Issue

In many cases, the application of cleanroom technology to provide particle control during aseptic manipulation falls significantly short of the complete package necessary to protect the product. Elements that must be present for product protection include the proper facility, personnel, and training.

There are a number of reasonably well understood forces that cause particles to adhere to a surface. While not necessarily, or even usually, the dominant force, van der Waals forces are universal — they are always present.

Magic and common sense when building cleanrooms.

CleanRooms is pleased to induct Bill Whyte into the 1999 CleanRooms Hall of Fame.

The shift to 300mm silicon wafers, combined with the reduction in IC linewidths below a quarter micron, will have a significant impact on the design of next-generation cleanrooms.

Imagine asking an FDA inspector this question: "If I switch to a new contract testing facility for sterility testing and the first test is a failure, can I invalidate it because it was the first?" If you think you'd be asking for trouble by posing a question like this, guess again.

Updating recommended practices and making them more user friendly are just some of the goals many chairpersons have for this month's working group sessions at the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology's (IEST) Fall Conference.

Poor technique contributes more than anything else to Class II biological safety cabinet (BSC) contamination, a problem highlighted in a recent American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy report.

In a movement toward building "sustainable" laboratories could lessen the environmental impact. In one of the first sustainable cleanroom projects, the Philadelphia Police Department is using an 80-year-old schoolhouse and natural daylight in the design of a Class 100,000 forensic laboratory.

An earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Ritchter scale struck Taiwan on September 21, 1999. At the Hsinchu Industry Park, where 28 fabs are located, six belong to TSMC. Luckily, TSMC's fab's systems, HVAC systems, water distribution, and power distribution withstood the quake. But it took several days before power was restored.

Motorola faces ESD-induced lockups...Ortner and Shuttleworth join forces...Praxair and Vacuum Instrument to provide leak testing...DuPont increases capacity for Zyron 116 electronic gas...AmeriNet and Fisher Hamilton sign national agreement.

In the contamination control business, great products are not enough.

Syringe Body Handling Device...Fume Hood Control System...Mobile Ion Contamination Cure...Cleanroom Ceiling Bracket and Fastener...Cleanroom Mask...Disk Storage Device...Garment Fabric

New products for November

To ensure the highest quality gas for use in semiconductor fabs, research efforts have focused on the materials used in gas distribution systems.

Three viewpoints with regards to choosing cleanroom flooring.