[labnetwork] EBL Staffing and Support

[Mark K Mondol]

Brian:

When MIT had 1 ebeam tool I spent from 60-90% of my  time managing it. When we got a second tool I did not have enough time to manage both, so we hired a second person who also spends 60-90% of their time managing the new tool. We also train users to independently use the tool. We spend 4-6 hours in 2 sessions to train users, with another 2 hours needed for training on alignment procedures.

To use all the capabilities of an ebeam tool I think you need at least 50% FTE. Of course these opinions come from use at MIT where we have >60 active users currently.

Regards,

Mark K Mondol


Mark K Mondol
Domain Expert - e-Beam Lithography
Bldg 24 Room 041
 mondol at mit.edu
cell - 617-224-8756
________________________________
From: labnetwork <labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu> on behalf of Jing Guo <jg78 at rice.edu>
Sent: Thursday, March 6, 2025 3:25 PM
To: Brian Baker <bbaker at eng.utah.edu>
Cc: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu <labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu>
Subject: Re: [labnetwork] EBL Staffing and Support

Hi Brian,

Congrats to your new EBL system!

We only have one dedicated EBL system (Elionix ESL-G100) since 2018. We purchased the system with 3 year warranty and 4 more years service contracts. I am the major scientist in charge of the system. At the same time I am also in charge of all lithography systems and some other instruments in our cleanroom.  Most time I train users to use the EBL independently. Each training takes 6-7 hours total. It will need another session (1-1.5hrs) for alignment training for experienced users. We welcome process/fabrication discussions any time from our users.

The service contract covers an annual PM (e-gun exchange every year). Usually PM takes about 2 weeks. Those two weeks were almost all the down time for our system for the last 6 years. When beam memory drifts a lot. Elionix service engineer will remotely calibrate all memories.

This type of the system must be in charged by a staff so that all the operation procedure is set up correctly and can be kept consistent. I learned that some institute who has the same system had experienced several major failures in the first 6 months after installation which were caused by user errors.

Let me know if you need more information.



Best,
Jing

---------------------------------------
Jing Guo Ph.D.
Cleanroom Manager/Research Scientist
SEA Cleanroom (SST 017)
Rice University
Houston, TX
jeanne.guo at rice.edu
713-348-8227

On Mar 5, 2025, at 1:24 PM, Brian Baker <bbaker at eng.utah.edu> wrote:

Dear Lab Network,

We are in the process of purchasing our first electron beam lithography (EBL) system, and we are reaching out to understand how different facilities staff and support their EBL tools.

For those of you who have an EBL system, we would appreciate any insights you can share regarding staffing:

  *   Do you have a dedicated staff member for EBL operations?
  *   If not, what percentage FTE is typically required to maintain the tool, develop processes, train users, and run jobs?
  *   Any additional insights on challenges or best practices for supporting an EBL system?


Your feedback would be incredibly valuable as we establish a sustainable support model for our system.

Thank you for your time and insights,

Brian Baker
University of Utah Nanofab Cleanroom Manager


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