NEW CLEAN ROOM
GUIDELINES AND SAFETY
EHS: 212-854-8749
Campus Emergency: 212-854-5555
X99 (From a campus phone)
Columbia Nano Initiative (CNI)
Shared Facilities
http://nano.columbia.edu/shared-facilities-0
Nava Ariel-Sternberg
Director of CNI Facilities
Labs Research Operation
Assistant
Melody Gonzalez
Clean Room and E-beam
Lithography
Electron
Microscopy
James Vichiconti Nirit Porecki Shamay Chris Goulbourne
Materials
Characterization
Daniel Paley
Renovated and Expanded Clean Room
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Approximately 5000 sqf of renovated space
Improved facilities (Nitrogen, Compressed air,
NCCW, DI water)
New tools – RIE with Cl and F chemistries, Diffusion
furnace, SEMs
New gases – NH3, SiH4,Cl, BCl3 and more
New dress codes
Target opening: March 2017
General – Clean room
 You
may bring the following items into the
clean room: lab glassware, approved chemicals,
metal sources, clean room compatible paper,
laptops, and materials targets.
 Use
only cleanroom paper. Cleanroom
notebooks are available through the laboratory
store.
 All
items must be wiped down prior to entering
the Cleanroom.
 Do
Not hold the lab door or change room open .
 Shared
storage will be available inside the
cleanroom.
General and Safety
Proper
No
dressing to the clean room is required:
shorts or skirts are allowed. Long pants must be
worn at all times.
Leather
or synthetic closed shoes are required. No
sandals or flip-flops are allowed.
No
extra garments or personal items are allowed
in the Change Room or Cleanroom
Umbrellas
Jackets
Bags
or Purses
Daily use Lockers
 There
are going to be ‘Daily use’ lockers in
the lounge room.
 You should remove your personal belongings
at the end of the day. Locks will be cut if
lockers will be misused.
Gowning Up
 To
Gown Up use:
 Hair
net (hair tied up in net) are necessary for users with long
hair. The hair net will keep hair from spilling out of the hood.
 Cleanroom
covers.
 The
 The
 Safety
 Gloves
coverall (aka bunny suit), hood, and cleanroom shoe
hood should be tucked in the coverall
coverall should be tucked in the shoe covers.
Glasses
- to prevent clean room contamination.
De-gowning
 Do
not allow your cleanroom garments to drag on the floor
when you are de-gowning.
This
will cause your garment to pick up particles and spread
contamination to the cleanroom.
 The
hair net, and gloves are disposable.
 Cleanroom
coverall (aka bunny suit) and hood should be stored
on a hanger with your name tag displayed.
 Cleanroom
cover rack.
 The
shoe covers should be placed in the in-use shoe
Cleanroom staff will remove the garments weekly for
cleaning.
Safety
 No
entry for unauthorized personnel in new clean
room
 New
users will have to attend a clean room orientation
(will be given monthly)
 Safety
training, as described on our website, is required
in order to enter the clean room.
 Environmental
 Hydrofluoric
 No
Health & Safety Training Class (TC0950)
Acid (HF) training (TC1650)
eating or drinking is allowed in the cleanroom or
gowning room areas.
 When
you first enter the clean room make sure you know
where the emergency exits, safety showers and eye
wash stations of the clean room are located.
Safety
 The
CNI Cleanroom is a nanofabrication facility
that contains materials that are corrosive, toxic
and/or flammable in nature. Safety is paramount.
 In the event of an alarm or fire, exit the cleanroom
immediately through the nearest exit. Do not take
the time to de-gown.
 Blue lights indicate hazardous gas event.
 White lights indicate fire or smoke event.
 Never attempt to handle, inspect, or clean up an
unknown liquid spill.
Evacuate the lab
Inform the cleanroom staff
In case of an emergency call 4555, x99 from a
campus phone, and/or 911 and notify the staff
Chemicals Policies
 No
unapproved chemicals or materials are allowed
in the lab.
 All
chemicals must be approved by the clean room
staff and have a MSDS in the clean room database.
In order to get a chemical approved send us an
email with the relevant chemical MSDS.
 All
users must familiarize themselves with the
relevant MSDS of the chemicals they need to use.
 All
approved factory chemical bottles brought into
the Clean Room must have a Columbia Bar Code on
the container with the Clean Room as the
destination storage place.
Chemicals Policies
 All
chemical containers must be labeled
Chemical name (no formulas)
Your full name
“In Use date” ( The date the chemical first placed in
service)
Your group (PI)
 Chemicals with “In Use date” of one year or greater will be
disposed.
 All chemical containers must be self standing.
 Do not leave unattended chemicals inside the hood for
more than a day. You should notify cleanroom staff member
if you need to do so.
Storage of Chemicals:
 All
 Do
chemicals must be stored in the appropriate storage containers
not store different classifications of chemicals in the same
storage container:
 Flammables
 Acids
cannot be stored together with Oxidizers
cannot be stored with Bases
Working with Chemicals
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Work with chemicals inside designated fume hoods only
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Pressure test gloves for holes prior to use.
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Wear personal protective equipment: Apron, Face shield,
Protective Gloves (on top of latex/nitrile gloves)
Change gloves after each use.
Do not block the fume hood’s air holes including those on
the work surface.
Keep chemicals separate. Do not introduce Solvents/Bases
into Acid fume hood or Acids into solvent/bases fume
hoods.
If you worked with dishes, rinse them in the sink and
place them in the dish washer
Chemical Exposure - Eyes
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Flush with water using eyewash, assistance from
another cleanroom user is advised.
Time is critical when flushing chemicals from eyes,
respond immediately and wash for at least 15
minutes
Seek medical care as soon as possible!
Keep others informed of your situation
Chemical Exposure - Skin
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In the case of chemical exposure or suspected chemical
exposure to skin, wash the area immediately for at least
15 minutes in the nearest faucet or eyewash
For larger exposures use safety shower.
If your clothing has been exposed, first take off clothes
then use shower. Inform those around you or the
cleanroom staff of your situation
Seek medical care as soon as possible!
It is important to remember that cleanroom suits, and
head and shoe covers will not protect you from chemical
spills
HF Exposure
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HF exposure may not cause any sensations at first, yet can be
fatal. Visible signs of HF exposure may not appear until the next
day when its too late to treat
If not treated immediately, HF exposures may results in serious
injuries
In the case of HF exposure:
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1) Inform those around you of the exposure, inform the CR staff
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3) Open HF Treatment Kit
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2) Wash the exposed area with water for 15 minutes
4) Continuously apply generous amount of calcium gluconate cream to
exposed area
5) Seek for medical help, have a friend inform the hospital of the
situation. Take the laminated MSDS with you.
6) At the hospital, the doctor may inject calcium based solution into
the affected area
Chemical Waste
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Never hold containers by the cap. Hold chemical and chemical
waste bottles with both hands using the handle.
Chemicals should not be poured into the drain. Waste chemicals
are to be collected in designated containers for disposal. Remove
funnels when done pouring waste. Waste bottles should never be
filled above 2/3 of their volume.
The clean room will provide labeled waste containers (see next
slide). These containers must be kept inside the designated
cabinets.
Add only the compatible chemicals to the corresponding waste
container.
Chemical Waste
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If your chemical or chemical mixture is not one that
has been provided, you will need to create your own
label for a new container. This should be sent for
waste disposal upon completion of use. Contact the
clean room staff for questions.
NanoStrip, HF, and BOE cannot be collected in glass
containers
Only cooled Piranha can be poured into waste bottles.
Under no circumstance should anyone modify a waste
container label.
All waste containers must have a
‘CHEMICAL/HAZARDOUS WASTE FOR DISPOSAL’ label
filled out at their origin
Disposal and Storage of Chemical Waste
 Do
not pour chemicals down the drain.
 Rinse
empty chemical containers out
three times.
 Mark
rinsed containers with a 3X and
place in the Chemical Waste bucket
under the bench in the gowning area.
While Using Tools and Clean Room
Equipment:
 No
use of cell phones while working in the clean
room with two exceptions: in case of an
emergency or to report equipment problems
 Must wear gloves and safety glasses (microscope
exception for glasses). Personal protective
equipment should be worn when working with
chemicals.
 Do not adjust gas pressures on regulators
 Do not leave equipment while in use
 Do not modify equipment or attempt to fix tool
problems by yourself
 Do not bring in or move hot plates around.
While Using Tools and Equipment
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Only use tools that you have been certified to use.
Cancel reservations you won’t be using in advance
Enable the desired tool in Badger prior to use.
Abide by the specific training guidelines for that tool, (If
you are unsure, please ask) .
If the tool has SOP, please follow it step by step. SOP does
not replace training or certification.
Do not leave personal or group (PI) materials out on tables
or by tools
Report all equipment problems through the Badger
laboratory management system.
Record pertinent information in the Badger laboratory
management system as necessary
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Some tooling will have log sheet (electronic or otherwise).
Record as necessary.
Remember to disable the tool in Badger when finished.
Lithography
 All
resist bottles are located and
available in the refrigerator.
 Label
individual usage bottles with
Your Name, resist name, and “In
Use date”.
 Clean
photo resist spinners and
chucks (with Acetone) after each
use. Aluminum foil may be used.
Work Alone Policy
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Working alone with chemicals in the cleanroom is prohibited.
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Afterhours work requires a buddy who is also a certified clean
room user and a C14 qualified person. Normal hours of
operation for the cleanroom are Monday through Friday
between 7:00 am and 6:00 pm (unless closed for site holiday).
6:00 pm to 7:00am is considered ‘afterhours’.
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There should be at least one observer in the lab who is aware
of the wet chemistry work when it is happening. Additionally, a
C14 qualified person must be present on the floor during the
time of chemical handling.
Other than chemical operations, working alone during normal
operating hours is an acceptable practice providing the worker
has been C14 qualified. It is recommended that workers who
are alone in the lab have a cell phone on them and maintain
regular contact with an individual who is outside of the
laboratory.
Working with Others:
 This
is a shared workspace. Please be
mindful and considerate of other users
Always
leave tools in a pumped down
standard operating status ready for the next
user
Clean
your materials, tools, chemicals, and
equipment up when you are finished with
your work.
Do
not use other people’s or group’s
glassware, tweezers, tools, chemicals, etc…..
If
there’s a problem with the tool – let us
know.
Badger
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Each user should have its own Badger account. Students
from the same lab cannot share passwords.
All New Users should provide full account form signed by
their PI or Admin.
Users should stay in “enable” stage for the entire use
session to prevent billing mistakes and issues.
If you accidently enabled the equipment and disable it
immediately, you will be charged for the minimum
charge. In order to avoid this unnecessary charge please
send an email to cleanroom staff and they will fix it.
1. Reports Financial Details
2. Select the dates  Display
3. You’ll get a report with all your
usage and the cost
Questions? Problems? Requests?
Contact us!
[email protected]
[email protected]
Useful links
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The NFPA diamond:
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EHS library of MSDS, Columbia university:
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http://www.compliancesigns.com/nfpaprintedselector.shtml
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http://ehs.columbia.edu/sds.html
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http://nano.columbia.edu/shared-facilities-0
CNI labs website:
Questions? Comments?