SOPs & Safety

Follow these procedures and safety rules before working in the PLD laboratories. Training and induction are required for all users.

Core Documents

Laser Safety Manual (Columbia University) — comprehensive laser safety program guidance.
Laser Safety Manual (UC Santa Barbara, 2025) — current manual with Class 3B/4 controls, signage, PPE.
Laser Alignment Checklist (UC Irvine) — step-by-step alignment precautions for safer optics work.
Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) Operating Procedure (UNC) — example PLD SOP covering gas handling, startup/shutdown.
PLD SOP (IIT Bombay NanoFab) — concise run steps incl. pre-ablation and deposition controls.
Laser Safety Manual (UC Irvine) — Eyewear Guidance — selecting OD/wavelength-appropriate goggles.

Class 3B/4 work is restricted to authorised users; doors interlocked during emission.
Use wavelength-rated eyewear; confirm shutters and beam dumps before enabling.
Keep beam at/below table height and terminate all stray beams.

Verify target condition, substrate mount, and base pressure before pre-ablation.
Record fluence, rep rate, ambient & temperature in the run log.
Follow supervised startup/shutdown until cleared for independent operation.

Acknowledgement: By requesting access, you agree to follow the above SOPs and safety controls. Unsafe behaviour revokes access.