Announcement On behalf of the Birck Leadership Team....... Dear Birck Research Community, The Purdue Winter Recess begins effective Tuesday afternoon December 23rd and concludes Monday morning, January 5th. The university is officially closed during this time. As we have done in past years, the Birck Nanotechnology Center will remain available for research but will be unstaffed and hazardous gasses will be unavailable. Lab work may otherwise proceed, though any fume hood work must be done with someone else present in the same laboratory or cleanroom bay (the "buddy" system). Following is a description of the Birck center during this period of university closure: 1. All labs and the cleanroom will be open. 2. All hazardous gases will be unavailable. 3. There may be a limited amount of construction continuing during this period, but it is not expected to interfere with research work. 4. Cleanroom gowns, hoods, and booties should be used for as long as possible as new items will not be restocked. 5. Any work that uses highly dermally toxic materials (25% TMAH, BOE, HF) ABSOLUTELY requires a buddy within eyesight at all times. 6. Precursors for ALD systems will be available. 7. No shipping or receiving is being done at any building on campus. 8. The custodians will not be working so restrooms will not be maintained and waste/trash will not be removed. o We encourage users to keep the facility clean and be extra vigilant about the hygiene. 9. Due to the lack of staffing, any faculty and senior researchers present are encouraged to be more proactive (e.g. occasional walk-throughs checking the labs where there is ongoing research). Email cbokrand@purdue.edu<mailto:cbokrand@purdue.edu> if you notice anything. Since there will be very limited staff support during this winter recess the research groups are strongly encouraged to accomplish as much processing as possible before gases are turned off on Dec. 23rd. See the following for more detailed information (this will be up on the BNC Wiki): 2025-12-23 to 2026-01-05: Reduced Holiday Operations Due to Purdue's Winter Recess hazardous gases will be unavailable from 2:30 PM Tuesday, December 23th until 8:00 AM on Monday, Jan 5th . Lab work may otherwise proceed, though any fume hood work must be done with someone else present in the same laboratory or cleanroom bay (the "buddy" system). Please note the following changes to our normal operation: o ALD sources will remain available * Unavailable gases: * Ammonia (NH3) * Boron trichloride (BCl3) * Chlorine (Cl2) * Dichlorosilane (H2Cl2Si) * Hydrogen (H2) * Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) * Krypton Fluoride (KrF) * Methane (CH4) * Nitric Oxide (NO) * Silane (SiH4) * Trichlorosilane (HCl3Si) * Tools affected: * Reduced capability: * PVD Nitride Sputtering System (NH3 unavailable) * Tube 1 Clean Ox (H2 unavailable, dry oxidation only) --- Provided the new furnace is installed by this date. * Tube 4 Field Ox (H2 unavailable, dry oxidation only) --- Provided the new furnace is installed by this date. * Tube 7 General Oxidation (H2 unavailable, dry oxidation only) * Panasonic (Cl2 and BCl3 unavailable) * Plasma-Therm Apex SLR ICP RIE Etcher (H2, Cl2 and BCl3 unavailable) * Plasma-Therm Versaline ICP RIE Etcher (Cl2 and BCl3 unavailable) * Shutdown: * Axic PECVD (NH3 & SiH4 unavailable) * Easy Tube 3000 DVD (CH4 unavailable) * Epigress (SiH4 unavailable) * H2S CVD (H2S & H2 unavailable) * Nitric Oxide Anneal (NO unavailable) * Plasma-Therm Apex SLR HDPCVD (SiH4 unavailable) * Tube 2 Nitride (NH3 and HCl3Si unavailable) * Tube 3 LTO (SiH4 unavailable) * Tube 6 Polysilicon (SiH4 unavailable) * Work with highly dermally toxic materials (25% TMAH, BOE, HF) ABSOLUTELY requires a buddy within eyesight at all times. * Custodial staff will not be working. * There will be no restocking of shared use supplies. * There will be no availability of engineering staff to answer questions or repair down equipment. * On metallization tools sources will not be changed and depositions must be < 200 nm. * "Preliminary" reservations that require staff approval will not be approved during this time. Contact Christian Bokrand (cbokrand@purdue.edu<mailto:cbokrand@purdue.edu>) with any questions.