Things at Work

I thought it may be of interest (although this might be a stretch) to post a few pictures from my work. What do I do? Well, I do a few things: I am the machinist. Here I am making a steel part on the mill. What you see here is the rotary table attached to the mill, and my red part in the center.

I am also the orbital welder for the building. Since we are a semiconductor research facility, there are alot of ultra-high purity piping needs. I cut, bend, and weld stainless steel tubing to new equipment. Below is a picture of a simple elbow I made - one microfit elbow with 2 VCR face seal glands. This is fun stuff for me.

Below is a recent project I just completed. It was the installation of a small precursor source which includes many valves, Tees, elbows, and VCR fittings. All that crammed into a very small space made for some very tight welding.

I also make a few other odds and ends for the equipment I support in the cleanroom. Here is an idea I had a year ago or so. A vacuum foreline for an LPCVD furnace that allows for slight adjustment in all axis. This has saved alot of quartz tubes from breaking.

Alot of people ask if the cleanroom suit is comfortable. I think it is, but then again, I've been wearing one for 12 years now. I think they are as comforable as pajamas. Although I don't have a picture of myself, here is a picture of my friend, Tuba Bill from Russiaville, at his e-beam lithography system.

What you see above is an orange "bunny suit" complete with a hood for your head, a veil for your face, and latex gloves for your hands. The only skin exposed is the small area around your eyes. It's all pretty comfortable.

My real duties in the cleanroom are tending to the high temperature furnaces. I am responsible for the day to day activities, and the oversight of the furnaces. My furnaces are used for processes such as oxidations, polysilicon depositions, nitride depositions, annealing, driving, and activating implants. Currently, I have 9 furnaces I tend to, with another 3 currently undergoing installation to our facility

Here is a picture of one of my furnaces at 1100°C.