Safety resources

The USC Nanofab thanks you for your commitment to safety. By your situational awareness and attention to policy, our facility stays a safe place to work.

Administrative processes

Safety trainings

If you are an active user, you will have already completed both the General Lab Safety course with USC EHS as well as the Nanofab's Cleanroom safety training, as detailed in the New user onboarding procedure. This permits you cleanroom access and the ability to request tool trainings, which will have safety aspects built into the training content (e.g., Fumehood training). The training request form is linked from the wiki homepage and the NEMO homepage.

To maintain cleanroom access, all users must complete annual cleanroom-specific safety refresher training. This is sent out as an email invitation to all users with multiple sessions available.

Chemical approval

To get approval to bring in new chemicals into the cleanroom, submit a Chemical Approval Form, including the SDS, so that our staff and USC EHS are aware of it. When a chemical is completely used, alert staff to update the chemical inventory.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

Facility SOPs

• Nanofab Emergency Response SOP
• Nanofab Facility Policy and Safety Manual

Nanofab tool SOPs

For tool-specific SOPs, visit the Tool list and refer to the last column.

Chemical SOPs

The Nanofab provides below SOPs specific to our lab for working with specific hazardous materials. USC EHS also provides templates for chemical SOPs with more general guidance.

• Acute Toxicants SOP
• Carcinogens SOP
• Chlorinated Solvents SOP
• Corrosives SOP
• Cryogens SOP
• Explosives SOP
• Hydrofluoric Acid SOP
• Oxidants SOP
• Piranha & Nanostrip SOP
• Potassium Hydroxide SOP
• Reproductive Toxicants SOP

Safety Data Sheets (SDSs)

It's critical to know the hazards associated with the chemicals you handle. This can inform how you work with it, or whether you choose to use it at all. Additionally, regulating bodies require that SDSs are made available in the workplace. If you are handed an unfamiliar chemical, ask for the SDS.

SDSs for chemicals you can expect to find in the Nanofab

USC EHS has also pooled a list of SDS sources from chemical distributors.

Developers	Etchants	Resists and polymers	Gases
SU-8	Silver	ZED N50	Chlorine
MF-321	Nickel	SU-82000
MF-319	Nano-Strip	S1813
MF-312	Iron Oxide	S1805
AZ 400K	Gold	Polyimide
AZ 300 MIF	Titanium	PMMA
AZ KWIK STRIP REMOVER	Copper	AZ-5214
AZ 1500 thinner	CR-7
AZ 421K	Chromium
XPSU-825	Buffered Oxide Etchant (BOE)

Outside resources

• USC EHS
• OSHA
• EPA