The cleanroom is a controlled environment that has a low level of the dust and other pollutants such as different chemical vapours. A cleanroom has a controlled level of contamination that is specified by the number of particles per cubic meter (sq m.) at a specified particle size. Thus, the cleanrooms are classified according to the number and size of particles permitted per volume of air.

The ambient air outside in a typical city environment contains 35,200,000 particles ³ 0.5 µm per sq m. corresponding to an ISO 9 cleanroom which is at the lowest level of cleanroom standards.

CLEAN ROOM facilities from NIRDTP, with a total area of about 144 sq m., consist of 4 rooms, a hallway, and an air shower, with the following level of cleanroom standards: 3 rooms - ISO 5 (3,520 particles ³ 0.5 µm /sq m.); 1 room - ISO 7(352,000 particles ³ 0.5 µm /sq m.); 1 hallway - ISO 8 (3,520,000 particles ³ 0.5 µm/sq m.).

The air entering the cleanroom from outside is filtered to exclude dust, and the air inside is constantly recirculated through high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters to remove internally generated contaminants.

Technical specifications:

• Operating environment:         ISO 5                 ISO 7                     ISO 8
• Humidity (%):                       30 ¸50                 30 ¸50                    30 ¸50
• Relative pressure:                 0⁺⁺⁺                          0⁺⁺                                 0⁺
• Pressure:                             10 Pa                 9 Pa                       8 Pa
• Temperature (°C):                 16÷30                16÷30                     16÷30
• Emergency illumination: Yes
• Type of illumination system: modular system fixed on the ceiling
• Illumination level:  Standard
• Special illumination: YES - yellow light for two cleanrooms (ISO 5) where micro and nanostructured activities are being developed
• Illumination control ON/OFF: Yes
• Door light warning system to allow access or not: Yes.