[labnetwork] KOH Tank Design

[Kuhn, Jeffrey G]

Tony,

A couple of years ago we installed a dedicated KOH bath inside a fume hood for some of our research folks. The bath is made by Modutek and is electrically heated. The tank itself is quartz and has a Teflon liner. There is also a coil of tubing around the top that flows cold water in order to condense vapors and return them to the tank. The tank uses a magnetic stirrer (air or N2 powered) for stirring. We had some issues initially with the tank as supplied but those issues have been resolved.

Please feel free to contact me privately if you'd like more details.

Regards,

Jeff Kuhn
Facility Engineer
Birck Nanotechnology Center
Purdue University
1205 W. State St.
West Lafayette, IN 47907
Ph:  (765) 496-8329
Fax: (765) 496-2018



From: labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu [mailto:labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu] On Behalf Of Tony L Olsen
Sent: Monday, July 22, 2013 6:03 PM
To: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu
Subject: [labnetwork] KOH Tank Design

Dear Labnetwork

We are building a new wet bench and would like to include a dedicated KOH etch bath to replace the current methodology of glassware with stir bars on a hotplate.  We generally use a bath of 80°C.
Our wetbench vendor initially quoted a recirculated bath in a stainless steel tank.  We are concerned about the stainless, nor do we believe the Teflon or PVDF wetted surfaces in the proposed diaphragm pump will hold up to the hot KOH.  Another option we are aware of is a quartz tank heated externally by recirculated water.  I'm certain there are other options, too.
Can you share your experience with dedicated KOH baths?  What is the configuration?  What are the materials?  How do you mix/stir the bath?  What problems have you experienced?  What would you do next time?

Thank You,
tonyO


Tony Olsen
Nanofab Cleanroom Supervisor/Process Engineer
36 S Wasatch Dr, Suite 2500 SMBB
Salt Lake City,  UT  84112
801-587-0651 office
801-587-3077 fax
www.nanofab.utah.edu<http://www.nanofab.utah.edu/>


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://mtl.mit.edu/pipermail/labnetwork/attachments/20130723/91a0d43f/attachment.html>