Processing Holding Pattern

So this week, Paul--the grad student I'm working with--is in LA attending his sister's college graduation. This means that I'm responsible for processing his latest sample wafer all by my lonesome...well, almost alone anyway--more on that in a second.

Predictably, the Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) system, the second piece of machinary in the first processing step, has been down for the past two days. And now that it's back up, the pent up demand has kept it busy all day. I really hope that I'm able to finish the first step tonight, it looks like the Ion Mill is free, so if I can ever get ahold of the RIE I can get through it in a couple of hours.

Unfortunately, this is going to be the simplest step.

The next three steps will all require the help of either Prof. Eckstein or Soren because I'm not technically allowed to use the sputtering system that I need. It's really just a political thing that's kept me from being trained on it. And it's even understandable from the viewpoint of the people who own the system, they're just relucant to let people outside of their group use it. But it's annoying all the same.

-Tim