Next weeks weather will be bringing hot and dry conditions again and with that the labs will experience some dry conditions as well. We can control the humidity, to some extent, in the INRF but the BION is out of our hands until they upgrade the humidifiers. If you are working on lithography please look up the manufactures recommended conditions for any of the chemicals you plan to use to ensure your projects are successful.
Integrated Nanosystems Research Facility
Due to limited staff next week the Wet Process rooms will be available upon request only.
Safety glasses are mandatory in the lab especially when handling chemicals. Users caught not wearing proper PPE will be asked to leave the lab and/or possibly lose lab access.
Jake is in a little earlier than expected so the Wet Process rooms should now be open.
Due to a staff shortage today the Wet Process rooms in the BION will be closed until Jake can open them at 1 pm.
Yesterday we had some users doing lithography in both INRF and BiON and were not getting good results. When we have hot dry weather it is good practice to pay attention to temperature and humidity in both labs. The BiON was at 16% and INRF 30% humidity. We have Temp/Humidity monitors in various rooms throughout the labs.
The INRF & BION lab will be closed this coming Saturday and Sunday for facilities maintenance on the exhaust.
- Reactive materials on wet benches need to be removed and disposed of by the end of Friday (5/2/14) work day.
- The utilities in the Laurell spinner were left on again last Friday. Please pay attention.
First – Friday evening when doing the night rounds in the BION there was a note on the board stating that one of the double containment containers that hold the acids had liquid in it. These type of things need to be brought to the staffs attention (lab staff or front office) right away. The note wasn’t seen until 6 pm so the length of time the liquid was there is unknown and by that time Jake had no support in the clean up.
Second – We have still been having contamination issues with SU-8 spinner in the hot embossing area. When checked last Friday night, the spindle that drives the chuck was contaminated and would not allow it to start up. Also the vacuum valve was stuck in the open position. This has been happening at least once a week. If you are unsure how to operate the equipment properly please see staff as this effects the work of others around you.
If you are using the shared suits in the INRF/BION please use the blue (disposable) booties only. DO NOT take them from other users suits. We are getting complaints from our full time users that their booties/shoecovers are missing. If you are a full time user and need a new suit,booties, or hood please see Ryan in the INRF. DO NOT take them from other users suits.