1. Orientation and Safety
RPI Center for Materials, Devices, and Integrated Systems
Clean Room
Orientation and Safety
Bryant Colwill

2. Facility Technical Staff
RPI Center for Materials, Devices, and Integrated Systems
Facility
Micro- and NanoFabrication Clean Room or
“MNCR”
Technical Staff
Bryant Colwill General Manager
Xiaohong An (Sarah) Process Engineer
David Frey Applications Engineer
John Barthel Equipment Engineer
Kent Way Equipment Engineer

3. NY State “Right to Know” Law

4. Primary Safety Concerns
Chemicals
Acids and Bases
Oxidizers
Solvents
Hazardous Gases
Toxic
Corrosive
Flammable

5. MNCR Floor Plan Enter through Garment Room RPI Public Safety 276-6611
Eye Washes / Showers
Nine MNCR Exits
Acid / Base Processing Area

6. Emergency Machine Off

7. Clean Room Air Circulation
Class 100
Less than 100 particles per cubic foot
HEPA Filtration
High Efficiency Particle Arrestance
Laminar Flow
Work at arms length for particle sensitive work.

8. MNCR Alarms Fire Alarm (smoke detectors, pull stations)
Chemical Spill Alarm (eye wash or shower in use)
Exhaust Failure Alarm
Hazardous Gas Alarm
General Evacuation Alarm

9. Alarm Response Leave the MNCR immediately, using the closest exit
Do not take time to remove your clean room garments until you are in a safe location
Make sure that the staff knows that you got out safely

10. Alarm Response
ONE EXCEPTION: If someone is injured and there is no immediate danger to you, you may wish to assist them.

11. No high heels or sandals in the MNCR
Clean Room Protocol
No winter boots, even
in the garment room
No high heels or sandals in the MNCR

12. Shorts and skirts are not allowed for safety and cleanliness reasons
Clean Room Protocol
Shorts and skirts are not allowed for safety and cleanliness reasons

13. Cardboard boxes and pencils generate many particles
Clean Room Protocol
Cardboard boxes and pencils generate many particles

14. Clean Room Protocol
Contact lenses could worsen a chemical splash injury
and are not allowed
Notebooks and paper are permitted, but paper must not be ripped in the MNCR
Note: Additional precautions
are implemented for
pregnant women

15. Clean Room Protocol Labeling Housekeeping Incident Reporting
Name and date, at least
Housekeeping
Leave the work space clean even if you didn’t inherit it that way.
Incident Reporting
If you break something let us know.

16. MNCR Safety Training
Chemical Safety

17. Safety Data Sheet

18. Personal Protective Equipment
Face Shield
Rubber Apron
Chemical-Resistant Gloves

19. Hazards of HF (and BOE)
A puddle of HF looks innocent – like a puddle of water
HF can penetrate unbroken skin
Exposure to HF may not cause pain until several hours later
Exposure to HF can be fatal

20. First Aid for HF Exposure
Calcium Gluconate
1. Remove affected clothing and rinse exposed area.
2. Apply gel with gloved hand.
3. Rinse and repeat until aided by emergency personnel.
*Do not apply calcium gluconate directly to eye.

21. Chemical Accidents If a large chemical spill occurs, evacuate the lab.
“Large” spill would equate to >1L of concentrated material.
Smaller spills can be remedied by MNCR staff.
If you think you may have been exposed to a chemical …
1. Remove any wet clothing.
2. Rinse the affected area under an eye wash or shower for at least 15 minutes or until aided by emergency personnel.

22. Fire and Explosions Barton Solvents Inc., 2007
Solvents Safety
Most poignant risk is flammability and explosion.
No open flame allowed in MNCR.
Segregate ignition sources and flammables.
Fire and Explosions Barton Solvents Inc., 2007

23. Liquid Nitrogen (LN2) Cryogenic liquid (-196◦C)
Can cause severe frostbite and eye damage
Can shatter containers and other objects
Expands 700x as it boils off as N2 gas
Can displace oxygen in enclosed spaces
Can cause asphyxiation
Bulk LN2 tank has 6,000 gallon capacity

24. Hazardous Waste Disposal
Three critical waste streams in the MNCR HF
All other acids and bases
Solvents

25. HF Aspirator Solutions containing HF are aspirated into a holding tank
HF Waste Tank

26. Hazardous Waste Disposal
In the MNCR, all other acid/base solutions are flushed down the drain.
Sink drains, rinse tanks and/or assigned aspirators are OK.
All sources above feed sub-fab neutralization system.
Empty acid/base bottles get rinsed and labeled, but are still considered hazardous waste
“3x”
User’s Initials

27. Solvent Disposal All solvents, and solvent waste, are collected
in bottles.
All stock solvents in MNCR can be co-mingled.
Empty solvent bottles are capped, labeled and
set aside
Bottle Cap
Hazardous Waste Label

28. Hazardous Waste Disposal
Items contaminated with solvents are placed in a special disposal bin – never thrown in the regular trash
Treat broken wafers like broken glass
When in doubt, ask the staff or call Public Safety

29. MNCR Safety Training
Compressed Gas Safety

30. Compressed Gas Safety
Regulator
Gas Cylinder

31. Non-Hazardous Gases
Wall-Mounted Regulator
Safety Strap

32. Gas Cylinder Cart

33. Compressed Gas Safety Hazardous gases used in the MNCR: Chlorine BCl3
2% Silane NF3
Ammonia Hydrogen
Methane Ethylene

34. Tools Containing Hazardous Gases
Plasma Etch
Plasma Deposition
Oxidation Furnace

35. Hazardous Gas Safety Measures
Gas storage room
Secure
Class I Div 2 (explosion resistant)
Semi-automatic gas cabinets

36. Semi-Automatic Gas Cabinet

37. Hazardous Gas Safety Measures
Gas storage room
Secure
Class II Div 1 (explosion-proof)
Semi-automatic gas cabinets
Exhaust monitoring
Coaxial tubing
Welded, professionally installed
Pressurized jacket (monitored)
Gas sensors and alarms

38. Electrical and Mechanical
MNCR Safety Training
Electrical and Mechanical
Safety

39. Electrical & Mechanical Safety
Equipment contains high voltage and dangerous moving parts
Never remove cover panels or protective guards from equipment
Never reach under, behind or inside equipment
Use common sense!

40. Who’s Responsible? RPI Safety Office Office of Environmental EVERYONE
Health and Safety (EHS)
Annette Chism, Director
EVERYONE
is responsible
for lab safety!
Be AWARE of your surroundings and of what you’re doing!