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    Hi Leif --<br>
    <br>
    At SNF, we do allow PDMS in the cleanroom, with certain
    restrictions.<br>
    <br>
    1.  It must be of the Sylgard 182 or 184 or similar variety, where
    there no volatile organics (i.e., no RTV's.)<br>
    2.  Mixing and degassing are done outside of the cleanroom (we have
    a Thinky mixer in a prep area outside the cleanroom).  This is to
    prevent uncured silicone oils from migrating everywhere -- as others
    have noted, extremely careful handling is required, but not a skill
    most of our students have acquired.  If they spill the mixed PDMS,
    it will self-cure within a day.<br>
    3.  Uncured PDMS is allowed only in the manual spin coat station
    (the one that can be lined with foil, for quick cleanup) and on the
    adjacent hot plates, when covered with foil.<br>
    4.  Cured PDMS is allowed only in certain tools -- generally, those
    that run at low temperatures and are not used for front-end device
    processing.  <br>
    <br>
    We've been able to control it, for the most part, because up to now,
    it's been a small population of researchers using this.  But because
    of increased interest, we are trying to create establish more
    processes and create more work spaces outside the cleanroom, where
    students can spin coat, UV or plasma treat, bond, etc.<br>
    <br>
    Mary<br>
    <br>
    __<br>
    Mary X. Tang, Ph.D.<br>
    Lab Manager<br>
    Stanford Nanofabrication Facility<br>
    Paul G. Allen Building<br>
    Stanford, CA.  94305<br>
    <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:mtang@stanford.edu">mtang@stanford.edu</a><br>
    (650)723-9980<br>
    <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://snf.stanford.edu">http://snf.stanford.edu</a><br>
    <br>
    <div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 11/25/2015 8:31 AM, Vito Logiudice
      wrote:<br>
    </div>
    <blockquote
      cite="mid:952ACE98-CBEB-491F-9095-0E5D9788376F@connect.uwaterloo.ca"
      type="cite">
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        <div>Hi Leif,</div>
        <div><br>
        </div>
        <div>Based on some past experience with PDMS I agree with the
          concerns expressed by your engineers. If PDMS is handled
          carefully and conscientiously by your end users then possible
          damage can be contained or at least limited should it come
          into contact with any of your equipment. The problem many of
          us face in an academic setting however is the vast diversity
          of people whom use our facilities. A minority of these
          individuals tend to be
          inexperienced/disorganized/messy/self-absorbed and it is these
          people whom will possibly wreak havoc should you allow them to
          work with PDMS in your cleanroom. I recall slipping on a large
          glob of uncured PDMS that had been dropped on the floor of the
          cleanroom by one of these “challenging users" at another site.</div>
        <div><br>
        </div>
        <div>Another concern may be the outgassing of silicone over time
          and its possible effects on other people’s work. I’m not an
          expert in this particular field but for instance, the use of
          silicone caulking was strictly forbidden during the
          construction of our cleanroom here. Hopefully Jack Paul of HDR
          Architecture will be able to share some insights in this
          regard (HDR designed our facility).</div>
        <div><br>
        </div>
        <div>For what it’s worth we do not currently allow PDMS in the
          cleanroom at all. Should a well-justified argument for
          introducing it be made in the future, I would likely insist on
          only allowing cured PDMS in the cleanroom and only in
          well-defined, possibly isolated, areas. Uncured work would
          only be permitted in a satellite (non-cleanroom) lab.</div>
        <div><br>
        </div>
        <div>Best regards,</div>
        <div>Vito</div>
        <div>
          <div id="MAC_OUTLOOK_SIGNATURE">
            <div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#000000"><font
                  class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; "
                  face="Calibri"><font face="Calibri,sans-serif">--</font></font></font></div>
            <div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#000000"><font
                  class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; "
                  face="Calibri"><font face="Calibri,sans-serif">Vito
                    Logiudice  </font>P.<font face="Calibri,sans-serif">Eng.</font></font></font></div>
            <div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#000000"><font
                  class="Apple-style-span" face="Calibri"><font
                    style="font-size: 14px; " face="Calibri,sans-serif">Director
                    of Operations, Quantum NanoFab</font></font></font></div>
            <div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#000000"><font
                  class="Apple-style-span" face="Calibri"><font
                    style="font-size: 14px; " face="Calibri,sans-serif">University
                    of Waterloo</font></font></font></div>
            <div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#000000"><font
                  class="Apple-style-span" face="Calibri"><font
                    style="font-size: 14px; " face="Calibri,sans-serif">Lazaridis
                    QNC 1207</font></font></font></div>
            <div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#000000"><font
                  class="Apple-style-span" face="Calibri"><font
                    style="font-size: 14px; " face="Calibri,sans-serif">200
                    University Avenue West</font></font></font></div>
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                  class="Apple-style-span" face="Calibri"><font
                    style="font-size: 14px; " face="Calibri,sans-serif">Waterloo,
                    ON           Canada N2L 3G1</font></font></font></div>
            <div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#000000"><font
                  class="Apple-style-span" face="Calibri"><font
                    style="font-size: 14px; " face="Calibri,sans-serif">Tel.:
                    (519) 888-4567  ext. 38703</font></font></font></div>
            <div><span style="font-size: 14px; ">Email: <a
                  moz-do-not-send="true"
                  href="mailto:vito.logiudice@uwaterloo.ca"><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:vito.logiudice@uwaterloo.ca">vito.logiudice@uwaterloo.ca</a></a></span></div>
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                  class="Apple-style-span" color="#000000"><font
                    class="Apple-style-span" face="Calibri"><font
                      face="Calibri,sans-serif">Website: </font></font></font></span><a
                moz-do-not-send="true"
                href="https://fab.qnc.uwaterloo.ca"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://fab.qnc.uwaterloo.ca">https://fab.qnc.uwaterloo.ca</a></a></div>
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          <span style="font-weight:bold">From: </span><<a
            moz-do-not-send="true"
            href="mailto:labnetwork-bounces@mtl.mit.edu"><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:labnetwork-bounces@mtl.mit.edu">labnetwork-bounces@mtl.mit.edu</a></a>>
          on behalf of Leif Johansen <<a moz-do-not-send="true"
            href="mailto:lej@danchip.dtu.dk">lej@danchip.dtu.dk</a>><br>
          <span style="font-weight:bold">Date: </span>Wednesday,
          November 25, 2015 at 3:58 AM<br>
          <span style="font-weight:bold">To: </span>"<a
            moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:labnetwork@mtl.mit.edu"><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:labnetwork@mtl.mit.edu">labnetwork@mtl.mit.edu</a></a>"
          <<a moz-do-not-send="true"
            href="mailto:labnetwork@mtl.mit.edu">labnetwork@mtl.mit.edu</a>><br>
          <span style="font-weight:bold">Subject: </span>[labnetwork]
          How do you handle PDMS in a cleanroom environment?<br>
        </div>
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              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Dear Lab Network,
                  <o:p></o:p></span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I have a dilemma.
                  Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is a promising material
                  for soft lithography, and a lot of our users have a
                  strong wish to process this material in our lab –
                  especially for making nanoimprint stamps . However,
                  before being cured, PDMS is basically a silicone oil,
                  and all our front end engineers (plasma chambers,
                  lithography etc. ) are really scared about this
                  substance ending up in their equipment. Our back end
                  engineers (especially the wire bonding engineer) is
                  also strongly opposed to the introduction of PDMS into
                  the back end lab. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Are there any
                  experience out there in the community on how to handle
                  PDMS in a cleanroom environment?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Best regards, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Leif<o:p></o:p></span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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                      <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:
                            8pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color:
                            black;" lang="EN-US">Leif S. Johansen
                          </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 8pt;
                            font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color:
                            black;" lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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                          Operations</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;
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                          lang="EN-US">DTU Danchip
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                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 8pt;
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                          +45 45255713
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                            moz-do-not-send="true"
                            href="mailto:lesjo@danchip.dtu.dk"><span
                              style="color:blue"><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:lesjo@danchip.dtu.dk">lesjo@danchip.dtu.dk</a></span></a></span><span
                          style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial,
                          sans-serif; color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><a
                            moz-do-not-send="true"
                            href="http://www.danchip.dtu.dk/"><span
                              style="color:blue"><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.danchip.dtu.dk/">www.danchip.dtu.dk/</a></span></a></span><span
                          style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial,
                          sans-serif; color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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              <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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      <pre wrap="">_______________________________________________
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</pre>
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