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Northern California Nanotechnology Center

Chemical Hygiene Plan

A. Site-Specific Responsibility

Department: Northern California Nanotechnology Center
Building: Kemper Hall, Engineering Unit II

Lab Director: Dr. Frank Yaghmaie
Office: 1125 Kemper Hall
Phone: 408-391-0857
Email: Dr. Frank Yaghmaie

Process Engineering Manager: Dr. Muthu B.J. Wijesundara
Office: 1125 Kemper Hall
Phone: 530-752-2241
Email: Dr. Muthu B.J. Wijesundara

Supervisor: Robert Prohaska
Office: 1125 Kemper Hall
Phone: 530-752-1094
Cell Phone: 530-681-0714
Email: Bob Prohaska

B. Rooms Covered by this Plan (all are in Kemper Hall):

  • 1125 (Office)
  • 1204 (Chemical storage room)
  • 1208 (Shipping/Receiving)
  • 1210 (Service chase)
  • 1214 (Service chase)
  • 1218 (Service chase)
  • 1222 (Service chase)
  • 1224 Bays a1 to a8 and b1 to b4 (Cleanroom)
  • 1226 (Service chase)
  • 1228 (Supply room)
  • 1230 (Service chase)
  • 1236 (Service chase)
  • 1240 (Service chase)
  • 1243 (Service chase)
  • 1244 (Service chase)
  • 1245 (Hallway)
  • 1246 (General processing, not cleanroom)
  • 1249 (Storage, Computing)
  • 1254 (Gas storage, Service chase)
  • 1254a-1254c (Service chase)
  • 1260 (Service chase)
  • 1264 (Service chase)
  • 1268 (Service chase)
  • 1272 (Service chase)
  • 1276 (Service chase)

Courtyard areas containing cylinder storage and acid neutralization system.

Implementation Date: 7/13/07

C. Chemical Receiving, Storage and Dispensing Areas:

Chemicals are received and stored in room 1204 Kemper Hall.

Containers used for dispensing are stored in flammables and corrosives cabinets located throughout the lab, notably in bays a8 and b2.

Stocked Chemicals

  • ACETIC ACID, GLACIAL
  • ACETONE
  • ACID NEUTRALIZER
  • AMMONIUM FLUORIDE ((NH4)F), 40% SOLUTION
  • AMMONIUM HYDROXIDE, 29%
  • BUFFER OXIDE ETCH 6:1
  • BUFFER SOLUTION, PH 10
  • BUFFER SOLUTION, PH 4
  • CHA ALUMINUM
  • CHA CHROMIUM
  • CHA NICKEL
  • CHA SILICON
  • CHA SILICON DIOXIDE
  • CHA TITANIUM
  • CHLOROBENZENE
  • CHLOROFORM
  • CHROME ETCHANT CEP-200
  • CYCLOHEXANONE
  • HEXAMETHYLDISILAZANE HMDS
  • HYDROCHLORIC ACID, 37%
  • HYDROFLUORIC ACID, 10:1
  • HYDROFLUORIC ACID, 49%
  • HYDROGEN PEROXIDE SOLUTION, 30%
  • METHANOL
  • NITRIC ACID
  • OIL, HYDROCARBON
  • OIL, KRYTOX 1500
  • PHOSPHORIC ACID, 85%
  • PHOTO RESIST 1813 POSITIVE
  • PHOTO RESIST 950 PMMA
  • PHOTO RESIST DEVELOPER CD-26
  • PHOTO RESIST DEVELOPER MF 312
  • PHOTO RESIST DEVELOPER MF 319
  • PHOTO RESIST LIFT-OFF LOL-1000
  • PHOTO RESIST LIFT-OFF LOL-2000
  • PHOTO RESIST PRIMER P-20
  • PHOTO RESIST SJR 5740
  • PHOTO RESIST SPR220-3.0
  • PHOTO RESIST SPR220-7.0
  • PHOTO RESIST STRIPPER PRS 3000
  • POTASSIUM HYDROXIDE, 45%
  • POTASSIUM IODIDE
  • PROPANOL, 2-
  • SEC-BUTYL ALCOHOL
  • SULFURIC ACID, 35%
  • SULFURIC ACID, 95%

Permitted Chemicals in Facility

  • APS COPPER ETCHANT 100
  • B-2C REVERSAL BLEACH
  • BROMINE
  • BUTANOL, 1-
  • CHROMIUM MASK ETCHANT
  • CHROMIUM TRIOXIDE
  • COPPER FB BATH RTU
  • D-8 REVERSAL DEVELOPER
  • DC-5 NEGATIVE DEVELOPER
  • DEVELOPER AZ 300 MIF
  • DEVELOPER AZ 400K
  • DEVELOPER AZ 422 MIF
  • DEVELOPER DS3000
  • DICYCOHEXYL
  • FERRIC NITRATE
  • GOLD ETCH TYPE TFA
  • GOLD ETCHANT GE 8110
  • GOLD SOLUTION
  • HYDROFLUORIC ACID 50:1
  • IODINE CRYSTALS
  • JB-100 BRIGHTNER
  • METHYENE CHLORIDE
  • MIBK DISTILLED
  • MICRO 453 DEVELOPER
  • MICROPOSIT PRIMER
  • N-N-DIMETHYLACETAMIDE
  • OCTADECYLTRICHLOROSILANE, 90+%
  • OMNI-COAT
  • PHOTOGRAPHIC FIXER F4-C
  • PHOTORESIST AZ P4620
  • PHOTORESIST STR 1045 POSITIVE
  • PHOTORESIST STR 1075
  • POLYIMIDE COATING
  • POTASSIUM HYDROXIDE
  • POTASSIUM IODINE
  • POTASSIUM PERMANGANATE
  • REMOVER PG
  • REVERSAL BLEACH B-2C
  • RINSE SOLVENT
  • SU-8 2025
  • SU-8 DEVELOPER
  • TRICHLOROETHYLENE STABILIZER

Stocked Gases

  • AMMONIA NH3
  • ARGON Ar
  • CHLORINE Cl2
  • DIBORANE B2H6
  • DICHLOROSILANE SiH2Cl2
  • GERMANE GeH4
  • HELIUM He
  • HYDROGEN H2
  • HYDROGEN/ARGON (4%/96%) H2/Ar
  • NITROGEN N2
  • NITROGEN, LIQUID
  • NITROUS OXIDE N2O
  • OXYGEN O2
  • SILANE SiH4
  • SULFUR HEXAFLUORIDE SF6
  • TETRAFLUOROMETHANE (HALOCARBON 14) CF4
  • TETRAFLUOROMETHANE 96% / OXYGEN 4%
  • TRIFLOROMETHANE (HALOCARBON 23) CHF3

Any chemicals not on this list require staff approval prior to entry.

D. MSDS and Other Reference Materials Available in the Laboratory:

MSDS sheets for the cleanroom are found in the gowning area and office, 1224 and 1125 Kemper Hall. An additional MSDS library is in the binder in 1246 Kemper Hall for chemicals unique to that room.

In addition, computers with Internet access and compatible browsers are found in all rooms with chemical inventory for on-line MSDS access.

E. Laboratory-Specific Emergency Response Instructions:

In case of a life-threatening emergency, dial:

911 from a campus phone
530-752-1234 from a cell phone
2-1234 from a campus phone

Do not dial 911 from a cell phone unless there is no other choice!

In the event of an evacuation alarm, exit the cleanroom by the shortest clear path, without regard to cleanroom protocols. Follow the cleanroom evacuation guidelines.

First Aid

If you spill a hazardous substance on yourself:

  1. Go directly to the nearest eyewash and shower. If you exposed your torso or legs, first get under the shower and start the water. Next remove any clothing splashed with the chemical. Shower for at least fifteen minutes. When using the eyewash, hold your eyes open with your hands and gently lift your eyelids away from your eyeballs. Allow contact lenses to float away on the water stream.
  2. See MSDS for specific first aid responses.
  3. For ingestion, see the product label or the MSDS. Call 911 immediately.
  4. For inhalation, leave the lab immediately. Call 911 immediately.
  5. For skin irritation, any eye injury, or contact with extremely toxic substances,
    • go to the Cowell Student Health Center (752-2300), or
    • call the occupational physician at Employee Health Services (752-2330) between 8:30 AM and 5:00 PM (if you are an employee of the University of any sort and have had a work-related injury),
    • or go to Sutter Davis Hospital after 8 P.M. on weekdays and 6 P.M. on weekends and holidays. This is especially important if the exposure was extensive, around the eyes, or involves HF.
  6. Take off any contaminated clothing and treat it as hazardous waste.
  7. You must report any possible chemical exposure, no matter how small to your TA.

Fire Safety

  1. First remove any injured person from the vicinity of a fire.
  2. Next pull one of the eight pull alarms located in the outer corridor. Memorize the pull alarm location nearest to the lab bay in which you will do most of your work.
  3. Then dial 911.The normal response time of the Campus Fire Dept. to the Campus Core area is three (3) minutes.
  4. Do not try to extinguish a fire.
  5. Evacuate calmly through the designated exits and assemble in the designated area outside. If you cannot vacate the building, stay low on the floor to avoid toxic smoke. As you exit, don't prop open any lab door. Make sure your exit door closes. Some doors may remain open from air pressure, notably those to the gowning room and chemical storage. Closing them will help contain the fire.

Electric Shock

TAs will receive, as part of their orientation, safety information about electric shock. If someone receives a shock,

  1. First make sure the victim is no longer in contact with the electric current. If the person still has contact, assume they are not grounded. If possible, shut off the current safely and quickly. Otherwise, use appropriate non-conductive material to help you break the current. Use extreme caution! Do not become another victim.
  2. Dial 911 immediately.
  3. If the shocked person does not lose consciousness or show obvious burns or signs of medical distress, the person may still need a medical evaluation. Call the occupational physician at Employee Health Services, 752-2330. The duty nurse will help you decide whether to seek further medical advice or not. Do this even if the victim says: "I'm fine." Oftentimes a person may receive unseen burns or heart damage and not be immediately aware of it.
  4. If the victim complains about the shock, escort them to a medical facility. Don't send them alone. If the heart muscle suffered damage, they may have trouble along the way.
  5. Tell the TA at the earliest opportunity about the incident.

F. Site-Specific Hazardous Materials Controls Systems (Engineering Controls)

NCNC presents three major classes of chemical hazards: Corrosives, toxics and flammables. A further subdivision into gases and liquids gives six basic types of hazard. The engineering controls focus on the liquid/gas distinction, with a careful management of effluent air and liquid.

The cleanroom is equipped with a downdraft ventilation system for particle control which results in a uniform half meter per second of airflow from ceiling to floor. At the floor, the air exits laterally and returns back up to the plenum space overhead, where it is subjected to particle filtration and recycled.

Two exhaust fans, one 35,000 scfm capacity scrubbed for corrosive fumes and one un-scrubbed 12,000 scfm for flammable vapors, extract potentially contaminated air. Both exhaust fans are on the building's backup generator. In addition, many of the tools are equipped with direct cabinet ventilation. All continuously-running vacuum pumps discharge into one of the exhaust systems.

Toxic gases are stored within ventilated gas cabinets and monitored with gas detection systems. Detection of significant quantities of gas, or failure of the exhaust system, will result in automatic shutdown of all gas delivery.

Liquid management takes the form of standard chemical sinks in addition to dedicated corrosives drainage into a neutralizer. Areas where chemicals are used have downdraft flow benches integrated into the laboratory's air circulation scheme. At the flow benches, there is a corrosives drain for acids and bases and a municipal sewer drain for innocuous effluent. Materials incompatible with neutralization or discharge are collected at wet process station 7 in bay A5 for appraisal and possible disposal.

One conventional fume hood is provided for use of corrosives in bay A8 for general use. In room 1246, there is one general use corrosives hood and one general use flammables hood. Most other wet process stations are dedicated to a single type of use.

G. Personal Protective Equipment Available in the Laboratory

Upon entry, lab members don full cleanroom suits, including hoods, oversuits, boots and latex gloves. Safety glasses are available in the entry airlocks.

Areas where hazardous chemicals are handled contain additional chemical gloves (full gauntlet), face shields and full coverage aprons.

H. Prior Approvals Required

In general, each piece of equipment has documented uses and can be employed only for the purposes set forth in the manuals. Any use of tools in the lab that do not conform to existing manufacturer's intent must be approved by lab staff or the Director.

I. Standard Operating Procedures

For the cleanroom as a whole, standard operating procedures are spelled out in the safety video available on workstations in the office and in the cleanroom. Further detail and practical training will be supplied by an initial tour given to lab members where gowning practice, exit paths, alarm and extinguisher locations are physically pointed out.

The SOPs for individual tools are codified in the operation instructions. Those instructions are conveyed to trainees by experienced lab members and approved by a designated person, usually an exceptionally experienced and skillful lab member but occasionally a staff member.

J. Campus Regulated Carcinogens

No campus regulated carcinogens are currently used in the laboratory.

K. Laboratory Training Checklist

The primary evidence of training is the signed "Request for Facility Access" bearing the lab member's signature, a statement of conduct expected and an agreement to abide by that conduct.