on it for periodic maintenance. Also: PM the system or budget for pump replacement before the thing blows up and the core return has no value. FYI: Among the responses, I received verification for why it is so important to pay attention to such a large pump going out of balance with caked-on materials: "In the end it destroyed a $40K maglev turbo threw parts into the main chamber and the whole way back to the rough pump 25 ft away. It also bent a 2 inch thick stainless steel throttle valve and sheared off 4 ?'" thick stainless steel bolts, and dented the side of the system from the force of the abrupt stop. The only part that I kept is what remains of the central portion of the pump that had the veins (once) attached. Here are two pictures of how catastrophic it was. The first one (3480) is what it looked like when we unhooked the turbo. We didn't just dump parts into the containment vessel for the turbo that is how it came apart. The other one you can see the sheared off bolts and where the clamps grabbed the gate valve. Too bad I didn't get a picture of how bent it was. Enjoy and I hope you can fix your system before that happens." --Dave Dave sent some fascinating photos of his pump, which casing thankfully contained all the schrapnel, and which looks like metal-noodle soup. Labnetwork is a great resource and thank you again to colleagues who make this job so much easier because of your freely shared knowledge and experience. -Ian Begin forwarded message: From: John Shott > Subject: Re: [labnetwork] Bosch etch foreline and pump powder residue question... Date: November 5, 2013 9:24:21 AM MST To: Ian Harvey > Cc: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu Ian: While you will likely get more thorough responses from others on this matter, let me share some or our experiences in this area. In particular, these tools generate a lot of polymer. The same chemistry that you are relying on generating the polymer on your wafers during half of the switched etch/deposition process is also going to produce a low-grade polymer everywhere else. Much of the polymer that you find in the foreline tends to be rather gummy and difficult to remove ... at least that is our experience. Many (but not all) machines have heated turbo pumps and I believe that had been found to be pretty effective in terms of minimizing polymer build up in one of your most expensive components on these tools. One of our machines has a water cooled trap between the heated turbo and the remainder of the foreline ... but, to be honest, that trap has not proven to be particularly effective in our case. Because the forelines tend to get pretty well coated with a sticky, gummy polymer, we have found them to be pretty difficult to clean. One "trick" that seems to work pretty well in the case of the forelines is to very carefully pour some liquid nitrogen down the foreline which will freeze it and cause it to fall off in chunks. This, of course, has to be done VERY carefully due to the hazards of working with liquid nitrogen including worrying about "burns" due to the extreme cold and asphyxiation due to displacement of oxygen in the air. One thing that we haven't tried, but may be easier than dealing with liquid nitrogen is to see whether packing a length of foreline in dry ice may have the same effect ... dry ice has it's own problems because of it's very low temperature and sublimation of something that can displace oxygen, but it is probably easier to handle than liquid nitrogen. While the polymer itself isn't wildly toxic or flammable in the way that some of your pumps and forelines on other deposition tools are (things that pump silane and DCS, for example) we treat all forelines very carefully and, in particular, for anything that is the least bit "powdery or dusty" make sure that we have adequate protection to avoid inhaling or ingesting anything coming from these pump lines. Finally, depending on the distance your foreline pump lives from the main tool, you may need to consider upsizing the diameter of your foreline a bit to help offset the constriction that will take place as your get polymer build up between periodic cleaning. Good luck, John On 11/4/2013 3:36 PM, Ian Harvey wrote: Dear Labnetwork colleagues, We are installing a used STS DRIE tool acquired from the used tool market and used for Bosch-Si etch. We are unsettled by the large amount of white powder collected in the foreline and inside the large turbopump. The turbo is becoming unbalanced as flakes come off, and we are getting ready to trade in the large maglev pump for a refurb, and clean the forelines. Does anyone have experience with what the powder is (F-C-S-O / EDS analysis attached), its risks, and how to safely manage it during pump removal, packing and declaration for shipping? Thanks! Ian ******************************************** Ian R. Harvey, Ph.D. Associate Director, Utah Nanofab & Micron Microscopy Core 2511 SMBB (USTAR) University of Utah 801/585-6162 (voicemail) 801/581-5676 (lab main number) www.nanofab.utah.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dwayne.kirk at nanomelbourne.com Wed Nov 6 19:34:33 2013 From: dwayne.kirk at nanomelbourne.com (Dwayne Kirk) Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2013 11:34:33 +1100 Subject: [labnetwork] Nanofabrication Vacancy - Senior Process Engineer Message-ID: *FOR CIRCULATION PLEASE* Dear Colleagues, We are seeking a Senior Process Engineer to join the team at the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication. http://nanomelbourne.com/ It is a full-time role at HEW-9 (compensation $107,922 - $114,552 including 9.25% employer superannuation) with responsibility for supervision of a small team of technical staff. We are seeking someone with a broad range of micro/nano fabrications skills, but particularly including photolithography to add to our existing expertise in these and other areas. Initial contract period is 18 months from January 2014, with plan for continuing contracts thereafter. Closing date for applications is *Sunday 24th November*. More information and details on how to apply can be found at.... http://www.monash.edu.au/jobs/externaljobs.html (Choose "non-academic", then Job No. 517497) Kind regards, Dwayne. -- Dwayne Kirk *BAppSci, ADMgmt, PhD, GAICD.* Managing Director Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication 151 Wellington Road, Clayton 3168 Node Director - Victoria Australian National Fabrication Facility Ph: +61 (3) 9902 4049 M: +61 (4) 2570 3950 W: http://nanomelbourne.com W: http://www.anff.org.au E: dwayne.kirk at nanomelbourne.com Executive Assistant: Maree Richardson Ph: +61 (3) 9902 9097 ------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From shott at stanford.edu Wed Nov 6 20:35:35 2013 From: shott at stanford.edu (John Shott) Date: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 17:35:35 -0800 Subject: [labnetwork] Bosch etch foreline and pump powder residue question... In-Reply-To: <000c01ceda74$a21b6950$e6523bf0$@henderson@etchedintimeinc.com> References: <18E314D3-69D5-40ED-A66F-F5BF84C8756A@eng.utah.edu> <000c01ceda74$a21b6950$e6523bf0$@henderson@etchedintimeinc.com> Message-ID: <527AEE67.4020404@stanford.edu> Bob: This is a good point that reminds me of minor etch modifications that our etch guru Jim McVittie made me aware of: > John, > > The STS process engineer from the factory who trained me on STS2 said that they gone to adding some O2 to the etch steps on there old tools to solve the vacuum line deposition problem. We never went that way because it meant that we would have to recharacterize our processes on the STS1 and no one wantd to do it. The Berkeley folks published a paper on adding O2. Jim I'm hopeful that someone from Berkeley can provide a better reference and comment on this approach, but I believe that folks have found that adding modest oxygen flow (~10%, as I recall) during the etch step helps to reduce polymer buildup without significantly affecting etch rates and other process parameters. Thanks, John On 11/5/2013 2:16 PM, Bob Henderson wrote: > Has anyone considered using an oxygen/fluorine plasma for removal of > the polymer. Since most DRIE systems have an ICP source a fair amount > of O/F will be generated that can be used to etch away the carbon rich > polymer maybe as far as the gate valve and turbopump. The reactive > species probably won't have a lifetime that will extend very far down > the foreline but I have seen downstream plasmas that will go a few > feet into the foreline before extinguishing. Bob Henderson -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bill at eecs.berkeley.edu Wed Nov 6 20:35:40 2013 From: bill at eecs.berkeley.edu (Bill Flounders) Date: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 17:35:40 -0800 Subject: [labnetwork] Bosch etch foreline and pump powder residue question... In-Reply-To: <527abd66.c9e2440a.1282.2aacSMTPIN_ADDED_BROKEN@mx.google.com> References: <18E314D3-69D5-40ED-A66F-F5BF84C8756A@eng.utah.edu> <527abd66.c9e2440a.1282.2aacSMTPIN_ADDED_BROKEN@mx.google.com> Message-ID: <527AEE6C.6030003@eecs.berkeley.edu> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From khensley at eng.utah.edu Thu Nov 7 10:43:12 2013 From: khensley at eng.utah.edu (Kevin Hensley) Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2013 08:43:12 -0700 Subject: [labnetwork] Particle filters on bulk N2 In-Reply-To: <527ACC08.4070508@udel.edu> References: <527ACC08.4070508@udel.edu> Message-ID: Iulian, We installed 0.01 um filters down stream of our aluminum evaporator. The install was recent so I do not yet have long term data on replacement intervals. If 0.003 um is necessary for your lab, you might consider a larger pore pre-filter upstream. Items to consider: The cost of the filter housing and installation will be much more than the cost of the replacement filters. The filters need to be plumbed to enable filter change without interrupting supply to the labs. (we accomplished this with 2 filters in parallel). There needs to be a method of purging the filters and manifold after filter change. Make sure that the filters' CFM rating is equal to or greater than the capacity of the evaporator so you don't limit the supply capacity. Install pressure gauges both sides of each filter to allow for differential pressure readings. (this will allow you to determine when filter change is necessary). Kevin Hensley -- Cleanroom Infrastructure Specialist Utah Nanofab www.nanofab.utah.edu Office: 801/587-0658 Cell: 801/403-6038 Email: khensley at eng.utah.edu On Wed, Nov 6, 2013 at 4:08 PM, Iulian Codreanu wrote: > Esteemed Colleagues, > > What is the micron rating of the filters you use after the vaporizers on > your bulk N2 system? Would a 0.003 um filter clog too fast in a system > with brazed Cu piping and aluminum vaporizers? > > Thank you very much. > > Iulian > > -- > iulian Codreanu, Ph.D. > Director of Operations, UD NanoFab > University of Delaware > 149 Evans Hall > Newark, DE 19716 > 302-831-2784 > > > _______________________________________________ > labnetwork mailing list > labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu > https://www-mtl.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo.cgi/labnetwork > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From julia.aebersold at louisville.edu Thu Nov 7 10:58:26 2013 From: julia.aebersold at louisville.edu (Aebersold,Julia W.) Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2013 15:58:26 +0000 Subject: [labnetwork] Bosch etch foreline and pump powder residue question... In-Reply-To: <527AEE6C.6030003@eecs.berkeley.edu> References: <18E314D3-69D5-40ED-A66F-F5BF84C8756A@eng.utah.edu> <527abd66.c9e2440a.1282.2aacSMTPIN_ADDED_BROKEN@mx.google.com> <527AEE6C.6030003@eecs.berkeley.edu> Message-ID: Bill we also run 10% O2 with our SF6, too. Cheers! Julia Aebersold, Ph.D. MNTC Cleanroom Manager Shumaker Research Building, Room 233 2210 South Brook Street University of Louisville Louisville, KY 40292 502-852-1572 http://louisville.edu/micronano/ From: Bill Flounders [mailto:bill at eecs.berkeley.edu] Sent: Wednesday, November 6, 2013 8:36 PM To: Bob Henderson; Aebersold,Julia W.; 'Ian Harvey'; labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu Subject: Re: [labnetwork] Bosch etch foreline and pump powder residue question... Bob, I don't expect this to resolve the issue. Some type of downstream deposit is the price of admission for any of our etch or deposition tools. However, I would like to open the following question: At UC Berkeley (and I presumed most other labs ?) we use 10% O2 with our SF6 etch step. This provides oxygen for minimizing sulfur build up in the foreline - we still get deposits but they are not as bad as with no O2. I had presumed this was common strategy. There is some decrease in selectivity due to resist erosion - but it has been worth it. Greater concentrations of O2 lead to too much resist loss. I welcome feedback on this recipe and encourage addition of some O2 if not using any. Bill Flounders UC Berkeley Bob Henderson wrote: Has anyone considered using an oxygen/fluorine plasma for removal of the polymer. Since most DRIE systems have an ICP source a fair amount of O/F will be generated that can be used to etch away the carbon rich polymer maybe as far as the gate valve and turbopump. The reactive species probably won't have a lifetime that will extend very far down the foreline but I have seen downstream plasmas that will go a few feet into the foreline before extinguishing. Bob Henderson From: labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu [mailto:labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu] On Behalf Of Aebersold,Julia W. Sent: Tuesday, November 05, 2013 10:50 AM To: Ian Harvey; labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu Subject: Re: [labnetwork] Bosch etch foreline and pump powder residue question... Ian, we noticed the same when we had to replace our turbo pump (very expensive) and were careful with the byproducts from the buildup from the etching process. It is recommended and we installed a heater on the line from the roughing/backing pump to the turbo, so that the byproducts do not condense and are properly exhausted. The particles can also buildup on your foreline valve causing it to become stuck or not actuate. Cheers! Julia Aebersold, Ph.D. MNTC Cleanroom Manager Shumaker Research Building, Room 233 2210 South Brook Street University of Louisville Louisville, KY 40292 502-852-1572 http://louisville.edu/micronano/ From: labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu [mailto:labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu] On Behalf Of Ian Harvey Sent: Monday, November 04, 2013 6:36 PM To: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu Subject: [labnetwork] Bosch etch foreline and pump powder residue question... Dear Labnetwork colleagues, We are installing a used STS DRIE tool acquired from the used tool market and used for Bosch-Si etch. We are unsettled by the large amount of white powder collected in the foreline and inside the large turbopump. The turbo is becoming unbalanced as flakes come off, and we are getting ready to trade in the large maglev pump for a refurb, and clean the forelines. Does anyone have experience with what the powder is (F-C-S-O / EDS analysis attached), its risks, and how to safely manage it during pump removal, packing and declaration for shipping? Thanks! Ian ******************************************** Ian R. Harvey, Ph.D. Associate Director, Utah Nanofab & Micron Microscopy Core 2511 SMBB (USTAR) University of Utah 801/585-6162 (voicemail) 801/581-5676 (lab main number) www.nanofab.utah.edu _______________________________________________ labnetwork mailing list labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu https://www-mtl.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo.cgi/labnetwork -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From vito.logiudice at uwaterloo.ca Thu Nov 7 11:17:25 2013 From: vito.logiudice at uwaterloo.ca (Vito Logiudice) Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2013 16:17:25 +0000 Subject: [labnetwork] Particle filters on bulk N2 In-Reply-To: <527ACC08.4070508@udel.edu> Message-ID: Hi Iulian, We will soon be installing two parallel 0.003um filters on our particular bulk N2 installation. All related copper pipes from the aluminum evaporator are being installed per oxygen service installation practices (cleaned & degreased and silver-soldered under N2 purge) so we should be OK from a particle perspective, at least given past experience with a very similar setup. In the event of any filter clogging issues, the redundant filters will allow for easy replacement of the affected unit without interrupting flow. Best regards, Vito -- Vito Logiudice M.A.Sc., P.Eng. Director of Operations, Quantum NanoFab University of Waterloo 200 University Avenue West Waterloo, ON Canada N2L 3G1 Tel: 1-519-888-4567 ext. 38703 Email: vlogiudi at uwaterloo.ca Website: https://qncfab.uwaterloo.ca/ -----Original Message----- From: Iulian Codreanu Date: Wednesday, 6 November, 2013 6:08 PM To: Fab Network Subject: [labnetwork] Particle filters on bulk N2 >Esteemed Colleagues, > >What is the micron rating of the filters you use after the vaporizers on >your bulk N2 system? Would a 0.003 um filter clog too fast in a system >with brazed Cu piping and aluminum vaporizers? > >Thank you very much. > >Iulian > >-- >iulian Codreanu, Ph.D. >Director of Operations, UD NanoFab >University of Delaware >149 Evans Hall >Newark, DE 19716 >302-831-2784 > > >_______________________________________________ >labnetwork mailing list >labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu >https://www-mtl.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo.cgi/labnetwork From jrweaver at purdue.edu Wed Nov 20 08:40:50 2013 From: jrweaver at purdue.edu (Weaver, John R) Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 13:40:50 +0000 Subject: [labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories Message-ID: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> Due to some headcount reductions we are re-thinking our after-hours lab work. Previously we had trained "lab attendants" who watched over things until midnight, then required the "buddy system" after that. Now we are looking at just using the buddy system after 5:00 pm. How do you handle things in your facility? Are you happy with the results? Thanks in advance, John John R. Weaver Facility Manager Birck Nanotechnology Center 1205 West State Street West Lafayette IN 47907 (765) 494-5494 jrweaver at purdue.edu nano.purdue.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From shott at stanford.edu Wed Nov 20 12:25:53 2013 From: shott at stanford.edu (John Shott) Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 09:25:53 -0800 Subject: [labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories In-Reply-To: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> References: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> Message-ID: <528CF0A1.6020907@stanford.edu> John: While we've recently been able to incrementally bump up our staff coverage so that it runs from approximately 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. M-F, at nights and weekends we have no official staff on site. As a result, we rely on: 1. The buddy system. 2. The fact that there tend to be experienced users around most of the time that are willing to answer questions, help solve problems, etc. 3. We have a rotated on-call "duty phone" that can be used for emergency use. 4. Facilities monitoring, toxic gas monitoring, etc are fully automated and on-duty 24x7. If any of those systems sense a problem, email, automated phone dialers, communication to the fire department, and campus-facilities takes over. 5. Users can't get to gas vaults, buk chemical storage, the basement (where most pumps and chillers live) so they are somewhat limited in the range of trouble that they can create. All that said, more "curious events" do seem to happen in the evenings than happens when staff is on site. Given the staffing realities of most university labs, I'm comfortable with this as a viable approach. Good luck, John On 11/20/2013 5:40 AM, Weaver, John R wrote: > Due to some headcount reductions we are re-thinking our after-hours > lab work. Previously we had trained "lab attendants" who watched over > things until midnight, then required the "buddy system" after that. > Now we are looking at just using the buddy system after 5:00 pm. > How do you handle things in your facility? Are you happy with the results? > Thanks in advance, > John > */John R. Weaver/* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From diadiuk at MIT.EDU Wed Nov 20 13:47:57 2013 From: diadiuk at MIT.EDU (Vicky Diadiuk) Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 13:47:57 -0500 Subject: [labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories In-Reply-To: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> References: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> Message-ID: We established a 4-day week (1 long day/wk followed by a day off, + 3 normal-length days) for staff who wish to do it, so lab hours are staff-covered from 8 am to 9 pm weekdays. All other hrs are only for qualified users with a buddy, & toxic gases are not available. It works like a charm - in many ways, including staff retention :) I can give you more details if you'd like, Vicky On Nov 20, 2013, at 8:40 AM, Weaver, John R wrote: > Due to some headcount reductions we are re-thinking our after-hours lab work. Previously we had trained ?lab attendants? who watched over things until midnight, then required the ?buddy system? after that. Now we are looking at just using the buddy system after 5:00 pm. > > How do you handle things in your facility? Are you happy with the results? > > Thanks in advance, > John > > John R. Weaver > Facility Manager > Birck Nanotechnology Center > 1205 West State Street > West Lafayette IN 47907 > (765) 494-5494 > jrweaver at purdue.edu > nano.purdue.edu > > > > _______________________________________________ > labnetwork mailing list > labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu > https://www-mtl.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo.cgi/labnetwork -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From julia.aebersold at louisville.edu Wed Nov 20 15:04:52 2013 From: julia.aebersold at louisville.edu (Aebersold,Julia W.) Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 20:04:52 +0000 Subject: [labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories In-Reply-To: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> References: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> Message-ID: We use the buddy system for after hours. Cheers! Julia Aebersold, Ph.D. MNTC Cleanroom Manager Shumaker Research Building, Room 233 2210 South Brook Street University of Louisville Louisville, KY 40292 502-852-1572 http://louisville.edu/micronano/ From: labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu [mailto:labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu] On Behalf Of Weaver, John R Sent: Wednesday, November 20, 2013 8:41 AM To: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu Subject: [labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories Due to some headcount reductions we are re-thinking our after-hours lab work. Previously we had trained "lab attendants" who watched over things until midnight, then required the "buddy system" after that. Now we are looking at just using the buddy system after 5:00 pm. How do you handle things in your facility? Are you happy with the results? Thanks in advance, John John R. Weaver Facility Manager Birck Nanotechnology Center 1205 West State Street West Lafayette IN 47907 (765) 494-5494 jrweaver at purdue.edu nano.purdue.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pkarulkar9 at gmail.com Wed Nov 20 14:23:06 2013 From: pkarulkar9 at gmail.com (Pramod C Karulkar) Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 11:23:06 -0800 Subject: [labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories In-Reply-To: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> References: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> Message-ID: <528D0C1A.8010804@gmail.com> After-hour work is very critical to turning around experiments faster and increasing the throughput. Issues such as equipment cost, maintenance charges, and expiration of chemicals require that one gets as much use out of the fab as possible. Hence every effort should be made to retain some level of after-hour capabilities. However, the traditional 1+1 buddy system may not work effectively. It is not worth setting up an after-hour, volunteer buddy system if it is not binding, you do not have a system to monitor it, and you cannot address violations effectively. A manager's hands are usually tied on the last issue in a multi-user, community supported academic lab until something bad happens. Two buddies are ineffective in addressing safety issues if they are working in bays that are far apart in the lab. Moreover, a buddy system does not do anything if the people involved are very inexperienced. Finally, the success of after-hour operations in the area of safety depends on effective after-hour incident response. A fab has to invest efforts in setting up a reliable, effective after-hour response for running an after hour operation. I went through many iterations of after-hour work that finally resulted in a facility that could be run all round the clock if some time critical work (that compensated for efforts) had to be finished. Here are some possibilities for a experimental facility. (1) Establishing a larger than two buddy group (4+) with video monitoring and well rehearsed incident response process may work. (2) It is more work for the manager but prearranged after-hour work could be allowed if enough sign-up to work. (3) The fab could be opened after-hours only for certain non- or less-hazardous processes (SEM, optical inspections, analytical work, putting together lot starts, some packaging/assembly operations, metal depositions in automated tools, some lithography processes etc.) and make sure that hazardous operations are absolutely discontinued after-hours. SOP's should reflect this. (4) The fab could be left open after-hours for specific periods such as during the first week of the month or on Tuesdays and Wednesdays only etc to allow catch-up work. Some examples of "bad things" that can happen more often on after-hour shifts: Breakdown of cleanroom protocol, amateurs locking up or damaging equipment (e.g., microscopes), rearranging work spaces, moving or removing equipment no matter how small, unreported process or safety issues, pouring or mixing of chemicals, poorly addressed spill or breakage, processing nonstandard substrates or parts (shape, size, material) that may result in contamination, reprogramming, or breakdown, non-standard processes (increasing or resetting temperatures, modifying gas connections etc. You have to think of what may happen and set up protocols/processes to prevent mishaps. Hope this helps. Good luck. Pramod Karulkar */Pramod C Karulkar Ph. D. /**/ /**/Home 2*5*3* 3*0*3 0*4*1*8 /**/ /**/6024 33rd Street Ct NW /**/ /**/Gig Harbor WA 98335 /* On 11/20/2013 5:40 AM, Weaver, John R wrote: > Due to some headcount reductions we are re-thinking our after-hours > lab work. Previously we had trained "lab attendants" who watched over > things until midnight, then required the "buddy system" after that. > Now we are looking at just using the buddy system after 5:00 pm. > How do you handle things in your facility? Are you happy with the results? > Thanks in advance, > John > */John R. Weaver/* > */Facility Manager/* > */Birck Nanotechnology Center/* > */1205 West State Street/* > */West Lafayette IN 47907/* > */(765) 494-5494/* > */_jrweaver at purdue.edu_/* > */nano.purdue.edu/* > > > _______________________________________________ > labnetwork mailing list > labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu > https://www-mtl.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo.cgi/labnetwork -- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hathaway at cns.fas.harvard.edu Wed Nov 20 17:06:21 2013 From: hathaway at cns.fas.harvard.edu (Mac Hathaway) Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 17:06:21 -0500 Subject: [labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories In-Reply-To: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> References: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> Message-ID: <528D325D.9020001@cns.fas.harvard.edu> Hi John, There was a very interesting discussion of this and the related issue of when folks run toxic gases, a few years ago on this list. I'm happy to send you an executive summary, if you'd like (I actually created one for our folks here, for some of our policy meetings...) Short version: At Harvard, we run 24/7, all equipment, including wetbenches, but toxic gases are only available ~6 am to ~8 pm. Staffing is from ~8pm - ~6pm. Buddy system is required for all acid/base wetbench work, whenever it is done. Not strictly required for other work. Seems to work okay. Wetbenches sometimes get a bit messy at night, and we see (on video) things are a bit more "loose" at night, in terms of PPE, etc, but nothing too egregious. We have a full gas detection system, interlocked with gas sources, building systems, and the fire department. Too bad you guys lost headcount. Hope things get better... Mac Harvard CNS On 11/20/2013 8:40 AM, Weaver, John R wrote: > Due to some headcount reductions we are re-thinking our after-hours > lab work. Previously we had trained "lab attendants" who watched over > things until midnight, then required the "buddy system" after that. > Now we are looking at just using the buddy system after 5:00 pm. > How do you handle things in your facility? Are you happy with the results? > Thanks in advance, > John > */John R. Weaver/* > */Facility Manager/* > */Birck Nanotechnology Center/* > */1205 West State Street/* > */West Lafayette IN 47907/* > */(765) 494-5494/* > */_jrweaver at purdue.edu_/* > */nano.purdue.edu/* > > > _______________________________________________ > labnetwork mailing list > labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu > https://www-mtl.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo.cgi/labnetwork -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rathbun at cnf.cornell.edu Wed Nov 20 17:07:11 2013 From: rathbun at cnf.cornell.edu (Lynn Rathbun) Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 17:07:11 -0500 Subject: [labnetwork] after hours Message-ID: At Cornell, we require buddy system only for wet chemical operations. All other tools are available to any trained user at any time. ************************************************************** Dr. Lynn Rathbun Rathbun at cnf.cornell.edu NNIN Deputy Director (607)-254-4872 CNF Laboratory Manager Duffield Hall (607)-255-8601 Fax Cornell University (607)-592-1549 Work Cell Ithaca, New York 14853 (607)-342-1880 Personal Cell From lej at danchip.dtu.dk Wed Nov 20 17:31:56 2013 From: lej at danchip.dtu.dk (Leif Johansen) Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 22:31:56 +0000 Subject: [labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories In-Reply-To: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> References: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> Message-ID: <879AEF5002D70747B136D02BC86A9C981D7BA9@ait-pex02mbx05.win.dtu.dk> Hello John, At DTU Danchip we are in principle open 24/7, but working with hazardous wet chemistry (HF and the likes) is only allowed if someone else is around. Some tools with hazardous gases, like LPCVD furnaces, are not allowed to be used from 6 PM to 8 AM. Other tools, like PECVDs with silane and diborane gasses may be run any time. We rely on a rather large fire warning and extinction system plus a Honeywell gas alarm system, both of which automatically call the fire brigade. In case of a fire alarm, a gas alarm or just a technical alarm (e.g. gas bottle empty), a selected number of staff members also receive an SMS. DTU Campus Services also monitor the BMS system. The biggest risk is most probably that an inexperienced user does something stupid while nobody is around to stop him. We do have video surveillance of the entire cleanroom, and records are kept for one month, but it is no guarantee that people will always behave in a proper manner. We do our very best to train new users before they are given access to the cleanroom. We have had very few incidents over the past twenty years, none of which have been serious. Best regards, Leif From: labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu [mailto:labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu] On Behalf Of Weaver, John R Sent: Wednesday, November 20, 2013 2:41 PM To: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu Subject: [labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories Due to some headcount reductions we are re-thinking our after-hours lab work. Previously we had trained "lab attendants" who watched over things until midnight, then required the "buddy system" after that. Now we are looking at just using the buddy system after 5:00 pm. How do you handle things in your facility? Are you happy with the results? Thanks in advance, John John R. Weaver Facility Manager Birck Nanotechnology Center 1205 West State Street West Lafayette IN 47907 (765) 494-5494 jrweaver at purdue.edu nano.purdue.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From reynolds at ece.ucsb.edu Wed Nov 20 17:32:21 2013 From: reynolds at ece.ucsb.edu (Tom Reynolds) Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 14:32:21 -0800 Subject: [labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories In-Reply-To: <528CF0A1.6020907@stanford.edu> References: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> <528CF0A1.6020907@stanford.edu> Message-ID: <007a01cee640$60fe7f70$22fb7e50$@ucsb.edu> Hi John, I agree with John Shott. UCSB follows the same type of system. Our buddy system is loose considering there seems to be multiple people in the lab at any hour and it is hard to enforce the policy. Strategically placed cameras and announced coverage should prevent most shenanigans at night with no staff on site. The risk is acceptable for us. Thanks, Tom From: labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu [mailto:labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu] On Behalf Of John Shott Sent: Wednesday, November 20, 2013 9:26 AM To: Weaver, John R Cc: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu Subject: Re: [labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories John: While we've recently been able to incrementally bump up our staff coverage so that it runs from approximately 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. M-F, at nights and weekends we have no official staff on site. As a result, we rely on: 1. The buddy system. 2. The fact that there tend to be experienced users around most of the time that are willing to answer questions, help solve problems, etc. 3. We have a rotated on-call "duty phone" that can be used for emergency use. 4. Facilities monitoring, toxic gas monitoring, etc are fully automated and on-duty 24x7. If any of those systems sense a problem, email, automated phone dialers, communication to the fire department, and campus-facilities takes over. 5. Users can't get to gas vaults, buk chemical storage, the basement (where most pumps and chillers live) so they are somewhat limited in the range of trouble that they can create. All that said, more "curious events" do seem to happen in the evenings than happens when staff is on site. Given the staffing realities of most university labs, I'm comfortable with this as a viable approach. Good luck, John On 11/20/2013 5:40 AM, Weaver, John R wrote: Due to some headcount reductions we are re-thinking our after-hours lab work. Previously we had trained "lab attendants" who watched over things until midnight, then required the "buddy system" after that. Now we are looking at just using the buddy system after 5:00 pm. How do you handle things in your facility? Are you happy with the results? Thanks in advance, John John R. Weaver -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bill at eecs.berkeley.edu Wed Nov 20 18:43:46 2013 From: bill at eecs.berkeley.edu (Bill Flounders) Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 15:43:46 -0800 Subject: [labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories In-Reply-To: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> References: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> Message-ID: <528D4932.9070701@eecs.berkeley.edu> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dgrimard at umich.edu Wed Nov 20 20:10:04 2013 From: dgrimard at umich.edu (Dennis Grimard) Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 20:10:04 -0500 Subject: [labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories In-Reply-To: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> References: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> Message-ID: <7B15509B-F1FB-4A1C-B721-726391665CE4@umich.edu> John: I think an important part of this liability and safety equation is making sure that the users know they are alone (our labs are so big it is easy to not realize you are alone ... And even with a buddy system accidents could go undetected even with a buddy). UM follows a buddy system after hours for wet chemistry ... However it is difficult to enforce. We have no restrictions for using tools after hours toxic or otherwise. What we are doing to improve our performance in this areas: 1) more cameras 2) large name tags on the back of the suit (identification) 3) a new MOU with the policy clearly laid out 4) lights on benches which light up when the number of people in the lab drops to one (they can never claim they did not know they were alone and it is easier to enforce since you can easily see the light on or off and any user at a bench). We find that the nighttime is a free for all and many serious violations occur however we also feel that it is manageable. However, we must strive to continuously improve safety and compliance after hours. We are also considering closing the lab after hours if we can't get to a satisfactory place safety wise. Dennis S Grimard, Ph.D. Managing Director Lurie Nanofabrication Facility 1246D EECS Bldg University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 48103 (734) 368-7172 Cell > On Nov 20, 2013, at 8:40 AM, "Weaver, John R" wrote: > > Due to some headcount reductions we are re-thinking our after-hours lab work. Previously we had trained ?lab attendants? who watched over things until midnight, then required the ?buddy system? after that. Now we are looking at just using the buddy system after 5:00 pm. > > How do you handle things in your facility? Are you happy with the results? > > Thanks in advance, > John > > John R. Weaver > Facility Manager > Birck Nanotechnology Center > 1205 West State Street > West Lafayette IN 47907 > (765) 494-5494 > jrweaver at purdue.edu > nano.purdue.edu > > > > _______________________________________________ > labnetwork mailing list > labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu > https://www-mtl.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo.cgi/labnetwork -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From franz at seas.ucla.edu Wed Nov 20 20:21:49 2013 From: franz at seas.ucla.edu (Steve Franz) Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 17:21:49 -0800 Subject: [labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories In-Reply-To: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> References: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> Message-ID: <21B2E056-BD0A-4E52-A392-6E0DE779B422@seas.ucla.edu> Hi John and all At UCLA we have at least one staff from 7 AM to 10 PM M-F with no staff support during the week. We use a buddy system when there is no staff for all lab processes. Our biggest reason for extending shift coverage is for making sure machines are ready to go in the morning (eg restarting frozen computers, removing stuck wafers from loadlock etc) We do have webcams at fume hoods and critical locations which can be monitored remotely and our Labrunner system can be used to check if buddy system was violated although we are loose on this. Regards Steve Franz, Manager NRF franz at seas.ucla.edu 310-206-8923 On Nov 20, 2013, at 5:40 AM, Weaver, John R wrote: > Due to some headcount reductions we are re-thinking our after-hours lab work. Previously we had trained ?lab attendants? who watched over things until midnight, then required the ?buddy system? after that. Now we are looking at just using the buddy system after 5:00 pm. > > How do you handle things in your facility? Are you happy with the results? > > Thanks in advance, > John > > John R. Weaver > Facility Manager > Birck Nanotechnology Center > 1205 West State Street > West Lafayette IN 47907 > (765) 494-5494 > jrweaver at purdue.edu > nano.purdue.edu > > > > _______________________________________________ > labnetwork mailing list > labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu > https://www-mtl.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo.cgi/labnetwork -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: PastedGraphic-2.tiff Type: image/tiff Size: 33336 bytes Desc: not available URL: From mtiner at masdar.ac.ae Thu Nov 21 01:43:07 2013 From: mtiner at masdar.ac.ae (Mike Tiner) Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 10:43:07 +0400 Subject: [labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories In-Reply-To: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> References: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> Message-ID: Dear John and Colleagues, I think it if fair to say that in almost any decision we take as facility managers there are trade-offs, basically there are no free rides. In the case of afterhours work in the facility the variety of different schemes and clever arrangements is testament that there is no single good way to do things. In my current facility the user base is very inexperienced and the safety culture is not particularly strong, we are very strict about our facility hours 9-5, 5 days per week and we require the users to schedule accordingly so that support staff are available (I am also very limited on staff 1.5 FTE). In my previous facility we were open 24/7/365 and only limited wet processing to buddy system at night. One of the things I think is most critical to offering extended or unsupervised hours is a culture of ownership. I find that no matter how good your rules/enforcement are, someone will always try to find a way around them. However, it is possible to build a sense of community into the users that causes them to clean up, follow good practice, etc., on their own. Full time security cameras help as well. Regards, Mike Mike Tiner Manager, Fabrication and Microscopy Facilities Masdar Institute Electron Microscopy Facility Website Masdar Institute Fabrication Facility Website [cid:image001.jpg at 01CEE6A5.7602A440] PO Box 54224, Khalifa City Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Office +971 2 810 8122 Direct +971 2 810 9053 Fax +971 2 810 8121 Mobile +971 56 733 9604 Email mtiner at masdar.ac.ae http://www.masdar.ac.ae [cid:image002.jpg at 01CEE6A5.7602A440] P Please consider the environment before printing this email This transmission is confidential and intended solely for the person or organization to whom it is addressed. It may contain privileged and confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, you should not copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on it. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail at info at masdar.ac.ae From: labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu [mailto:labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu] On Behalf Of Weaver, John R Sent: Wednesday, November 20, 2013 5:41 PM To: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu Subject: [labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories Due to some headcount reductions we are re-thinking our after-hours lab work. Previously we had trained "lab attendants" who watched over things until midnight, then required the "buddy system" after that. Now we are looking at just using the buddy system after 5:00 pm. How do you handle things in your facility? Are you happy with the results? Thanks in advance, John John R. Weaver Facility Manager Birck Nanotechnology Center 1205 West State Street West Lafayette IN 47907 (765) 494-5494 jrweaver at purdue.edu nano.purdue.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 5411 bytes Desc: image001.jpg URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image002.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 13117 bytes Desc: image002.jpg URL: From gwatson at Princeton.EDU Thu Nov 21 09:05:30 2013 From: gwatson at Princeton.EDU (George P. Watson) Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 14:05:30 +0000 Subject: [labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories In-Reply-To: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> References: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> Message-ID: <0565B0F370443F4CB0D9C1CDDD8533E738D99E55@CSGMBX201W.pu.win.princeton.edu> Hi John, Like many others that have replied, we are open 24/7. After business hours we hire undergraduates to act as monitors during the weekday evenings from 5pm to 8 or 9 pm. It's hard to get complete coverage because of our undergrads' schedules. Undergraduate users may only use the lab during business hours; Grad students and post-docs, etc. may use the lab at any time. When a monitor is not there, we have a two-tiered system. For any hood work (except in Lithography), a buddy must be in the room with the user. If hoods are not used, then we have each cleanroom user make sure that another qualified user in or out of the lab is in contact with them every half hour. In practice, many students use the lab at night in small groups, so they have a buddy at all times. Like many other labs, we have to trust our students to do the right thing, and so far we think this has worked well. Pat George Patrick Watson (Pat), Ph.D. Director of Operations PRISM Micro/Nano Fabrication Laboratory E-Quad J301A Princeton University Princeton, NJ 08544 gwatson at princeton.edu (609) 258 4626 From: labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu [mailto:labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu] On Behalf Of Weaver, John R Sent: Wednesday, November 20, 2013 8:41 AM To: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu Subject: [labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories Due to some headcount reductions we are re-thinking our after-hours lab work. Previously we had trained "lab attendants" who watched over things until midnight, then required the "buddy system" after that. Now we are looking at just using the buddy system after 5:00 pm. How do you handle things in your facility? Are you happy with the results? Thanks in advance, John John R. Weaver Facility Manager Birck Nanotechnology Center 1205 West State Street West Lafayette IN 47907 (765) 494-5494 jrweaver at purdue.edu nano.purdue.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcchrist at wisc.edu Thu Nov 21 09:21:06 2013 From: dcchrist at wisc.edu (Daniel Christensen) Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 08:21:06 -0600 Subject: [labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories Message-ID: <528E16D2.4080904@wisc.edu> At the University of Wisconsin-Madison the cleanrooms are accessible 24/7 and we enforce a buddy policy outside of our normally staffed hours (M-F 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.). The buddy policy requires 2 users to be in the cleanroom suite (spread throughout any of the bays).We allow all activities to be conducted off-hours except equipment maintenance operations, but researchers are encouraged to do processing using hazardous gases only when staff is in the building. The hazardous gas vaults themselves are highly restricted and cannot be accessed except by a very few staff. We have video cameras installed throughout the cleanroom.The output goes to our hard drive storage system and we put a video monitor into each of the cleanroom bays.We have the live video output on display at all times on these monitors.The displays sequence through the cameras.The idea is to allow a user in Bay 8 to see what is going on in Bays 1-7 while they are sitting at their tool.Also we hoped that the users would further realize that they are being monitored for proper after hours behavior.However, I don't think the presence of the display monitors has changed behavior. Our 8 cleanroom bays are contiguous and have a single entry point where the gowning room door connects to a central clean corridor.We have a pc _on each side_ of this door to allow for "log-in" and "log-out" of the cleanroom . This log in/out of the cleanroom enters data into our "Coral-like" lab monitoring system (called CRESS) which allows for real-time monitoring of everyone in the cleanrooms .CRESS keeps a running total of the "body count" in the cleanroom.The system generates a report to the staff of buddy system violations. During non-business hours (remember to do special programming to make M-F holidays buddy hours) the system does the following: -When no one is in the cleanroom, two users must log in with-in a couple of minutes of each other to enter. -When there are >2 users in the cleanroom, a user may leave the cleanroom as normal. -When there are just two users left in the cleanroom and "User A" tries to leave, the logout pc tells"User A" that they are leaving a lone user.The pc then allows them to click a button to continue their exit or another button to abort their exit.Normally, "User A" will then click to exit followed within a couple of minutes by User B exiting via the logout pc. -We consider it a buddy system violation for BOTH "User A" and User B" in the above scenario if User A leaves the cleanroom and User B doesn't leave very shortly thereafter. -- Daniel C. Christensen Laboratory Manager WI Center for Applied Microelectronics University of WI-Madison 608-262-6877 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Vincent.Luciani at nist.gov Thu Nov 21 10:27:25 2013 From: Vincent.Luciani at nist.gov (Luciani, Vincent) Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 15:27:25 +0000 Subject: [labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories In-Reply-To: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> References: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> Message-ID: What a great topic to compare notes on. Thanks for opening the door John. Here at the CNST NanoFab NIST (Gaithersburg) we do much the same as everyone else. I think, worry about, and address the afterhours lab work constantly. Our situation and usage patterns are a bit different from a University environment but the safety concerns seem to be the same. What we do: * We are staffed from 7 AM to midnight with 2 full time staff members after 6 PM. Afterhours access is available via buddy system and advanced approval. * All areas are monitored/recorded by CCTV system. The NIST Fire House has a monitor in their console. * Afterhours access must be approved in advance. Our electronic access control system, by default, locks out everybody afterhours until we authorize and program each afterhours work session. * Afterhours requests are sent to a dedicated mailbox and must include an email confirmation from both buddies confirming their commitment to each other ( a past frequent failure mode). * The "Buddy System" is strictly enforced. I randomly check access control data and CCTV logs to see if there is a scofflaw afoot. * We have a few imaging tools outside the cleanroom that I will allow (on a case-by-case basis) usage without a buddy. * Auto phone dialers alert me and the rest of the staff in the event of any kind of alarm. So far, it is going well. Opportunities for improvement: Network and IT issues afterhours are a problem when they occur and will often stop users from getting work done. Vince Vincent K. Luciani NanoFab Manager Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology National Institute of Standards and Technology 100 Bureau Drive, MS 6201 Gaithersburg, MD 20899-6200 USA +1-301-975-2886 [Description: CNST Horztl Color logo] From: labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu [mailto:labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu] On Behalf Of Weaver, John R Sent: Wednesday, November 20, 2013 8:41 AM To: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu Subject: [labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories Due to some headcount reductions we are re-thinking our after-hours lab work. Previously we had trained "lab attendants" who watched over things until midnight, then required the "buddy system" after that. Now we are looking at just using the buddy system after 5:00 pm. How do you handle things in your facility? Are you happy with the results? Thanks in advance, John John R. Weaver Facility Manager Birck Nanotechnology Center 1205 West State Street West Lafayette IN 47907 (765) 494-5494 jrweaver at purdue.edu nano.purdue.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 6965 bytes Desc: image001.jpg URL: From khbeis at uw.edu Thu Nov 21 12:25:57 2013 From: khbeis at uw.edu (Michael Khbeis) Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 09:25:57 -0800 Subject: [labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories In-Reply-To: <528E16D2.4080904@wisc.edu> References: <528E16D2.4080904@wisc.edu> Message-ID: We too adhere to the buddy system for wet processing. I do have questions regarding the toxic gas restrictions that some sites apply at night. What is the driving factor? Are some tools more manual and thus prone to damage or accident? We allow toxic processing on plasma tools 24/7 and assume that the tool automation, interlocks, and building life-safety systems are sufficient to prevent accidents or cut gas flows if there was a detected anomaly. Gratefully, Dr. Michael Khbeis Acting Director, Washington Nanofabrication Facility (WNF) (formerly MFF) National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN) University of Washington Fluke Hall, Box 352143 (O) 206.543.5101 (F) 206.221.1681 (C) 443.254.5192 khbeis at uw.edu www.wnf.washington.edu/ From gary.spinner at gmail.com Thu Nov 21 12:36:09 2013 From: gary.spinner at gmail.com (gary.spinner@ien.gatech.edu) Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 12:36:09 -0500 Subject: [labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories In-Reply-To: <7B15509B-F1FB-4A1C-B721-726391665CE4@umich.edu> References: <6A848421F695C54A9210C1A873C96AC212F0435E@WPVEXCMBX04.purdue.lcl> <7B15509B-F1FB-4A1C-B721-726391665CE4@umich.edu> Message-ID: At Georgia Tech we are open to our users 24/7, and do not place restrictions on which tools research users can access after hours. We staff our cleanroom from 7:00 AM - 7:00 PM Monday - Friday and have a couple of staff members that live within 5 minutes of campus. We have a select number of our technical staff team that will do over the phone support after hours and on weekends. For the managers of these facilities you are always on pins and needles when the phone rings, regardless if it is normal business hours, after hours or weekends. We also have an activity graph on our website that we monitor daily to see which users are violating our buddy system policy. Most of our after hour challenges involve wet processing (wet chemical etching, housekeeping, and overnight processing) at the fume hoods. We are in the process of installing cameras inside of each fume hood. The few cameras we have installed have reduced incidents and increased safety awareness. Listed below are a few measures we have in place and a few we will try to better govern after hours and weekends. - Security Cameras (Fume hoods) - Police Patrol (After Hours and Weekends) - Staff Cell Phones - Detail Fume Hood Training Program ( http://cleanroom.ien.gatech.edu/video/fume-hood-training/ ) - Work Study Students, Student Assistants, Co-op Students - Notification to violators (cron jobs, emails, and paging system) - Installing a buddy light (Thanks Dennis!) On Thu, Nov 21, 2013 at 8:09 AM, Dennis Grimard wrote: > John: > > I think an important part of this liability and safety equation is making > sure that the users know they are alone (our labs are so big it is easy to > not realize you are alone ... And even with a buddy system accidents could > go undetected even with a buddy). > > UM follows a buddy system after hours for wet chemistry ... However it is > difficult to enforce. We have no restrictions for using tools after hours > toxic or otherwise. > > What we are doing to improve our performance in this areas: > > 1) more cameras > 2) large name tags on the back of the suit (identification) > 3) a new MOU with the policy clearly laid out > 4) lights on benches which light up when the number of people in the lab > drops to one (they can never claim they did not know they were alone and it > is easier to enforce since you can easily see the light on or off and any > user at a bench). > > We find that the nighttime is a free for all and many serious violations > occur however we also feel that it is manageable. However, we must strive > to continuously improve safety and compliance after hours. > > We are also considering closing the lab after hours if we can't get to a > satisfactory place safety wise. > > Dennis S Grimard, Ph.D. > Managing Director > Lurie Nanofabrication Facility > 1246D EECS Bldg > University of Michigan > Ann Arbor, MI 48103 > > (734) 368-7172 Cell > > On Nov 20, 2013, at 8:40 AM, "Weaver, John R" wrote: > > Due to some headcount reductions we are re-thinking our after-hours lab > work. Previously we had trained ?lab attendants? who watched over things > until midnight, then required the ?buddy system? after that. Now we are > looking at just using the buddy system after 5:00 pm. > > How do you handle things in your facility? Are you happy with the results? > > Thanks in advance, > John > > *John R. Weaver* > *Facility Manager* > *Birck Nanotechnology Center* > *1205 West State Street* > *West Lafayette IN 47907* > *(765) 494-5494 <%28765%29%20494-5494>* > *jrweaver at purdue.edu* > *nano.purdue.edu * > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > labnetwork mailing list > labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu > https://www-mtl.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo.cgi/labnetwork > > > _______________________________________________ > labnetwork mailing list > labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu > https://www-mtl.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo.cgi/labnetwork > > -- Gary Spinner Senior Assistant Director of Research Operations Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology Georgia Institute of Technology Office Number (404) 894-4010 Cell Phone Number (404) 391-9182 http://grover.mirc.gatech.edu/ "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, "What's in it for me?"" ? 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