ELOG ligo-ex

Lab cleaning

Today Pamella and Julian finished cleaning of the cleanroom, starting with the HEPA vacuuming, mopping and clearing all floor with IPA wipes. Also we wiped down some surfaces of the blue table, computer table and the top of chamber.

Tue Apr 11 13:15:40 2023

Cao

Nitrogen gas tank replaced

Clean & Bake

The nitrogen gas tank has been replaced with a new unit. The new tank is ultra pure nitrogen (>99.9% nitrogen). The new tank has been placed and secured to the rack where the old one is; cap is removed and regulator is reinstalled onto the new tank.

Fri Apr 7 09:48:09 2023

Clean the system parts

Pamella and Julian wiped and tag system parts for the vacuum machine. We used isopropyl and vectra wipes in the most import pieces: Inverted magnetron pirani gauge and the air cooling kit 81. The other parts we uses the IPA wipe for cleaning. So for now we finished with ever system parts which was in the gabinetes. I put photos below. The photos is for all part we cleaning, tag and which puted inside the cleaning room.

Thu Apr 6 10:20:43 2023

Peter

Laser intensity/polarization drift measurements

VLC Update

More optical components were added to the optical set up for laser intensity / polarization drift measurements. Both lenses and both PDs were added to the configuration, as seen in the image below. The beam is already well aligned into the center of both of PDs, and focused nicely by the lens. Both PD's take BNC connecting cables, and the Red Pitaya takes SMA connecting cables. Since we are currently without a BNC to SMA cable, and we do not want to cut, strip, and crimp what we have, then measurement process cannot proceed until we get the cables.

Tue Apr 4 16:52:08 2023

Particle counter docking station

Cleanroom

Due to the problems we have encountered trying to serially communicate directly with the Met One DR-528 particle counter, I went ahead and ordered the add-on communications/charging dock. The dock "ethernetizes" the serial communications by wrapping them in TCP packets and transmitting them over the lab network. This will allow our Python code to communicate using the standard Internet sockets package, rather than PySerial, PyNut, etc. the docking station arrived today and I delivered it to the lab. I left it laying next to the particle counter in the electronics rack.

Tue Apr 4 16:43:53 2023

Additional Thorlabs PDA10A2

VLC Electronics

I ordered a second PDA10A2 and mounting post + spacer (which puts the aperture at the VLC's standard 3" beam height). These arrived today and I delivered them to the lab. They are sitting on the VLC table near the laser.

Tue Apr 4 09:53:37 2023

Peter

Laser intensity/polarization drift measurements

VLC Update

The set up for the next round of beam characterization measurements has begun. The beam is initially passing through a half waveplate, is split at a polarizing beam splitter, and then stirring mirrors are used to properly aim the beam into photodiodes (not yet installed). This is the current configuration of the set up.

Tue Apr 4 09:39:58 2023

Final M squared measurements were taken Wednesday, 3/29/23 by Peter and Ryan Hinosawa. 5 separate sets of data were taken, and upon discussion, we declared the plots shown below in attachment 1 and 2 as the final plots of our M squared measurements. The optical design of the M squared measurement process is given in attachment 3. The laser and three lenses shown below are mounted on the optical table. The track is placed behind the third lens, and the camera is moved along the track to take successive measurements of the beam's width. This will allow us to see a change in the beam's width over its propagation direction. The raw data is given in attachment 4 as a Beam_Data_8_3lens.txt file. This is eventually what gets used to generate the plots shown below. The code to run the analysis on these measurements (as well as analysis on the Gaussian intensity profile fitting) can be found: git@git.ligo.org:uc_riverside/visible-light-cavity.git

Mon Apr 3 17:04:05 2023

IDP Scroll Pump Assembly

Aiden installed the isolation valve and the exhaust silencer kits on the IDP-3 Scroll pump. The entire assembly still needs to be wiped down but overall no residue came off when putting on the kits.

Fri Mar 31 14:23:13 2023

Clean and bake batch 11

Today I bagged and tagged batch 11. I wiped the some tools: Centering ring alum( 2 pieces), reversible ratcheting, gasket removal (CF). After wiped that I bagged and tagged this parts and put inside the cleanroom. Also I wiped one power cable (3 meters), bagged and tagged that and inside the cleanroom. I put photo below.

Wed Mar 29 16:00:36 2023

Today Pamella and Tyler started work in the updates for the FLIR project. We trie for the first time cover the mirrors with aluminum foil and run the code with this. We work in figured out how the python codes works with real datas. To do: Understand how get the real datas and how to compere that with the old datas. Starting test with the FLIR and mirrors with aluminum foil in with the power on. Testing the FLIR camera more times with the mirrors covered with aluminum foil.

Fri Mar 24 13:36:17 2023

Clean and Bake batch 10

Today I bagged and tagged batch 10. I wiped the RGA vacuum component for around 25 minutes after that I bagged and tagged this part and put inside the cleanroom. The RGA vacuum component have a big size and because off that i used the big bag. I wiped one power cable (2 meters), bagged and tagged that and inside the cleanroom. For the parts in the oven, a bunch of screws, I bagged and tagged the screws and put inside the cleanroom. I put photos below about this process.

Fri Mar 24 07:14:38 2023

Workstation 2 (ws2) mounted on cleanroom cart

Computers

The ws2 cart has been thoroughly wiped down with IPA wipes and moved inside the cleanroom. I have reconnected it to power and Ethernet (cables bundled and ran to the server rack just outside the cleanroom). It is ready for use.

Quote:

The Linux workstation (ws2) that used to sit on the blue workbench (now inside the cleanroom) has been mounted on a mobile cart, as pictured below. This is intended to be a clean cart that will be housed inside the cleanroom.

The cart is currently dirty and will need to be throughly wiped down (along with the computer monitor and peripherals) prior to being moved into the cleanroom. Once the cleaned cart has been moved inside, it should never be brought back outside the cleanroom and should never be touched with ungloved hands.

I also upgraded the OS to Debian 11.6 and upgraded the CDS workstation tools.

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Thu Mar 23 18:40:08 2023

Today Pamella and I came in to Hepa vacuum and mop the floor of the cleanroom for general maintenance.

Wed Mar 22 15:25:00 2023

Clean room recertification particle counts

Attached are the five zone particle measurements for the clean room now that the fan speeds have been set to MEDIUM. 2 min sample time, 3 samples per zone. The occupied clean room measurements were unusual in that they generally got larger towards minute 6 instead of settling and going to zero, and for this reason didn't stay beneath the class 5 requirement at the end of the samples. The unoccupied counts look more similar to what was expected, and generally settle under the class five requirement.

Wed Mar 22 12:16:20 2023

Experimenting with HEPA fan speeds

Cleanroom

Jon, Cao

In effort to try to reduce the noise level inside the cleanroom, we have dialed all four HEPA fan-filter units (FFUs) down from HIGH to MEDIUM speed. These dials can only be accessed from inside the cleanroom, by bringing in the large ladder and opening adjacent ceiling tiles.

We tested three configurations, in each case with all the FFUs on either HIGH (initial state), MEDIUM, or LOW. We measured the ambient noise in each configuration.

Fan speed	Noise inside cleanroom (dB)	Noise outside cleanroom (dB)
HIGH	80	70
MEDIUM	74	66
LOW	71	66

Going from HIGH to MEDIUM yields the largest improvement, reducing the ambient sound intensity by 6 dB (i.e., by a factor of 4, corresponding to a ~35% reduction in perceived volume).

An additional 3 dB of noise reduction can be achieved by further reducing the fan speeds to LOW. However, even after allowing some extended settling time (few hours), we found the particle counts to be fluctuating right at the threshold zone for ISO Class 5. Thus we dialed the fan speeds back up to MEDIUM with the expectation that this will be sufficient for Class 5 performance.

The cleanroom now needs to be recertified with a fresh round of five-zone particle count measurements.

Fri Mar 17 19:46:39 2023

Clean and Bake batch 9

Bagged and Tagged the reflector arms and bases and placed them inside the clean room. Total of 2 bags used. Cleaned and Baked parts in batch 9 on the spread sheet and used the following procedure; 1. Ramp to 100 degC in 15 min. 2. Dwell at 100 degC for 30 min. 3. Ramp to 200 degC in 30 min. 4. Dwell at 200 degC for 48 hours. 5. OFF Also soaked the 2.75" CF gate valve in acetone to try and clean the open threads around the part. Then cleaned it in the ultrasonic washer with liquinox for 20 minutes (10 minutes each side). It looks better than it used to but the threads still seem to be the problem and will probably need even further cleaning.

Tue Mar 14 18:21:41 2023

Clean and Bake batch 8

Starting off Peter and I refilled the deionized water barrel. Then Aiden Cleaned and Bake the FROSTI arms and bases in liquinox for 5 minutes. Then placed them in the oven where they will undergo the following steps; 1. Ramp to 100 degC in 15 min. 2. Dwell at 100 degC for 30 min. 3. Ramp to 120 degC in 30 min. 4. Dwell at 120 degC for 48 hours. 5. OFF Also cleaned the 2.75 MDC Gate valve for 20 minutes (10 minutes each side) in liquinox. It looks significantly cleaner in areas I could not reach before. However some areas like the flat bottom threaded holes are still very dirty. I also made sure to dry it thoroughly and wrapped it in UHV foil until I further cleaning is decided.

Fri Mar 10 12:08:09 2023

Took more M2 laser data today. The configuration is the same as before except now the beam camera is the only component moving. Pictures can be seen below. The beam shape in x and y is very consistent with low error. However, the M2 value is still a bit high.

Thu Mar 9 13:51:42 2023

Clean room counts 3/9/23

Here's the clean room counts from this morning. Also attached is rough diagram of where the five zones are in the clean room. Counts taken with 2 minute sample time, three samples in each zone.

Thu Mar 9 12:03:59 2023

Took more M2 Data today. Picture of the optical set up is shown below. lens1 f = 100mm, lens2 f = 50mm, lens3 f = 150mm. There was a nice converging/diverging beam profile, and the beam waist was able to be read by the camera. I took as much data as I could before clipping loss. The M2 value is quite high.

Wed Mar 8 19:29:00 2023

Clean and Bake batch 7

Today gave another cleaning to the MDC gate valve. It is still very dirty an will need more cleaning. I also cleaned the other 3 valves and the argon leak. These are also in bags inside the clean room. I cleaned them by hand with IPA wipes and had to specifically give the MDC up to air valve a harder clean with acetone as it was not getting clean with the IPA. This valve still has a ring around the face as shown in the first image. Be very cautious when moving the parts in the large ESD bag, it may be heavy and the parts will move inside.

Wed Mar 8 18:35:52 2023

Lab cleaning

Today Pamella finished cleaning of the cleanroom, starting with the HEPA vacuuming, mopping and clearing all floor with IPA wipes. Also Pamella and Julian finished cleaning of lab floor, starting with the HEPA vacuuming and mopping. Shane and Pamella wiped down every surfaces of the laser table, computer table and the table with the vacuum pieces inside the cleanroom. Shane, Peter, Tayler, Pamella and Julian then wiped down every surface of the laser table outside the cleanroom. We wiped the main tabletop as well as the legs and all parts for the table. We wiped the computer desk, the boxes, the cabinets and every part outside the cleanroom. For now we finished the lab cleaning.

Mon Mar 6 18:48:43 2023

Today Pamella and Julian finished cleaning of the new lab cabinets. Also we wiped the computer and put inside the cleanroom so now the computer is not move out side anymore. We saw some dirty parts in the cleanroom floor again and is possible for the next step we should be clearing the floor one more time. Possible is necessary order more IPA wipes for keep cleaning in nexts weeks. A photos of the cabinets and the computer are attached below.

Mon Mar 6 15:32:58 2023

Cabinet installation completed

Jon, Cao, Peter

This morning Facilities delivered and installed two new cabinets with sliding glass doors.

The smaller of the two (36" W x 13" D x 84" H) has been installed in the Clean & Bake area adjacent the flow bench. The larger one (48" x 16" D x 84" H) has been installed in the back of the room next to the electronics bench. Both cabinets have been securely anchored to the wall in two places each for earthquake safety.

We also installed the sliding glass doors and leveled them. However, we have not installed any of the shelves yet because the cabinets are quite dirty from the installation. Everything needs to be wiped down with IPA wipes, and it will be easier to do that before the shelves are in place.

Sat Mar 4 00:34:46 2023

Today I was able to finish cleaning the frame of the laser table, and for good measure I wiped down the tabletop and exterior of the vacuum chamber when I was finished. I was also able to go through and wipe down the bags containing the vacuum parts as well as the tabletop of the workbench.

Fri Mar 3 19:13:33 2023

Clean and Bake Batch 6

Started to clean the dirtiest of the valves. I could not finish but I definitely made good progress on it. The MDC valve is very dirty and there are many places I could not reach with my fingers. I used Acetone and IPA for this first round of cleaning on it. I also was going to bag the viton O-Ring from the previous Batch, however it seems to have broken during the bake and I am leaving it inside the oven for now.

Thu Mar 2 20:53:56 2023

Today Pamella and Julian began the final cleaning of the cleanroom, starting with the HEPA vacuuming and mopping then wiping down every surface of the laser table. We wiped the main tabletop as well as the legs, but we were unable to completely wipe down the upper frame of the table before we had to leave. For next steps, Julian will come in on Friday and finish cleaning the frame, then both of us will come in on Monday to finish the final cleaning.

Wed Mar 1 21:50:46 2023

Workstation 2 (ws2) mounted on cleanroom cart

Computers

I also upgraded the OS to Debian 11.6 and upgraded the CDS workstation tools.

Wed Mar 1 21:27:20 2023

Over-table shelf height raised

Cleanroom

Jon, Cao

Today we raised the height of the shelf overhanging the cleanroom laser table by 8 inches. This was done to create more vertical clearance between the top-loading vacuum chamber and the bottom of the shelf. The added clearance should make both removing the chamber lid and inserting large parts easier.

The procedure required unmounting the shelf and removing all eight vertical support posts (1" x 1" x 18.5" pieces of 80/20 unistrut). The support posts were taken to the machine shop and cut, retapped, and cleaned (coarsely, with IPA wipes) prior to reinstallation. We took care to minimize the contamination introduced into the cleanroom, but some amount of particulate from disturbing the shelf was unavoidable.

This work is completed, and the cleanroom is now ready for final cleaning (HEPA vac, mopping, and wiping down of all surfaces including the softwalls).

Tue Feb 28 19:37:22 2023

Clean and Bake batch 5

Bagged and Tagged batch 4 parts by placing no more than two part numbers per bag and taped them with kapton tape and labeled them with their name and part number. Then placed them in the clean room on the work bench. Cleaned batch 5 part (Viton O-Ring) with liquinox and placed the into the oven for 5 steps; 1. Ramp to 100 degC in 15 minutes. 2. Dwell at 100 degC for 30 minutes. 3. Ramp to 180 degC in 30 minutes. 4. Dwell at 180 degC for 48 hours. 5. Turn off and cool down to room temperature. To see the specific parts in batch 5 please refer to the Clean and Bake spread sheet on the Richardson lab page: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19gnv1q9l64gxnq76KfcXizbqShJfK0ayn2Js1SiAZok/edit#gid=1765414234 Hand cleaned stainless steel containers and silver coated screws. Designated each container with its contents with the label maker and placed inside the clean room. Should be noted that the fasteners were very clean before the hand cleaning and showed not dirt on the wipes. Added these parts to the clean and bake data base sheet and designated the type of cleaning as "rough cleaning". Gabriella helped with this cleaning and today was her first day in the lab.

Tue Feb 28 19:33:51 2023

Peter

532 M2 Measurements

Y axis of plot in units of micrometers. X axis in units of millimeters.

Tue Feb 28 19:31:05 2023

Took M2 measurements today. Configuration: Lens 1 (f = 50mm) at 0mm. Lens 2 (f = 150mm) at 200mm, camera at 350mm. The laser beam was being moved in -z direction on track (so further away from the first lens). Quick data shown in the sheets plot. Not a real fit. I was trying to see where the beam waist was if there even was one. Seems that it is much further than we have room for on the track. Will need to come back and take more data. I suggest maybe Dr. Richardson or Cao come and see the configuration in person and how the beam diverges for themselves on the detector card. Maybe they can offer pointers to make this go smoother.

Tue Feb 28 13:53:17 2023

Vacuum chamber cleaning

Pamella, Dr. Richardson and Dr.Cao finished checking and cleaning the interior of the chamber, chamber lid, and exterior of the chamber with Vectra Alpha wipes, IPA and in some parts we used acetone . We flip the chamber and put chamber on the table again. A picture of the specific situation is attached below. The next step from here would be to finish the cleaning the floor . The black residues on the side of the table probably is some reaction between the Vinil and the wipes so is not necessary cleaning this part deeply.

Mon Feb 27 17:09:04 2023

Vacuum Chamber Cleaning

Pamella and Julian finished cleaning the interior of the chamber, chamber lid, and the table. We found some black residue on the side of the table but not sure what the issue is. A picture of the specific area of the table that is giving off the black residue is attached below. The next step from here would be to flip the chamber on its side and finish the cleaning the exterior.

Thu Feb 23 21:12:33 2023

Julian

Vacuum Chamber Cleaning

Today I was able to come in and wipe down both sides of the vacuum chamber lid using the regular alcohol wipes and also wipes that were left to dry in the fume hood then saturated with acetone. I managed to get a good amount of the residue off both the inside and outside surfaces of the lid, then did a test wipe of both sides using acetone-soaked wipes; pictures of the wipes are attached below. Once I finished with the lid, I used another acetone wipe to test wipe the inside of the vacuum chamber. The inside is still giving off residue, but very minimally, a photo for this is attached as well.

Thu Feb 23 13:32:55 2023

Clean room floor particle counts

Here are the counts from the clean room floor today. The counts should be dated- the ones from today (2/23/23) are the last 8 in the chart. The first set of 2 measurements from today were under the table by the clean room entrance, the next two were under the table by the vacuum chamber, the next two were on the floor by the vacuum chamber lid, and the last two were on top of the table for comparison. All measurements were taken using 2 minute sample time.

Tue Feb 21 17:51:04 2023

Clean and Bake batch 4

Bagged and Tagged batch 3 parts by placing no more than two part numbers per bag and taped them with kapton tape and labeled them with their name and part number. Then placed them in the clean room on the work bench. Cleaned batch 4 parts with liquinox and placed the into the oven for 5 steps; 1. Ramp to 100 degC in 15 minutes. 2. Dwell at 100 degC for 30 minutes. 3. Ramp to 200 degC in 30 minutes. 4. Dwell at 200 degC for 48 hours. 5. Turn off and cool down to room temperature. To see the specific parts in batch 4 please refer to the Clean and Bake spread sheet on the Richardson lab page: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19gnv1q9l64gxnq76KfcXizbqShJfK0ayn2Js1SiAZok/edit#gid=1765414234

Fri Feb 17 19:12:39 2023

Clean and Bake batch 3

Bagged and Tagged batch 2 parts by placing no more than two parts per ESD bag then taped them with kapton tape and tagged them with their name and part number. Than placed them inside the clean room on the work bench. Total of 3 Bags used. For Batch 3- Cleaned all copper gaskets with liquinox for 10 minutes, dried them off with nitrogen, then placed into oven where the are currently undergoing the following steps; 1. Ramp to 100 deg C in 15 minutes. 2. Dwell at 100 degC for 30 minutes. 3. Ramp to 175 degC in 30 minutes. 4. Dwell at 175 degC for 24 hours. 5. Turn off and cool down to room temperature. To see the specific parts in batches 2 and 3 refer to the clean and bake data sheet. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19gnv1q9l64gxnq76KfcXizbqShJfK0ayn2Js1SiAZok/edit?skip_itp2_check=true#gid=1549161924

Mon Feb 13 18:57:53 2023

Clean and Bake batch 2

Cleaned second batch of SS parts with liquinox for 20 min. Then put in oven for 5 steps; 1. Ramp, 100 degC, 15 min 2. Const, 100 degC, 30 min 3. Ramp, 200 degC, 30 min 4. Const, 200 degC, 48 hours 5. Ramp, 25 degC, (off).

Sat Feb 11 17:09:29 2023

clean room particle counts 2/10/23

Took a round of clean room counts after the latest clean of vacuum chamber on Feb 10. Used 60 second sample time, 5 samples for each of the 5 zones. Plots attached for both occupied clean room (one person inside, attachment 1) and unoccupied clean room (empty attachment 2), as well as the raw data from the particle counter (attachment 3).

Sat Feb 11 00:17:27 2023

Julian

Vacuum Chamber Cleaning

Today I finished wiping down the rest of the vacuum chamber, specifically focusing on the connecting ports and outside surface of the chamber. When I was finished, I test wiped every surface of the chamber and took pictures confirming the current state of cleanliness; Attachment 1 "Wipes for top and bottom of chamber's upper lip." Attachment 2 " Top and bottom of chamber's lower lip." Attachment 3 "Inside and Outside main chamber." Attachment 4 "Inside connecting ports."

Fri Feb 10 16:34:45 2023

Huy Tuong Cao

Nitrogen gas tank ready to use

Clean & Bake

Cao,

Today I fixed the final bit related to the nitrogen gas tank, which is to apply sealing tape to M-NPT connector of the hose to prevent leakage (file: AirGunSealed.jpg)
After application of the tape, no audible leak can be heard from connection between the hose and the air gun.

The general operating procedure for the gas tank is as following:

Turn the regulator (blue handle) anti-clockwise still it's loose
Turn the valve on nitrogen as tank anti-clockwise, immediately the RHS meter of the regulator would jump to approx 2000 psi. This is the standard pressure for high pressure gas tank
Turn the regulator clock-wise slowly until the pressure one the LHS meter face reads approx 60 psi. This is sufficient for drying parts with. At this point, the flow pressure still should register zero
Press the trigger on the air gun, a high pressure air flow should come out and the flow meter should increase
When finished, close the gas tank valve, turn the regulator anti-clockwise, then press the air gun trigger to release gas left in the hose/gun

Fri Feb 10 15:15:30 2023

Aiden Bagged and Tagged the first batch of stainless steel parts shown on the google spread sheet. 1. Removed two parts from the oven. 2. Place them in the ESD bag. 3. Seal bag with Kapton Tape. 4. Create label including part name and number underneath it. 5. Put label onto the side of the bag where it is not sealed with tape. 6. Placed bagged items into clean room on work table. ps. total bags in first batch = 4

Tue Feb 7 17:44:17 2023

Workstation 1 (ws1) set up

Computers

The Linux workstation (ws1) that used to sit on the old workbench has been mounted on the new electronics bench and is now ready for use again. I upgraded the OS to Debian 11.6 and also upgraded the CDS workstation tools.

Tue Feb 7 17:27:30 2023

Physics

ELOG

Clean and Bake Batch #1

Cleaned SS parts with liquinox for 20 min. Then put in oven for 5 steps; 1. Ramp, 100 degC, 15 min 2. Const, 100 degC, 30 min 3. Ramp, 200 degC, 30 min 4. Const, 200 degC, 48 hours 5. Ramp, 25 degC, (off) PS. Ultrasonic washer does not have heating feature.

Mon Feb 6 20:02:32 2023

I wiped down the main table (including frame, legs, and transparent shelf) and workbench using alcohol wipes. Once I cleaned all of the surfaces, I used the Hepa vacuum to pick up any fallen debris.

Sat Feb 4 17:01:03 2023

Peter and Ryan took laser beam data. Configuration: 100mm focal length lens is ~100mm from lens. 150mm focal length lens is ~200mm from first lens. Beam waist is ~420mm from second lens. Beam waist is very small still. Had to input large amounts of error in data collection. Took width data successively at points near waist and at >= Rayleigh range. Plots are shown below. Key points: Took a while to figure out optimum configuration for lenses to be placed so that an accessible beam waist could be obtained. Beam waist is still very small. May need to do an ABCD calculation to see if there is anything bigger that can be obtained.

Fri Feb 3 13:04:04 2023

shane