My history as a Proud Face Mask Wearer
I was once asked to pose for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for their publicity of R&D capabilities while I was working for Telecom Australia, now known as Telstra.
Normally I would have been wearing a Mask if growing heteroepitaxial semiconductors using the MOCVD apparatus shown.
You can see I had to stick my head in a laminar flow cabinet that swept any particles I emitted down through the perforated work surface.
Expert engineers designed my cleanroom lab which had a double entry where everyone entering had to wear suits, masks and eye protection. Our goal was to minimize particulate contamination of the semiconductor wafers so that the electronic properties would achieve the desired optoelectronic properties.
Prior to working there I had some detailed knowledge of particle behaviour and surface chemistry that helped me grasp the finer points of High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filtration.
