Cleanroom Utilities Overview: University of Louisville

Details about four major utilities that support the University of Louisville's new Micro/NanoTechnology Cleanroom are presented. This includes a 3000 gal. deionized water system capable of delivering 18.1 Mohm-cm water at a rate of 75 gal./min., a 6,000 gal. liquid nitrogen system for delivering high purity nitrogen gas, an acid waste neutralizing system for automatically adjusting pH of cleanroom effluent, and a toxic gas monitoring system capable of monitoring over 60 satellite gas sensors.

I. Introduction

Completed in 2006, our new 10,000 sq. ft. Micro/NanoTechnology Cleanroom is a multidisciplinary core facility housed in the new Belknap Research Building on campus. The Cleanroom Director, Dr. Kevin Walsh, and Manager, Mark Crain, worked closely with an established cleanroom consultant, Abbie Gregg, Inc., to design a complex and comprehensive MEMS microfabrication facility. Though a little over half of the space is Class 1000 to Class 100 rated, the considerable balance of space is devoted to the utilities that serve the tools and users. Generally of low visibility and seldom thought about, these utilities are important players in essentially all the activities that occur in the Cleanroom.