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Weekly memo
by Deborah Starewich 18 Jul '07

18 Jul '07

MONDAY [on Wednesday J] MEMO, July 18, 2007 **************** 1. Announcements **************** 1.1: The custodial crew has advised that they will be scrubbing the first floor, east wing hallways beginning on Thursday, 07.19, at midnight, and concluding at 6:00AM on Friday, 07.20. If you need to enter the Birck building during this time period, please plan on using the skywalk. 1.2: Effective Monday, July 23, 2007, North Intramural Drive (Martin Jischke Drive), between 1st and 3rd Streets, will be closed for the installation of new chilled water lines for the Windsor Halls Remodeling Projects. The road will be closed for one week and will be reopened with stone backfill for vehicle traffic. Paving will be scheduled at a later date. ******************** 2. Tours of Birck ******************** 2.1: Thursday, July 19, 3:45. Engineering High School Summer Camp Deborah S. Starewich Administrative Assistant to Timothy D. Sands, Director Birck Nanotechnology Center Purdue University 765-494-3509 dstarewi(a)ecn.purdue.edu http://www.nano.purdue.edu/

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hydrogen generator is up
by Kenny Schwartz 16 Jul '07

16 Jul '07

Hi to all, I have made repairs to the Hydrogen generator, we now have hydrogen use restored to Birck Thanks Kenny Schwartz Birck Nanotechnology Center Purdue University PH 765-496-1174

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FW: "Acoustic excitation of MEMS - seminar, 3.30 PM, Tue, July 17, BRK 1001"
by Lane, Melissa J 16 Jul '07

16 Jul '07

"Noncontact Modal Excitation of Small Structures Using Ultrasound Radiation Force" July 17, 2007 3:30-4:30 PM BRK 1001 Dr. Thomas M. Huber Gustavus Adolphus College, Department of Physics Abstract: Modal analysis of MEMS and other small structures is important for many applications. However, conventional excitation techniques normally require contact, which may not be feasible for small objects. We will describe a method that utilizes the radiation force at the difference frequency generated by two intersecting ultrasound beams. The resulting low-frequency excitations were measured using a scanning vibrometer. This excitation technique has been demonstrated for hard drive suspensions, MEMS and other small devices. There are several unique advantages of the ultrasound radiation force relative to mechanical shakers. The technique is relatively insensitive to distracting resonances of fixtures and support structures. Another advantage is broadband excitation; a 550-kHz confocal ultrasound transducer can be used to excite resonance frequencies from 100 Hz to at least 50 kHz. Other advantages include the ability to selectively excite different modes. For example, the amplitude of a hard drive suspension's 5.0-kHz torsional mode was suppressed by an order of magnitude by shifting the modulation phase between the two ultrasound beams by 90 degrees. Similarly, for a MEMS mirror, the relative amplitude of a torsional mode could be enhanced by a factor of 10 by changing the ultrasound focus spot position. Short Bio: Bachelors in Physics and Computer Science, St. John's University, Collegeville, MN, 1983 Ph.D. in Physics, University of Wyoming, 1989. Thesis topic: Search for Mixing of Muonium and Antimuonium at the TRIUMF accelerator in Vancouver, British Columbia Current: Physics Department at Gustavus Adolphus College since 1989. Current Research areas: Musical acoustics and ultrasound excitation.

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Lisa Reece Biosafety Role
by John Weaver 16 Jul '07

16 Jul '07

To the BNC Community: I am pleased to announce that, effective immediately, Lisa Reece will be working with the Birck Nanotechnology Center Staff on a half-time basis handling all biosafety issues within the BNC. As anyone working with the nano-bio labs in the BNC is well aware, Lisa is a recognized expert in biosafety and laboratory management and has already contributed to the BNC biosafety programs at a very high level. We are now formalizing the relationship that has been working so successfully over the past several months - and obtaining some additional time from Lisa's schedule in proactive work in our biosafety programs. In this role, Lisa will be working for Steve Jurss, the BNC Safety Manager. We welcome Lisa into a more formal role with the BNC Staff, although she is well known to all of us. Please give her your full support in this new role - her expertise and leadership will make our laboratories an even better place to work. John Weaver John R. Weaver Facility Manager Birck Nanotechnology Center Purdue University (765) 494-5494 jrweaver(a)purdue.edu

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Monday Memo: July 9, 2007
by Deborah Starewich 09 Jul '07

09 Jul '07

MONDAY MEMO, July 9, 2007 **************** 1. Seminar **************** 1.1: Tuesday, July 10, 3:00PM, BRK 1001: ³Self-Assembly for Massive Production of Nanotube/Nanowire-based Devices,² by Prof. Seunghun Hong, Department of Physics, Seoul National University, Korea Although nanotube (NT)/nanowire (NW)-based devices are drawing attention as next-generation device architectures, a lack of mass-production methods for such devices have been holding back their practical applications. In this talk, a massive integration strategy of NT/NW-based devices will be presented, where surface molecular patterns guide the selective assembly and alignment of various NTs/NWs (e.g., carbon NT, vanadium oxide NWs, etc) on virtually general substrates (e.g., Au, silicon oxide, Si, Al, etc). Interestingly, NT/NW adsorbed on solid substrates exhibit ³2-dimensional sliding motions² on the substrates to form pre-designed device structures. This strategy is named here as ³surface-programmed assembly² in the sense that the entire assembly process can be programmed by surface molecular patterns. This process is utilized for wafer-scale fabrication of NT/NW-based devices such as high-performance transistors and bio-sensors. Importantly, since the entire processing steps can be done using only conventional microfabrication facilities without any high-temperature processes, the strategy is readily accessible for the conventional device industry and may open up a new NT/NW-silicon hybrid device industry in the future. ******************** 2. Tours of Birck ******************** 2.1: Monday, July 9, 9:00-9:45; Dr. Michael Manfra, prospective faculty candidate, physics; tour led by Dave Lubelski 2.2: Monday, July 9, 2:00-4:00; NCLT Professional Development Workshop; 2 tour groups led by Jennifer Monahan and John Coy with presentation given by George Adams 2.3: Tuesday, July 10, 1:30; Prof. Sunghun Hong, Seoul National University, Korea; led by Ron Reifenberger 2.3: Thursday, July 12, 10:00-11:45; Pre-Freshman and Cooperative Education (PREFACE); Discovery Park overview by George Adams (MRGN 121), 2 groups led by Kathy Beaver (BIND) and student reps (BRK) 2.4: Thursday, July 12, 1:00-1:30; NCN visitors (SYNOPSYS) 2.5: Thursday, July 12, 3:45-5:00; Engineering High School Summer Camp; cleanroom focus led by student reps 2.6: Friday, July 13, 9:30-10:30; TAGS (Girl Scout) Summer Camp; 2 groups; Group A atrium exhibit explanation and Group B tour BRK with student reps 2.7: Friday, July 13, 1:30-2:00; Stanley Co. visiting Vlad Shalaev; tour BRK with George Adams **************** 3. BRK tips **************** 3.1: Delays in receiving orders? a) please know how important it is to use the correct account numbers when making requisitions; your professor or the PI for the project will have the correct numbers to use. The secretarial staff does not have access to this information they play only a small part in the huge process of receiving goods into the university. b) use vendors that have previously been used; when a new vendor to Purdue¹s ordering system is used, at least a week¹s delay occurs in the creation of a purchase order that is then sent to the vendor. c) place your own orders: check with your home departments to see if you have been granted access to the purchasing system; see Vikki Fast in the Birck Business office should you have questions regarding the procedures to use the new purchasing system. 3.2: Business Travel? a) Be sure to complete a Form 17 BEFORE you travel. Form 17s are used for two main purposes: INSURANCE coverage during your business trip (without this, you may not be covered if injured during your business trip) and ESTIMATE of expenses that will be applied to the account being used. b) Keep ALL your receipts and submit a Form 25 PROMPTLY upon your return. c) If you need assistance, please contact a member of the secretarial staff. Deborah S. Starewich Administrative Assistant to Timothy D. Sands, Director Birck Nanotechnology Center Purdue University 765-494-3509 dstarewi(a)ecn.purdue.edu http://www.nano.purdue.edu/

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Incident report 4 July 2007
by John Weaver 05 Jul '07

05 Jul '07

5 July 2007 Report on Birck Nanotechnology Center Incident and Evacuation 4 July 2007 At approximately 10:45 AM on Wednesday, 4 July 2007 - a Purdue holiday - two people from the Purdue University Fire Department responded to a "trouble" alarm on the BNC fire panel. Note that a trouble alarm does not indicate a fire incident, but indicates that there is a problem in the fire alarm system that may leave us without alarm capability. On responding, both individuals smelled a faint, sweet smell in the area of the alarm panel. After working on the system for approximately 8 minutes, the panel was deactivated and the two individuals began to leave the area. One of the responders began coughing and vomited on exiting the building. He was taken by ambulance to St. Elizabeth Medical Center where it was determined that he had an asthma attack. The trigger for the asthma attack has not been indicated. Dave Lubelski, Process and Equipment Manager, was called by Purdue Police, and asked to come to the building. He arrived at approximately 11:25 AM and conferred with Steve Jurss, Safety Manager, by telephone. An R-134A refrigerant leak was suspected because of the location of the smell. A Fire Department-supplied portable detector gave an indication of refrigerant outside of rooms 1100 and 1127. As a result, the building was evacuated due to a suspected refrigerant leak and the lack of fire alarm capability. Subsequent analysis led to the conclusion that there was no leak. Work with the detector indicated that it was not reliable for this purpose, as it responds to high airflows, hot oil aerosol around pumps, and other phenomenon. Mark Voorhis, Building Manager, interrogated all the fixed-refrigerant sensors and they indicated that no leaks were - or had been - present. He also determined that all chiller systems were working properly, indicating that there had been no loss of refrigerant. BNC-owned detectors - a 4-gas explosive-gas sensor and a hydrogen-gas sensor - also gave no indication of gases being present. Some time shortly after 1:00 PM Fire Equipment Services arrived and determined the cause of the system failure (trouble alarm). They could not, however, bring the system to functionality with the trouble alarm still active. This problem required that the fire-alarm system be left in an inactive mode, meaning that there was no alarm capability in the building. BNC leadership decided that it was necessary to keep the building closed until the fire alarm could be reactivated. Fire Equipment Services indicated that they believed they could have all systems operational by 12:00 noon on July 5, 2007. This was communicated to the BNC community via e-mail. At approximately 6:30 PM Fire Equipment Services repaired the trouble alarm and brought the fire alarm system back to a fully functional condition. At that point there were two options: 1) bring back the people who had already given up their holiday to mitigate the emergency and have them open the building effective 7:30-8:00 PM, or 2) leave the building closed for the evening and reopen at 7:30 AM on Thursday. The decision was made to reopen Thursday morning. The BNC facility re-opened at 7:30 AM on Thursday. All warning signs were removed and building functions were resumed. John Weaver Facility Manager

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BNC is open
by John Weaver 05 Jul '07

05 Jul '07

The BNC is open as of 7:30 AM today, Thursday 5 July 2007. The issues with the fire alarm system have been resolved and the system has been reactivated. Operations in the facility may resume as normal. Thank you for your understanding and patience during this situation. John Weaver John R. Weaver Facility Manager Birck Nanotechnology Center Purdue University (765) 494-5494 jrweaver(a)purdue.edu

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***BNC is closed due to a faulty fire alarm***
by Jennifer Monahan-Dian 04 Jul '07

04 Jul '07

Due to a malfunction in the fire alarm system, the Birck Nanotechnology Center is **CLOSED** until further notice. We anticipate the alarm will be fixed by noon tomorrow, but the reopening is dependent on Purdue Fire Protection Services and successful alarm repairs. A second BNC-all notice will be sent when the building has reopened. Note: This alarm has not effected building operations, so all equipment, hoods, etc have been left in normal standby mode. Thank you for your patience. -- BNC Staff

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BRK LAB UPDATE: Cleanroom & Labs Open 06/28/2007
by Jennifer Monahan-Dian 28 Jun '07

28 Jun '07

We have received word for Purdue Physical Facilities that the University’s steam and process cooling water has stabilized. As a result, the facilities at the Birck Nanotechnology Center have been reopened. Please be aware that temperature and humidity levels in the cleanroom rose slightly during this process and may take a few hours to return to normal levels. Similarly, sensitive equipment which is dependent on chilled water should not be activated without appropriate authorization (e.g. VB6 = Prof Qi, Titan = Prof Stack, SEMs = Dr Zakharov, etc). Otherwise, the cleanroom is now open and chemical processing in hoods can be performed. If you are interested in running on equipment this evening, just check the “equipment status” on CORAL as usual. Thanks for your patience during this unforeseen shut-down. -- Jennifer Monahan & the BNC Staff

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LABORATORIES SHUT DOWN: processed water and steam systems down
by Deborah Starewich 28 Jun '07

28 Jun '07

Please note that we have been advised that the process water and steam systems are down until at least tomorrow morning. Therefore, the cleanroom and other labs have been closed. This will also affect the building temperature could be hot and humid or cold and humid, I¹ve been told. Deborah S. Starewich Administrative Assistant to Timothy D. Sands, Director Birck Nanotechnology Center Purdue University 765-494-3509 dstarewi(a)ecn.purdue.edu http://www.nano.purdue.edu/

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