Clean Room Protocol and Lab Etiquette Updated 4192016

Clean Room Protocol and Lab Etiquette Updated 4/19/2016 3/12/2021 1

Clean Room Protocol The Nano. Lab operates as a class 100 cleanroom. Since the Nano. Lab is not a profit-making organization, overall yield may not be an issue. Nevertheless, defects can delay completion of projects leading to missed deadlines for grants, conferences, etc. All labmembers have an interest in helping maintain the standard of cleanliness required for success. Contamination Sources § Reminder: you - the human body - are the main source of contamination in a cleanroom. Humans are constantly shedding hair and dandruff, often spray saliva when talking and have a mixture of sweat and oils on their skin. Hair, dandruff and skin oils can lead to defects in photolithography processing. Sodium and potassium in body fluids are semiconductor poisons, which in small concentrations can drastically alter the conductivity of doped silicon. Minute traces of gold, which may rub off jewelry even in casual handling, can also poison semiconductors. § Other sources of clean room contamination are ordinary paper, cardboard, pencils, dirt off the floor and dust in the air. § Cleanroom paper and notebooks are available from the Nano. Lab storeroom. 3/12/2021 2

Lab Etiquette (cont’d) Gowning up: Follow the correct sequence to gown up: 1. Blue booties (put on outside the lab entrance) 2. Bouffant cap (all hair needs to be covered and/or tucked in) 3. Bunny suit (must be zipped up all the way, hoodies must be tucked in) 4. White shoe covers (over blue booties) 5. Safety goggles (prescription glasses are not acceptable) 6. Nitrile gloves This sequence is reversed when removing these attire to minimize particles from falling from your hair and skin onto these pieces. Change your bunny suit if it gets torn or ripped-particles from your clothing and skin can find their way out through the torn area of the bunny suit into the lab environment and clean surfaces. It’s time to change your blue booties when they get fuzzy, and your white shoe covers when they are torn or encrusted with dirt. Do not wear blue booties in the hallway outside the lab – the carpet tears them. Only put booties that can be reused in the reuse bin. This bin is to ensure after hour supply – it is not a recycle bin. 3/12/2021 3

Shared space Remember that the lab is a shared space: -Cubby tops and table tops are workspaces for all, NOT storage spaces for a few. -Each member receives one storage space and up to two gowning boxes. Chemicals are never to be stored in these spaces. It is your responsibility to clean these out and remove your items before you go extinct. The lab is not a storage facility when you are not an active member. -Learn to use the bag sealer. The Nano. Lab stocks many sizes of ziploc bags. -If you need special chemicals, please contact Bill Flounders. Special chemicals receive a pink label when they are first approved and should get a dated white label every year so we know they are still in use. Special chemicals must be properly disposed of before you go extinct. -Please respect common courtesy and do not leave chairs and stools blocking the aisle where members can trip over them -Please do not block the exit door from the chem room (399) in bay 386 with chairs, as staff is frequently exiting with chemicals. These are safety hazards in case of emergency. 3/12/2021 4

How Not to Gown-Up 3/12/2021 5

Properly Gowned 3/12/2021 6

Control Measures The Nano. Lab provides caps, coveralls and boot covers to labmembers. We encourage labmembers to change regularly, since once your coverall tears it generates particles. § The Nano. Lab provides nitrile gloves (blue/purple colored) to lab members. These gloves are available in bins located by the door to the lab. You must wear them at all times in the lab for the protection of lab surfaces from contamination of oils and salts on your hands. Keep your gloves clean; do not touch your face with them. If you do, change your gloves. Also change your gloves after handling your cell phone (glove exchange station on each floor). § The Nano. Lab also provides polyethylene gloves (opaque). These gloves are available in strategic locations throughout the Nano. Lab in baskets. Use them to control contamination. Put on a fresh pair of these gloves over the nitrile gloves each time you handle wafer cassettes and handles at the wetsinks. Use a fresh pair of light blue nitrile gloves when loading an evaporation boat or e-beam crucible. § Labmembers may check out notebooks made with special clean room paper. Store your notebook in a ziploc bag when you take it out of the Nano. Lab. Always write your name on the cover page of your notebook; if you misplace it, it can be returned. You may also use ballpoint pens, laptop computers and tablets inside the Nano. Lab. Cardboard (such as Fed. Ex boxes) and pencils, however, are not allowed. 3/12/2021 7

Cell Phone Usage in the lab 3/12/2021 8

Lab Etiquette (cont’d) At the wetsinks No acid left behind! Acid and water look alike, so be sure to use the techni-cloths provided in the holders in each room to wipe up and dry down the work surfaces. * First check the p. H of the puddle or spill with a p. H strip then dilute the puddle or spill with DI water, using the sink deck hose first, then wipe it up. (p. H strips are found in the brochure holders at each sink as well at every safety shower. ) Empty chemical bottles left on the floor surrounding the sink area(s) poses a safety hazard. “If you empty a bottle, rinse it. ” Bottles must be given a thorough rinse in the bottlewash (in 582 A for 5 th floor bottles, or 397 – outside 399 – for 3 rd floor bottles). After rinsing, please X out the label with the blue marking pen (indicating it has been rinsed) and place in the giant blue bin for glass and/or plastic bottles. Please check out your own pair of chemical-resistant gloves – they are not to be shared with others for safety reasons. For example, there might be chemical residue from a previous user on or inside the gloves. Do not walk away from sinks with chemical gloves on. Do not touch door handles or phones with chemical gloves. 3/12/2021 9

How to Properly Carry Bottles 3/12/2021 10

How to Dispose of Empty Chemical Bottles 3/12/2021 11

Lab Etiquette (cont’d) General hygiene, i. e lab manners: Everybody needs to sneeze at some point, so be sure to sneeze away from your wafers and lab equipment (use the classic elbow rule. ) If you do happen to sneeze into your gloves, please change them at once. The techni-cloths provided in each room also serve as the lab Kleenex, so please toss used ones into the trash rather than leaving them scattered on work surfaces. The same goes for used foam ear plugs: if they are no longer in your ears, they belong in the trash. Note: ordinary Kleenex tissues are available for use in the lobby only- but the same rule applies: toss used tissues in the trash, please! 3/12/2021 12

Sink Etiquette Chemical bottles that have been opened cannot be returned to the chemical storage cabinets located throughout the plastic curtains off Rm. 582 A; there are chemical storage bins for opened bottles underneath each sink - check here first for your bottle and use existing stock before opening a new bottle. Organic waste disposal bottles are located at msink 1, 3 on the 3 rd floor and msink 16, 18 on the 5 th floor (room 582 A). These bottles are changed out when they are 80% full and should never be overflowing. Change them out when the level reaches the blue line (80% full) and follow posted instructions at the sink. Organic waste manifests are posted these sinks – every pour gets recorded (EH&S requirement). All processes MUST be labeled with a blue process ID tag with information including your name, the chemicals used (even if it’s just water!) and the date and time that your process will run until. Do not move lab aprons between sinks or walk around with your apron on – it is to remain at the sink for safety reasons and to avoid cross-contamination! Never leave a hot plate on or unattended! 3/12/2021 13

Organic Waste Manifest 3/12/2021 14

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Lab Etiquette (cont’d) In the yellow photolithography Bay 382: Always clean the manual photoresist spinner after each use and re-line it with clean foil. Dispose of the foil afterwards in the vented PR trash can at the sink area. Photoresist drips on the countertop or floor should be promptly wiped up with a techni-cloth then disposed into the above can. Small amount of acetone from the squeeze bottle at the sink may be needed to thoroughly clean up all traces of photoresist from a surface. Photoresist dropper bottles that you are finished with are to be placed into the “PR Dropper Bottle” collection container which is at the rear of the msink 3 deck in that bay. The organic waste bottles (for and photoresist + acetone waste) in the recessed area of msink 1, 3 should never be filled to overflowing - when the waste is at the “blue line” shoulder level of the bottle it is time for a bottle swap. Follow the posted instructions at the sink. Glass slides, syringes and other small sharp objects are to be disposed in the “sharps” container; there is one in each working area. 3/12/2021 16

Wipe up PR 3/12/2021 17

Disposing of Sharp Objects 3/12/2021 18