[labnetwork] Cleanroom Particle Monitors

[Nicholas Menounos]

With all the positive experiences, I am starting to feel some FOMO.

At nano we have not found them to be particularly useful and a maintenance headache (we have 2 per bay, ~30 total, one is always broken). Moving them during tool installs is a chore (vac tubing/new cables runs/fussy connectors) and the vac pumps consume non-trivial energy.

We use the MET One 6015 (0.5 micron). In our Class 100/ISO5 laminar flow areas, they very rarely read above zero unless we lose space pressurization, which is already caught by our DP sensors anyway. Because the capture window against the wall and below the HEPA is quite small, they just don't pick up much, though we do occasionally get readings in the Class 10k/ISO7 spaces.

Our original Basis of Design called for particle-counter-driven ACH, but we quickly replaced that with occupancy sensors. They are highly reliable at detecting the actual source of particles (people), act proactively, and have a much wider field of view.

Nick Menounos, PE
MIT.nano - Associate Director of Infrastructure
Cell: (508) 932-0938<tel:+15089320938>

From: labnetwork <labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu> On Behalf Of Carroll, David
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2026 12:13 PM
To: Nathan Aultman <naultman at creol.ucf.edu>
Cc: Network Fab <labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu>
Subject: Re: [labnetwork] Cleanroom Particle Monitors

Hi Dr. Dixon,

We too use the MetOne GT system and it has been a excellent device for us.

Dave
Wake Forest University

On Tue, Mar 24, 2026 at 12:09 PM Nathan Aultman <naultman at creol.ucf.edu<mailto:naultman at creol.ucf.edu>> wrote:
Dr. Dixon,

We use a MetOne GT-321.  It is one of their older models.  https://metone.com/product-categories/controlled-environments-clean-rooms/

Nathan C. Aultman
University of Central Florida
407-823-6852
naultman at creol.ucf.edu<mailto:naultman at creol.ucf.edu>



From: labnetwork <labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu<mailto:labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu>> On Behalf Of Alex Dixon
Sent: Monday, March 23, 2026 4:22 PM
To: Network Fab <labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu<mailto:labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu>>
Subject: [labnetwork] Cleanroom Particle Monitors

Hi Everyone, I was wondering what people use for particle measurement systems in their cleanrooms? We are trying to add active particle monitoring to our cleanroom facilities. I was looking at the lasair pro from "Particle Measuring Systems" https://www.pmeasuring.com/ but university procurement is asking me to put together some other options.

-Alex

__________________________________________________________


Alex Dixon, Ph.D. (He/Him)
Lab Manager
Nanofabrication and Thin Film Deposition
Shared Instrument Facility
Colorado School of Mines

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David L. Carroll PhD.

Nano and Quantum Technologies Laboratory
Wake Forest University
95 W 32nd Street | Winston-Salem NC 27105 U.S.A.

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