https://nanyte.com/photoresists/apol-lo-3200 · last updated 2026-09-24
- Manufacturer
- KemLab
- Grades
- APOL-LO 3202 · APOL-LO 3204 · APOL-LO 32071
- Tone
- negative
- Thickness
- 2–10 µm
- Developer
- 0.26N TMAH
- Applications
- Lift-off · General prototyping
Human-verified — checked against the manufacturer's datasheet by a person.
- Substrate
- Resist
- Exposed
Spin coating
Data points
| Series | rpm | µm |
|---|---|---|
| APOL-LO 3202 | 1000 | 3.8 |
| 2000 | 2.7 | |
| 3000 | 2.3 | |
| 4000 | 1.9 | |
| APOL-LO 3204 | 1000 | 6.2 |
| 2000 | 4.5 | |
| 3000 | 3.7 | |
| 4000 | 3.2 | |
| APOL-LO 3207 | 1000 | 10 |
| 2000 | 7.2 | |
| 3000 | 5.7 | |
| 4000 | 5.0 |
Values are the manufacturer’s starting points, not a guarantee — characterize on your own tool. Series digitized from a published figure are approximate (±10 %).
APOL-LO 3202: read from figure 'Spin Curve: APOL-LO 3200 Series', p.2 of APOL-LO 3200 TDS — identified by legend marker/color (blue diamonds = APOL-LO 3202) on the combined three-curve chart; bottom curve, consistent with the stated 2-4 µm range. The chart itself only plots 1000-4000 rpm (4 marked points per curve) — no 5000/6000 rpm points exist in the source to report.
APOL-LO 3204: read from figure 'Spin Curve: APOL-LO 3200 Series', p.2 of APOL-LO 3200 TDS — identified by legend marker/color (red squares = APOL-LO 3204) on the combined three-curve chart; middle curve, consistent with the stated 3-6 µm range. Chart plots only 1000-4000 rpm.
APOL-LO 3207: read from figure 'Spin Curve: APOL-LO 3200 Series', p.2 of APOL-LO 3200 TDS — identified by legend marker/color (purple triangles = APOL-LO 3207) on the combined three-curve chart; top curve, consistent with the stated 5-10+ µm range. Chart plots only 1000-4000 rpm.
- Coat program includes a 5-10 second spread cycle; spin time at final speed is 45 seconds.
- Spin curves determined on 6-inch Si with static dispense of ~3 mL of photoresist (TDS p.2, Spin Coat) — note this is a smaller dispense volume than the ~4 mL used for KemLab's other series datasheets.
- No edge-bead-removal step is published.
- Adhesion
- HMDS recommended — APOL-LO adheres to gold, glass, aluminum, chromium and copper without a stated primer requirement; for silicon specifically, HMDS primer 'can increase adhesion' (TDS p.2, Substrate).
Soft bake
- Soft bake
- 110 °C · 60 s · hotplate
- Notes
- 110°C for 60 seconds is the default softbake, stated both in the narrative Soft Bake section (p.2) and in three of four columns (2, 4, 6 µm) of the Lift-Off Process Guide table (p.2). The datasheet gives an explicit, clearly labeled exception: 'For films over 7 microns: Soft-bake on hotplate: 110°C for 90 seconds' — used for the 10 µm (APOL-LO 3207) process point in the same table.
SOURCE: Lift-Off Process Guide table and Soft Bake section, p.2 of APOL-LO 3200 TDS
Exposure dose
Three grades share one set of broadband-on-silicon numbers, indexed by coat: 140 mJ/cm² at 2 µm, 145 at 4 µm, 150 at 6 µm and 200 at 10 µm. Run a dose array on your own tool to land the working dose.
- Post-exposure bake
- 110 °C · 60 s
Not published for this resist: Dose at 365 nm, Dose at 405 nm — characterize on-tool.
Development
- Developer
- 0.26N TMAH
- Developer family
- TMAH-based
Not published for this resist: Dilution, Time, Method, Rinse — characterize on-tool.
SOURCE: Lift-Off Process Guide table, p.2, and Develop section, p.3 of APOL-LO 3200 TDS
Hard bake, etch & strip
- Stripper
- NMP, DMSO or similar solvent-based removers at 50-80°C (TDS p.3, Photoresist Removal). No two-bath-process guidance is given for this product (unlike the KL5300/KL6000/KL IR datasheets, which explicitly recommend one for thick films).
- Storage
- Store upright in tightly closed containers at 40-70°F (4-21°C), away from oxidizers, acids, bases and ignition sources (TDS p.3, Storage).
Not published for this resist: Hard bake, Descum, Etch resistance — characterize on-tool.
Where it's used
Practical notes from the datasheet
APOL-LO 3200 is a series of three grades (APOL-LO 3202, 3204, 3207) explicitly engineered for a lift-off undercut profile, with customization offered to adjust the lift-off angle or photospeed. Unlike most conventional positive resists, PEB here is a required crosslinking step, not an optional one — the datasheet flags that PEB conditions 'can be changed to modify performance,' making it a tunable process lever rather than a fixed step. Softbake and PEB share one explicit thickness break point: films over 7 µm (i.e. the APOL-LO 3207 10 µm process point) get 90 s instead of 60 s at the same 110°C, while exposure dose and develop time scale continuously with thickness across all four demonstrated process points (2/4/6/10 µm). An n,k optical-dispersion curve (200-500 nm) is published for lithography simulation. As with any lift-off resist, the achieved undercut profile — not just critical dimension — should be verified on-tool, since it is the property this product is specifically sold on.
Troubleshooting
Common failure modes for APOL-LO 3200, answered from the manufacturer's datasheet and application notes. These are starting points — your substrate, tooling and environment shift the specifics, so calibrate on-tool.
The APOL-LO 3200 undercut isn't what my lift-off needs — which step do I tune?
The datasheet names one process lever: KemLab states that APOL-LO needs a PEB to crosslink and that the PEB can be changed to modify performance; the default is 110 °C for 60 s on a contact hotplate. It does not say how a PEB change moves the undercut, so step the PEB and section the result. If the standard grades still miss, KemLab offers customisation to adjust the lift-off angle or the photospeed.
SOURCE: APOL-LO 3200 Photoresist TDS (KemLab Inc., no revision printed) — Description, p.1; Post-Exposure Bake, p.2
A 10 µm APOL-LO 3207 coat won't open to the substrate on my 4 µm (60 s) develop time — what changes with thickness?
Dose, bakes and develop all grow. KemLab's lift-off process guide on Si gives, for 2 / 4 / 6 / 10 µm: broadband 140 / 145 / 150 / 200 mJ/cm² and 40 / 60 / 75 / 120 s in 0.26N TMAH. Bakes lengthen too: the table's 110 °C softbake goes from 60 s to 90 s at 10 µm, and its 110 °C PEB already reads 90 s from 6 µm up, although the PEB text says 90 s only for films over 7 µm. Follow the table column for your thickness.
SOURCE: APOL-LO 3200 Photoresist TDS (KemLab Inc., no revision…
APOL-LO 3200 Photoresist TDS (KemLab Inc., no revision printed) — Lift Off Process Guide table, p.2; Soft Bake and Post-Exposure Bake, p.2
Should a 6 µm APOL-LO film get the 60 s or the 90 s PEB?
The datasheet disagrees with itself here. The Post-Exposure Bake text gives 110 °C for 60 s and switches to 90 s only for films over 7 µm, but the process guide's 6 µm column (APOL-LO 3204 or 3207) already lists a 90 s PEB, while keeping a 60 s softbake. Treat 6 µm as the boundary case and run both PEB times on a split before fixing the recipe.
SOURCE: APOL-LO 3200 Photoresist TDS (KemLab Inc., no revision…
APOL-LO 3200 Photoresist TDS (KemLab Inc., no revision printed) — Lift Off Process Guide table (6 µm column) and Post-Exposure Bake, p.2
Why do I get metal fences along the edges after lifting off APOL-LO?
Usually because the resist sidewalls were coated. MicroChemicals' general lift-off note (not a KemLab document) explains that sputtering coats even strongly undercut sidewalls, so the solvent has to break through the film at random points and leaves fence-like ridges; it puts reproducible lift-off of sputtered layers at a few hundred nm at most. Directed evaporation leaves undercut sidewalls uncoated. For a crosslinked negative resist it adds that too much substrate heating during deposition raises the crosslinking until lift-off becomes difficult or impossible.
SOURCE: MicroChemicals application note
MicroChemicals application note 'Lift-off' (not a KemLab document) — Negative Resists; Sputtering or Evaporation?; "Fences" after Lift-off. APOL-LO 3200 Photoresist TDS (KemLab Inc.) — Post-Exposure Bake, p.2 (PEB crosslinks the resist)
What should I lift off or strip APOL-LO in — is acetone good enough?
KemLab specifies industry-standard removers such as NMP or DMSO at 50–80 °C. MicroChemicals' lift-off note advises against low-boiling solvents like acetone for lift-off: they cannot be heated to speed the process, and because they evaporate quickly, lifted metal flakes can redeposit on the wafer and are then hard to remove.
SOURCE: p.3. MicroChemicals application note
APOL-LO 3200 Photoresist TDS (KemLab Inc., no revision printed) — Photoresist Removal, p.3. MicroChemicals application note 'Lift-off' (not a KemLab document) — Suitable Lift-off Media
Sources & disclaimer
- KemLab — APOL-LO 3200 datasheet (not stated — no revision or copyright date is printed anywhere in this TDS; the only certification mark present is an ISO 9001:2015 seal on the final page.) · accessed 2026-07-10
- APOL-LO 3200 TDS, per-grade 'Film Thickness Range' table (p.2): APOL-LO 3202 (2-4 µm), APOL-LO 3204 (3-6 µm), APOL-LO 3207 (5-10+ µm). 3202 and 3207 also head the resolution-demo blocks on p.1; 3204 appears only in the p.2 table.
Manufacturer datasheet values are starting points; optimal parameters depend on your substrate, equipment and environment. Product names and trademarks belong to their respective owners. NANYTE is not affiliated with the manufacturers listed. Last updated 2026-09-24.