Memorandum

 

To:              Katalin Voros, Operations Manager

From:          Robert Hamilton, Facilities Manager

Subject:      2006 Year-End Report

Date:          17 January 2007

 

 

The following 2006 year-end summary is based on engineering reports supplied by the Microlab’s equipment staff, records in the Microlab Equipment Comments/Problems logs and various files. Equipment and Facilities Management 2006 activities are encapsulated in the following sections: 

I.               Maintenance Staff Supervision

II.             Laboratory Development: Facilities, Utilities, Equipment

III.            Other Laboratory Assistance      

IV.          Safety – Chemical Hygiene Plan

I.     Maintenance Staff Supervision

Effective January 2007 the Microlab’s equipment and facilities support staff under my supervision  consists of 8.5 FTE’s. Significant maintenance staff changes in 2006:

Staff Supervision is as follows:

 Bob Hamilton, Equipment and Facilities Manager:

Joseph Donnelly, Associate Development Engineer

David Lo, Associate Development Engineer

Jay Morford, Associate Development Engineer

Danny Pestal, Assistant Development Engineer

Evan Stateler, Senior Development Engineer

Mike Linan, Supervisor:

Brian McNeil, Development Technician V

Phillip Guillory, Supervisor:

Robert Connelly, Development Technician V

Two Student employees

Staff Development

Staffing levels for equipment and facilities support is adequate; cooperation amongst equipment staff remains excellent.

2006 Lab Members Picnic:

The annual picnic was held Saturday, July 22 in Tilden Park. Joe Donnelly assisted with this event along with Warner Carlisle, Marilyn Kushner and Rosemary Spivey. The weather was hot and the event a great success.

II.   Laboratory Development - Facilities, Utilities, Equipment

Facilities

Microlab technical staff participated in design reviews for the CITRIS project. Their input has been acknowledged for the planning stages of the Marvell Laboratory.

Utilities

In summary, Campus PPCS is not providing reliable maintenance and service. This adversely impacts Cory Hall laboratories and the Microlab. As a result of the deteriorating Campus support Microlab equipment staff has extended oversight of Cory Hall equipment and facilities.

Equipment Development                        

Equipment Donations
  1. Applied Materials has donated two additional Centura chambers, metal and strip.
  2. AllWin Corp donated control-board upgrades for heatpulse1and heatpulse2.
  3. XeF2 was donated by a startup which closed. This expensive chemical  material has been shared with colleagues in the Chemistry of Department.

III.          Other Laboratory Assistance

The Microlab continues as a campus resource for laboratory support by providing staff on a recharge basis. Microlab staff also provided information used in the design of the new lab in the CITRIS building. In addition:

IV.          Safety

No serious injuries occurred to Microlab members in CY 2006 during laboratory use. One lab member injury report was filed in CY 2006 for a lab member who was exposed to HF vapor when working with a solution. This work was not done according to Microlab safety policy. A meeting was held with this lab member to review safety protocols. Two staff work-related injuries were submitted for review:

Safety Enhancements

Campus Safety Participation

The Microlab continues to work closely with EH&S and the Campus to enhance laboratory safety. Phillip Maynard reviewed our toxic gas compliance for 2006 and the recommendations he provided were implemented. The 95awn was reviewed with EH&S and the City of Berkeley.

V.   Summary

The present Microlab facility has been in operation for more than 23 years. Our capabilities and membership demands have significantly increased over the years. It appears demands will continue this increase. Our facilities are at capacity for equipment and our utilities are running at maximum.

Nevertheless, we continue to adapt and meet new needs. As noted, our LN vessels will soon be extended to support, in addition to Cory Hall and Hearst Mining, the new, CITRIS Building. We are preparing to seamlessly modify these vessels for such support. We are operating at our maximum available power. Any increase in power consumption requires making a new run from the transformer vault in the basement. Air conditioning and equipment cooling capacity are also at maximum. These facility boundaries must be considered and mediated until CITRIS is completed and ready to be occupied.

Vacuum pump support costs are increasing. The type of pumps required for modern, aggressive processes mean we must change the way we have traditionally dealt with. Costs and lifetimes need to be re-evaluated. The implementation of the new PUMPS DATABASE will help with an analysis of pump support.

Although the six-inch upgrade was completed last year, a few pieces of equipment, which were not in the scope of that upgrade, have gained in popularity. An example is the ionmill, currently in use by 24 lab members. The unique properties of ion-milling mean its application continues to expand. A review of equipment not traditionally used for wafer processing is warranted.  

Additional equipment staff training needs to be pursued in preparation for the equipment moves to the Marvell Laboratory in the new CITRIS building. One of the important skills that need development is our orbital welding capabilities.

The use of PECVD conformal-oxide and nitride has increased. The p5000 is a legacy tool of great complexity and expensive to maintain. We need to explore ways to increase pump life for the p5000. Ultimately, it may be best to seek a replacement for the p5000.

I remain confident we will continue to meet the expanding needs of our membership.