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Overview
The Single Crystal Growth Laboratory (SCGL) located in the MSL is
especially well suited to synthesis of high purity single crystals
of materials in research sized rods. The facility presently contains
two optical floating zone units, a Tri-arc Czochralski-type unit,
an arc melter, and ancillary feed preparation equipment. The facility
is managed by MST-8, but is intended as a resource both within and
outside of LANL. Working with researchers, MST-8 will grow crystals
under "contract," or with special programmatic needs, external personnel
may become qualified facility "users." The general facility operation/use
policy is given below. Funding
While the crystal growth facility is viewed as a "user" facility,
there is no specific support funding. Therefore, all crystal growth
efforts must contribute to the funding for operation, maintenance,
and upgrades for the facility. This funding is specified in the
form of "M&S" and MST-8 personnel funding. All funding must be transferred
to an MST-8 account. The specifics of these charges are given below.
Materials
and Supplies
The average rate for general maintenance and supplies for the facility
is $30K per FTE of growth effort. This is intended to cover general
use/consumption of furnace tubes, lamps, quartz tubes, maintenance,
etc. However, exceptional damage or wear from a specific program
will be charged to that program.
MST-8
Personnel
Daily operation of the single crystal growth facility is managed
by Ken McClellan, and in collaboration with the customer, he will
determine the personnel responsible for growth of specific crystals.
For growth of materials by MST-8 personnel and training of outside
users (when special needs require this), the charge rate will be
specified as the FTE rate of the assigned personnel.
Crystal
Growth
Typical operation for the facility will involve MST-8 personnel
working with a customer to grow a specific crystal; this will be
described below as "Contract Crystals." Under heavy programmatic
needs and specific conditions, outside personnel may be trained
as users of the facility or specific pieces of equipment; this is
described below as "User Privileges." Material preparation, growth
run setup and run cleanup will be accounted in half day increments.
Growth runs will be accounted in full day increments. Contract
Crystals
Typical use of the facility will involve growth of single crystals
for a customer (LANL or external) by MST-8 personnel. For new material,
it is not possible to completely assess issues defining growth of
a single crystal, so the growth will be on a "best effort" basis.
The effort level for initial growth and customer expectations must
be discussed prior to any growth attempts. Typically, it is estimated
that the average attempt to grow a crystal requires five days of
effort per growth run. This figure includes rod preparation, setup,
growth, and cleanup. Depending on the personnel used for the effort
this requires that $4.5-5K of funds be transferred to MST-8 (including
M&S). If a single crystal is not grown after these five days, there
will be an evaluation stage to determine whether to proceed with
additional attempts and the estimated funding that will be required.
If the growth process for a particular alloy does not require the
initially allotted five days, the funding can be refunded or used
as negotiated with the customer. Again, these numbers are intended
as general guidelines and each case must be negotiated prior to
any crystal growth efforts.
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User
Privileges
Under special situations-e.g. large programmatic crystal growth
needs, personnel external to the single crystal growth facility
may be trained as authorized "users." While a qualified user will
mean that MST-8 personnel charges will not be required for general
growth activities, funds must be transferred for MST-8 time during
training and certification of the user. M&S funds scaled for the
qualified user's growth efforts must always be transferred to MST-8
account. Training and certification typically will involve the trainee
assisting on 3-4 crystal growth runs. Also, training will be required
for lamp changes, routine equipment maintenance, run setup and cleanup.
The trainee must also have fulfilled all appropriate Laboratory
training-e.g. HazCom, Waste Generator, Pressure Safety, MSL site
specific and any SCGL specific training. Finally, certification
as a "user" will be dependent on proper operation during "solo"
crystal growth. Certification as a "user" is only an option and
is not solely dependent upon programmatic need. The decision to
train and authorize a user will be made upon consideration of programmatic
need, scheduling requirements, safety and facility operation issues.
Ken McClellan will make this decision based on the above criteria.
Scheduling
Optimized crystal growth in Optical Floating Zone Unite requires
different power lamp sources for different materials. Installation
and alignment of a set of lamps takes 2-3 hours, so scheduling of
growth efforts is arranged to minimized lamp changes, etc. Therefore,
the procedure is typically to set up the crystal growth schedule
extending over a 1-2 month time frame. Similar materials and activities
will be grouped together as much as possible. Urgent requests and
high priority activities can be accommodated. However, significant
changes in the facility scheduling will generally require review
by the growth facility management team.
Lab
Safety/Operation
The single crystal growth facility is a high use facility with very
limited space. Therefore, proper training and attention to safety
are critical. Lab users must consider the effects of their operations/conduct
not only on their research, but on other facility users. If an individual's
operation or lab is deemed to be unsafe or unacceptable-e.g. damaging
to other work or equipment-user privileges may be revoked.
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