Additional Instructions for Advanced Users

Tool Use

The Northern California Nanotechnology Center contains a number of sophisticated and delicate tools. If you have not trained to use a tool, or have forgotten how to use it, arrange with the appropriate superuser or NCNC Staff to have a training session. You must train on all tools with a user (and in some cases a superuser or the lab manager also) before your first use. Check the Equipment and Processes page for the current list of superusers, pictures, tool descriptions, and manuals.

All the tools in the lab are easily damaged. Please be careful and conscientious. Check the pre-operational checklist for the tool you wish to use. This will help you to avoid multiple gowning and de-gownings.

Reserving Time on a Tool

You may reserve time on the tool you intend to use in advance. If no one has reserved the tool, you may use it on a "first come, first served" basis. Reservations are made informally through the lab email.

Tool Rules

Do not remove any equipment from the lab;
Do not modify or cut test cables, patch cords, or adapters;
Do not move equipment from one bench to another.

Each piece of equipment, or tool, has its own protocol. What do you do if you break a monitor wafer in the oxidation furnace? What can you spin in the spinners? How do you load a wafer into the furnace for wet oxidation? If you don't know, ask a superuser or NCNC Staff. Review the operating manual each time you use the tool. The checklists will help you not to overlook important steps.

Cleanroom Entry

You may want to review the introductory information about entry.

Things You Want to Bring In

You may bring with you a ball-point pen, a hardbound lab notebook, a pair of tweezers, a label for your hood hanger, a wafer box, or a magnetic tape in its carrying case. Place these in the pass-through between the Cleanroom Supplies Room (Rm.1226) and the gowning area (see the map). For the last two above or other small items not listed, wipe them down with a tacky wipe. Find the tacky wipes in room 1226. Unfold the wipe one section at a time and use the open section to wipe off the item. When done, hold the item with the wipe and place it in the pass-through. Do not use a tacky wipe on fluorowear. It will simply contaminate it. Leave fluorowear in its plastic wrap and place it in the pass-through as is.

Place chemicals needed from storage in the appropriate pass-through from the Chemical Storage Room (Rm. 1204, see the map). Use the chemically resistant shelves for acids. Use the stainless steel shelves for other chemicals. Note that you will need your key to access both 1226 and 1204.

You must follow special procedures before you bring any chemicals into the lab. In particular, you will need to obtain the manufacturer's MSDS for your particular chemical.

Do not bring equipment into the lab without first checking with NCNC Staff.

Entry by Access Code

You may enter the lab by first pressing the "door" key and then entering your five-digit code into the keypad. The computer will log your entry and release the door. When you hear the door unlatch, you'll have about five seconds to pull the door open.

If the door doesn't release, press the "door" key again to clear the system and reenter your code. If the door still won't release, contact NCNC Staff. Do not give your access code to anyone else nor use anyone else's code. The access code helps determine who to bill for lab use and tracks who was present for mishaps. Do not bring any visitors into the lab. Only authorized personnel evidenced by an access code may enter. If you believe that someone knows your code, contact the NCNC Staff to change it.

Partners

After business hours and on weekends you must have a partner to use any chemicals in the lab. In addition, you must have a partner to use the gas cabinets, the LPCVD furnace, the PECVD, the IR vacuum furnace, the Mask Aligner, the Resist Spinners, ovens, fume hoods or hydrofluoric acid.

Chemical Safety

If you have reviewed the introductory information about chemical use, go ahead and check out these Environmental Health and SafetyNet Publications.

The Fume Hood in 1246

There are two fume hoods in room 1246 (see map): one for solvents and one for acids. When working with chemicals in this room you must use one of them. The glass or plastic shield in front of the hood is a splash guard. Always keep this guard between your face and the chemicals even if you're wearing a face shield. Keep your chemicals in tightly capped bottles when they are not under a hood.

When you open a chemical bottle, the fumes will quickly fill the hood. These fumes are usually invisible. Therefore, you must assume that any object placed in a hood, e.g., a glove, has a thin layer of the chemical on its surface. Thus rinse every object before you remove it from the hood.

When you're through, assume that the fume hood counter has on it small drops of the chemical you used. Wipe it down with a wet wipe several times. Rinse the wipe completely before you throw it away.

Pyrophoric Chemicals

Chemicals that burn on contact with air, use under mineral oil. Use other flammables under a fume hood. Note in particular that Acetone has a low flash point.

Chemical Storage

The Storage Compatibility graph illustrates which chemicals used in the lab may be safely stored together and which may not. The EHS SafetyNet Publications #4 provide further information you will find helpful.

Disposal of Waste

When you finish your work you must dispose of any chemicals according to state and federal regulations. You must train with NCNC Staff on the specific procedure for disposing of your chemicals in this lab.

If chemicals are hot, allow them to cool to room temperature before you dispose of them. Allow chemical mixtures that give off gas as a product of the reaction to react fully before their disposal. Otherwise, pressure can build up and cause an explosion. Hydrogen peroxide mixed with an acid is a common example of this. (The Hydrogen Peroxide bottle cap must have a hole in it.)

You can review the latest campus rules for disposal of hazardous waste by reading EHS SafetyNet Publications #8.

This page explains how you should make your "Hazardous Waste Contents" labels. Each waste container needs to have such a label ultimately. In the lab, mark the contents of the waste on the container with a black marker. After the container has passed through to the chemical storage room, use the MSDS to help you fill out the contents label. You'll need to mark the chemical name, type (acid, base, oxidizer, etc.), and degree of hazard among other things.

Chemical Spills

When someone spills one pint (one half liter) or more of any hazardous substance then:

hit the nearest red button on the lab wall;
exit the lab and dial 911;
and then call Environmental Health and Safety at 752-1493.

If someone spills less than one pint (one half liter), lab personnel may clean it up. In most cases you can use a spill kit to control the spill. These spill kits are located in the lab. Consult the appropriate MSDS for more details. On some walls you will also find a mini-MSDS posted with spill procedures. When you dispose of a spill pillow mark it as hazardous waste.

If you suspect that the chemical is a flammable, extinguish ignition sources.

For further discussion of chemical spills, review the EHS SafetyNet Publications #13.

Cleanup and Restocking Chemicals

You may want to review the introductory information about cleanup.

Always clean your work area before you leave. Thoroughly rinse the beakers you used with DI water and then store them upside down on the wet bench.

Rinse the heavy chemical gloves with DI water before you take them off. If the gloves are still clean, lay them on the counter with the palms facing up so that someone can use them again. If they are dirty, throw them away.

When you finish using all the chemical from a container, clean and dispose of the bottle.

For Acetone, Methanol, Trichloroethylene, or bottles that once held some other organic chemical, place the bottle without its cap under the appropriate pass-through for two days. This allows the bottle to de-gas. Leave a note next to the bottle with the word "de-gassing." After two days, rinse the bottle with DI water. Fill the bottle one third of the way, place its cap back on, and then shake it well. Repeat this for three rinses. Mark out the label and write "rinse cleaned."

Do not rinse HMDS and Photoresist bottles. They are carcinogenic and water reactive. Instead, put the lid on the bottle and label it. Place the bottle in the large fiberglass bin designated for this waste. Store these used bottles with their caps on. Place clean wipes, chemical gloves, and pipettes contaminated with Photoresist in a special bag and place the bag in this same bin.

For hydrochloric acid, potassium hydroxide, sulfuric acid, hydrogen peroxide, ammonium hydroxide bottles, etc., rinse and mark "rinse cleaned." Save three glass and three plastic bottles for waste disposal. Any surplus bottles, throw away uncapped.

Restocking Chemicals

If you run out of any chemical or notice that the lab's stock is low, contact NCNC Staff. "Excess" chemical use may result in special recharges to the principal investigator. If you wish to bring chemicals into the lab you must follow a special procedure.

Exit Checklist

After you leave, tell NCNC Staff about any of the following:

Access code problems
Equipment malfunctions
Low stock or absence of needed chemicals and supplies
Chemical spills and exposures
Name labels for the hood hanger
Cleanroom contamination
Injuries and electric shocks
Damage to gowns

In addition,

Label any chemical wastes stored in 1204 (see map)
Turn in damaged gowns to NCNC Staff
Enter your "access code" as you exit