I Have a Research Support System

Chapter 4 Cleaning the Substrate

After reading the Laboratory Safety Manual, Chen Wanqing instructed Xu Qiu to put on a lab coat, disposable PE gloves and an activated carbon mask.

Everything is ready, she introduced:

The main research field of our research group is solar cells, while I mainly do organic research.

The preparation of solar cell devices in the laboratory requires the use of substrates. The substrates we use are glass substrates printed with ITO, that is, indium tin oxide patterns.

ITO has high electrical conductivity and light transmittance, and is a good electrode material.

This kind of substrate is imported from the United States, and the cost is relatively high, about 4 dollars a piece, so Teacher Wei asked us to reuse it.

Today I will teach you how to clean the substrate.

Okay, senior sister. Xu Qiu nodded.

…………

[Substrate cleaning skills detected, is it recorded? 】

Record. Xu Qiu said silently in his heart.

At the same time, he noticed that the system interface was updated.

【Scientific Research Auxiliary System】

Privilege Level: 1

Points: 100

Tasks in progress: 1

Proficiency:

【Experimental operation class】

Clean the substrate (1st stage 0%/4th stage 50%)

【Instrument and Equipment】

Ultrasonic cleaner (third stage 20%/fifth stage 0%)

Tweezers (2nd order 50%/4th order 50%)

Nitrogen gun (first stage 0%/fourth stage 50%)

The first level 0%, the second level 50%, and the third level 20% represent Xu Qiu's current proficiency.

Because he has been exposed to ultrasonic cleaners and tweezers in the experimental class, he has initial proficiency.

The latter 50% of the fourth level and 0% of the fifth level are the proficiency of the auxiliary system to copy the operation of the senior sister, which can be roughly regarded as the upper limit that he can achieve in the short term.

A laboratory operation usually requires the use of multiple instruments and equipment, and its proficiency depends on the least proficient of these instruments and equipment.

After unlocking the new function, Xu Qiu couldn't wait to try it out, so he communicated with the system:

I want to deduce the cleaning substrate from 50% of the fourth stage to the fifth stage. How many points are needed?

[1×50%×1000×2=1000 points are required. 】

Well, can't afford it.

He is still a first-order 0% pure cute newcomer, he should work hard to complete the task and accumulate points first.

Just use the senior sister first, and let's make do with it.

…………

I leave it to you, you can call me anytime if you have any questions.

Chen Wanqing demonstrated the operation process, then handed the remaining old substrate to Xu Qiu, and returned to her seat.

Okay, thank you, senior.

The master leads the door, and the practice depends on the individual.

The road to scientific research begins with odd jobs.

Xu Qiu first carefully picked up an old substrate and observed it carefully.

The surface of the substrate is square, on which some silver-white electrodes and black coating materials are attached.

According to his visual inspection, the length and width of this substrate are about 2.5 centimeters. Considering that it is produced abroad, the specification should be 1 inch, which is 2.54 centimeters, and the thickness is about 3 millimeters.

This small piece of glass is worth 30 yuan, and scientific research is really expensive.

He turned on the auxiliary system, selected the cleaning substrate item, and started to operate against the image.

The image has been abstracted by the system, and the operator is not a senior, but a virtual villain.

You can clearly see the operation details of each step, and you can also pause, fast forward, and adjust the progress according to your heart.

He quickly entered the state and began to operate by imitating the image.

First, use tweezers to place the old substrate on the support, taking care not to touch the center of the substrate as much as possible to prevent scratches.

...

Because of his experience in using tweezers, Xu Qiu quickly filled a bracket, picked up the bracket and counted, there were 24 pieces in total.

[Tweezers proficiency +20%]

“Then, put the rack full of old substrates into a box labeled “soap” and pour soapy water until the liquid level covers the rack. Then close the lid and clean it in an ultrasonic cleaner for 20 minutes.

Next, the substrate was sequentially transferred to deionized water, acetone, and isopropanol, and each was ultrasonically cleaned for 10 minutes.

There is no difficulty in these steps. The ultrasonic cleaner only has a master switch, a start/pause button, and four buttons for setting the time.

Just set the time, put the box in, press the open button and that's it.

...

[Ultrasonic cleaner proficiency +80%]

During the process of ultrasonic cleaning the substrate, there is no need to watch the whole process, and other work can be performed at the same time.

Xu Qiu was not idle, and took this opportunity to fill up four more brackets.

[Tweezers proficiency +40%]

Originally, he wanted to get close to his senior sister, but when he saw Chen Wanqing sitting on a chair, he sometimes held his forehead and frowned, sometimes he tapped the keyboard quickly as if he had realized something, and sometimes he looked at the paper materials at hand, as if he was in a hurry. In a state of concentration and ecstasy, this idea was dispelled.

After four rounds of cleaning, only 14 relatively clean substrates remained.

This is not Xu Qiu's operation problem, but because some old substrates have relatively strong attachments on the surface, and it takes several rounds of cleaning to clean them.

A petri dish can hold 12 substrates, and he took out two petri dishes from the cabinet.

View system images:

Finally, use tweezers to remove the substrate from the isopropanol box, being careful not to dip the tweezers under the liquid surface to prevent contamination.

Blow it dry with a nitrogen gun (nitrogen stream can be sprayed), and put it into a clean petri dish.

Xu Qiu casually picked up a pair of tweezers and picked up a piece of substrate. With the other hand, he held a nitrogen gun, and then pressed the switch of the nitrogen gun.

Snapped.

The substrate was blown away by the nitrogen gas flow and fell onto the table.

The dropped substrate will stick to dust and other impurities, so it can only be rebuilt and cleaned again.

Xu Qiu shook his head and began to analyze the reason:

On the one hand, it was the first time to use a nitrogen gun, and he did not properly control the size of the airflow. This time the airflow was obviously too large;

On the other hand, he felt that the tweezers in his hand were not holding firmly.

Is it a problem with your own method?

He looked carefully at the video again, and finally found that the tweezers he used were not the same as those used in the video.

One head is pointed and the other is flat.

Putting down the pointed tweezers in his hand, Xu Qiu chose a new pair of flat tweezers.

Tried again, sure enough the new tweezers held the substrate much more securely.

...

A total of 11 washed and dried substrates were obtained.

Xu Qiu was inexperienced, and two pieces were blown away again.

[Tweezers proficiency +10%]

[Nitrogen gun proficiency +120%]

I had prepared two Petri dishes, but none of them were filled.