[Bnc-facility-notice] Facility Shutdown Notice and PM Shutdown Week

[Weaver, John R]

Due to the electrical tie-in for the Bindley Expansion Project, the Birck Nanotechnology Center will "go dark" on Thursday, September 6, 2012. This means that there will be NO POWER in the building, no air conditioning, etc. Lighting, computers, etc. will be off. NO ONE SHOULD PLAN ON OCCUPYING THE BUILDING DURING THIS TIME - alternative arrangements should be made.

Because of this mandatory shutdown for the construction work, it has been decided to move the semiannual PM shutdown to the week of September 4, 2012 (Labor Day Week). There are two major advantages to this decision. First, we will have only one shutdown that will impact research. Second, the length of the total shutdown duration will be shortened by one day due to the combination of the PM shutdown with the electrical shutdown - again lessening the impact on research.

Please note that during the power outage cleanroom temperature and humidity are expected to rise, and there will be no exhaust in the facility. For these reasons, NO BEAKERS, covered or not, can contain any chemicals - all chemicals must be in sealed bottles in the chemical storage cabinets. Also, it is strongly recommended that no photoresist-coated wafers (including patterned wafers awaiting etch) be kept over the shutdown. Patterning issues should be expected if wafers are subjected to the high temperature and humidity conditions.

More details will follow, but currently the plan is as follows:
Monday, Sept. 3, 2012 (Labor Day): Hoods must be EMPTY by 11:00 PM.
Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012: Semiannual PM begins. No hood work. Cleanroom and laboratories closed.
Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012: PM continues. Power down computers, critical systems at end of day.
Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012: BUILDING CLOSED. NO ELECTRICITY IN BUILDING. Expect 7am-7pm shutdown of electricity. Building systems will begin power-down at 4:00 am and we expect them to be back on line by 10:00 pm unless unforeseen problems arise.
Friday, Sept. 7, 2012: Semiannual PM continues. No hood work. Cleanroom and laboratories closed.

If all goes well, it is expected that we will reopen the cleanroom and laboratories by 4:00 pm on Friday, Sept. 7, 2012. The processing equipment may be operational subsequent to that time - check Coral for equipment availability. Note that it will most likely take until sometime on Monday for the ultrapure water to recover its purity level.

Thank you in advance for your patience and support during this necessary power outage and maintenance shutdown.

John

John R. Weaver
Facility Manager
Birck Nanotechnology Center
Purdue University
(765) 494-5494
jrweaver at purdue.edu