Table of Contents

0.0 Terms of Use

0.1 Terms and Conditions for User Access

Laboratory Policy:

The USER agrees to abide by all laboratory policies, as stated in the University of Alberta Nanofabrication & Characterization Centre (“the nanoFAB”) Terms of Use Policy Manual. Although the nanoFAB provides a general safety orientation and training on the safe use of specific equipment, the USER assumes responsibility to plan and perform work in such a way as to ensure their own personal safety as well as the safety of others in the nanoFAB community and the integrity of the nanoFAB and its equipment.

Fees:
The USER’s supervisor or representative acknowledges responsibility for purchases, materials costs and lab fees incurred by the USER in their use of the nanoFAB.

Limits on Use:
The USER acknowledges that nanoFAB is a community of professional and student researchers. As such, courteous, professional, responsible behaviour is expected at all times. Access to the nanoFAB is a privilege and may be revoked at any time.

0.2 Research and Intellectual Property Rights

The USER acknowledges that they are ultimately responsible for their own research and that the nanoFAB does not in any way warrant or assure a project success. The nanoFAB and it’s staff make no claims to inventions developed in the lab by USER’s, but also make no additional provisions outside of University of Alberta collective agreements governing staff, to protect USER’s intellectual property. The nanoFAB and it’s staff makes no guarantee for the security of USER’s intellectual property or materials while these materials and information are within the nanoFAB or handled by staff. Ownership of rights for intellectual property resulting from USER’s research shall be the responsibility of the USER. In the case of a collaborative project involving nanoFAB employees, intellectual property rights will be shared under agreements worked out specifically for this collaboration and reviewed by University of Alberta Research Service Office.

0.3 Acknowledgements Requirements

The USER acknowledges that their identity and affiliation may be made public in presentations, grants and reports and other materials describing the nanoFAB. The USER further agrees that the nanoFAB or its staff will be acknowledged in publications or presentations resulting from substantive work performed at the nanoFAB.

0.4 Insurance

The University of Alberta provides no Workers’ Compensation or other Liability coverage for the USER’s benefit. The USER is deemed to be acting as a representative and/or employee of their affiliation during work at the nanoFAB. For non University of Alberta affiliated USER’s, at their own expense and without limiting its liabilities herein, must insure their operations under a contract of General Liability Insurance, in accordance with the Insurance Act (Alberta), in an amount not less than five million ($5,000,000) Canadian Dollars, insuring against bodily injury, personal injury and property damage. It is the responsibility of the USER’s affiliation to ensure that they are adhering to all local, provincial and federal regulatory acts pertaining to employee occupational health safety and insurance requirements.

0.5 Liabilities

The USER and their affiliated organization shall indemnify and hold harmless the University of Alberta, its officers, agents and employees from any and all claims, damages, demands, actions, liabilities and costs whatsoever that may arise directly or indirectly out of any utilization or interaction with the nanoFAB and its staff. The USER understands that use of the nanoFAB may involve exposure to potentially hazardous conditions including, but not limited to, chemical, mechanical, electrical, thermal, and radiation hazards.

1.0 nanoFAB User Expectations

1.1 Users Responsibility

All users in the nanoFAB, at whatever level, are expected to identify the hazards associated with the activities for which they bear responsibility, to warn those who may be affected by them, and to take steps to ensure that health and safety of other users will not be endangered.

Every user is required to take reasonable care for their own health and safety and that of others who may be affected by their acts or omissions at work. As such, any health conditions that may impact their usage of nanoFAB equipment and processes are to be reported to a nanoFAB staff member. All persons have a duty to not interfere with, or misuse, anything provided or organized in the interest of health, safety, or welfare.

1.2 Responsibility for new policies

New policies are posted on the nanoFAB website as well as the notice board at the entrance to the centre.  It is each individual’s responsibility to become familiar with and follow these policies.  Ignorance of new policies that have been posted is not an excuse or a defense.

1.3 Information Transfer

The nanoFAB operates effectively when the staff is made aware of problems and issues in the centre. If there is a problem with a standard process not working, or a piece of equipment that is not working properly, nanoFAB staff must be informed. If we do not hear from the users that there is a problem, we cannot fix it. If there is an issue, let staff know by submitting a new request via the LMACS.

1.4 User & Staff Guidelines

The nanoFAB recognizes that many users are new to the areas of micro and nano- characterization and fabrication. However, the user is responsible for the success of projects undertaken within the nanoFAB. Upon training, the nanoFAB staff is available for guidance and support on how to get the best quality results from equipment and processes, including operational aspects of the equipment that may have been forgotten, support on processes within a staff members area of expertise, and general guidance.

For a user, the nanoFAB staff will:

1. Verbally correct the user if they see that they are having a straight forward issue running a tool that the user hasn’t used recently or has just been trained on.
2. Provide, to the extent of their expertise in an area, advice to new users on how best to proceed.
3. Help a user to get the best results possible with the equipment available in the nanoFAB.
4. Direct the user to the research and technical literature, so that the user may read these papers and gain greater understanding of their device fabrication or characterizaton procedures and processes.

Users are also expected to follow proper safety procedures at all times, report any unsafe situations or observed practices to staff, read relevant internal Standard Operating Procedures, properly log in and out of equipment, and never modify a piece of equipment without prior approval from staff.

2.0 Administration & Billing

2.1 LMACS

LMACS is the nanoFAB’s web-based user portal and administration system. This system serves as the main user portal to users and is used for the majority of administrative tasks within the nanoFAB. Users will interact with the system on a day-to-day basis while working in the nanoFAB and there will be many references to this system throughout this policy guide. LMACS is a full-service user and project management system, with many tools to allow for efficient and effective management of group activities in the nanoFAB.

To login to LMACS, visit: https://admin.nanofab.ualberta.ca

2.2 Registration

Registration to the nanoFAB is mandatory for access to equipment, training, sample submission and group creation. All nanoFAB users must register with the centre via the online LMACS system; both individual user accounts and group accounts are created through LMACS. A one-time $200 administrative setup fee is charged per registered user in support of administrative overhead associated with ongoing operations, including LMACS.

1. Registration is quick and easy and can be completed entirely online. You can begin by following this link.
2. Quoted fee-for-service work does not require LMACS registration.

2.3 Fees

As a trust funded centre, the nanoFAB maintains competitive user fees for access to equipment to achieve sustainable operations. Fees are based on Canadian academic or non-academic affiliation, and are posted on our website for each piece of equipment. The fee web page also outlines caps and subscription models that are offered by the nanoFAB. The fee structure is reviewed and updated regularly. Please check our website for the most current fees.

2.4 Billing Policy

The following terms and conditions outline the nanoFAB Billing Policy. This policy covers administration of all nanoFAB generated invoices. All administrative inquires related to nanoFAB invoices or billing can be directed to the nanoFABs administration office.

1. nanoFAB invoices are generated on a quarterly basis the first day of January, April, July and October, for the 3 month period ending the last day of the previous month. Invoices include all project specific charges including materials, services and equipment time for the previous three months.
2. Invoices are generated on a project specific basis and mailed to the project principle investigator (PI). PIs are responsible for ensuring their group members are aware of which project they are to charge against. Multiple projects can be created for a single PI.
3. Equipment rates for projects are based on academic, academic-industrial, or industrial rate schedules. These schedules are applied to the project at the time of their creation.
4. Invoices submitted to University of Alberta PIs can be paid by internal speed code through completion of a U of A Indent form.
5. Invoices submitted to external PIs are administered by the University of Alberta Financial Services and are subject to a University of Alberta 15% overhead charge and GST.
6. It is the responsibility of every PI to ensure timely and proper payment of nanoFAB Invoices. Invoices will be considered outstanding if not paid 30 days after receipt of the following quarter invoice.
7. Outstanding invoices will result in accounts placed on hold and project users denied access to the facility.
8. All nanoFAB invoice related questions, comments or inquiries regarding charges, payments or other activities on invoices that are in dispute, or should alternative payment arrangements be necessary, should be directed to Melissa Hawrelechko.

2.5 Billing and Booking System

The nanoFAB uses the LMACS system for accurate invoicing of research groups for their use of the facility.

Users must login to all equipment via the LMACS system while using it to ensure proper billing occurs. These billings are critical to ensure that the facility has sufficient funding to continue operating at the level required by the users.

If there is a problem with the LMACS system (such as forgetting to log out or log in, or system crashes), please contact the Administrative Assistant as soon as possible (via email or personally) to tell him/her what corrections are needed.

On equipment that is in heavy demand the nanoFAB reserves the right to implement special booking rules to the instrument (to ensure fair access to all users).

Equipment must also be booked through the LMACS system :

• Users who book equipment in advance have priority over users who do not.
• If a user is more than 15 minutes late for a booking without notifying staff they may lose their scheduled time slot.
• Bookings can be canceled by contacting one of the nanoFAB staff members.
• Users should finish processing in a timely manner as to not impede other user bookings.
• Conflicts regarding access to equipment and it’s surrounding workspace: Priority will be given to a user who has booked the equipment, followed by whomever is logged in to the equipment.
• Users are to log themselves in before processing and out once processing is complete.
• Special permission must be given to any user that wishes to reserve a piece of equipment for more than 24 hours over any 48 hour period.

2.6 Mask Pricing and International Shipping Policy

The following terms and conditions are enacted as the nanoFAB optical mask pricing and international shipping policy. This policy covers administration and pricing of optical masks to ensure consistent mask production to users and simplified administrative overhead; all prices listed below are in CAD.

1. The pricing for photomask fabrication depends on the mask size, the lens used for exposure, and whether the customer is academic (affiliated with a Canadian educational institution), or external (not affiliated with a Canadian educational institution, such as industrial users or international academic users), as given by the project type for billing. The pricing does not depend on the device density or overall exposed area on the photomask.

   Mask size	Lens	Academic	External
   5″ × 5″	10 mm	$185	$278
   7″ × 7″	10 mm	$370	$556
   5″ × 5″	4 mm	$379	$570
   7″ × 7″	4 mm	$758	$1140

2. Shipping charges are applied directly to users with Freight on Board to the University of Alberta shipping dock. Users requiring shipping must submit a Courier Account Number during the online submission process. Masks requiring shipment without a Courier Account Number will be invoiced $150 for shipping (within Canada).
3. A $25 handling surcharge will be applied to masks requiring shipping. This fee covers the cost of packaging and administrative overhead.

3.0 User Access

The nanoFAB is an open access centre available to anyone interested in utilizing the available equipment and expertise, regardless of background or affiliation.

3.1 Gaining Access

The first step in gaining access to the nanoFAB is to create an LMACS profile. The Laboratory Management and Access Control System (LMACS) is an online, real time, project management system used by the nanoFAB for all day to day administrative tasks. The LMACS is used for booking equipment, viewing equipment usage, project management, making requests (training, maintenance) and a number of other administrative functions. As a Principal Investigator of a project, you have complete control over all activities within your project through the LMACS 

The following definitions are key to understanding the access and billing policies within the nanoFAB.

Creating your account involves the following steps:

1. Complete the registration form found on the LMACS home page or on this website. An activation link will be sent to your email.
2. Click the activation link within 24 hours or you will need to start over. A confirmation email will be sent.
3. Follow the instructions in the email to configure your account. During this stage you can select to join an existing project or create a new Group and Project.

3.2 Requesting Training / Services

Access to all nanoFAB resources is facilitated through the LMACS system by creating Requests. For information on how to use the request system within LMACS please review the slide shows below:

• Submitting a Request
• Elaborating a Request
• Assigned Tasks

Once a user account has been created, and configured the user will have access to the LMACS system to create new requests. Once the request has been submitted it will be reviewed internally by the nanoFAB and directed to the appropriate staff member for processing.

3.3 Levels of Access

Centre access will lapse after 12 months of account inactivity when nanoFAB profiles become inactive. At this point the user will need to re-activate their account and re-take the safety orientation. This can be done online through the “re-activate” link on the sign-in page.

Individual tool access may expire after a period of inactivity. This period is tool specific. At this time individual tool access status will revert back to Trainee. At this point training re-qualification is required (at the discretion of the designated trainer).

Centre Access

Individual Tool Access

3.4 Working in the nanoFAB (regular & after-hours access)

Risk Categories

Upon completion of the Hazard Assessment, the highest risk factor identified will be used to classify the process / equipment.

After-Hours Access

All users requesting after-hours access must:

• Submit a formal request for access to the process and equipment they wish to use – to be approved by the nanoFAB
• Complete a hazard assessment of the process they wish to use and submit it to the nanoFAB for approval
• Supply a list of potential buddies for review (for high-risk processes)

Qualified Buddy

• An active nanoFAB user
• Has been approved by the nanoFAB to act as a buddy for the particular task or process
• Has completed the appropriate safety orientation for the location of the equipment

4.0 Day to Day Operations