AZ 1512 process recipe

AZ 1512 is the mid-thickness grade in Merck's AZ 1500 series of general-purpose positive DNQ/novolac photoresists, offering fast throughput and compatibility with both TMAH (metal-ion-free) and inorganic developers for wet-etch and plating applications.

https://nanyte.com/photoresists/az-1512 · last updated 2026-07-12

At a glance

Manufacturer: Merck
Tone: positive
Chemistry: DNQ-novolak
Thickness: 1.4–3.9 µm
Developer: AZ 400K or AZ 300MIF (tank immersion); AZ 917MIF (puddle)
Applications: Etch mask · Electroplating / molding

Etch maskSuitable for

Human-verified — checked against the manufacturer's datasheet by a person.

Coat1.4–3.9 µm Develop60 s

—01 / Coating

Spin coating

AZ 1512 is spin-coated to 1.4–3.9 µm. The curve below is redrawn from the manufacturer's published data — read your target thickness off the vertical axis and take the matching spin speed as a starting point.

Data points

AZ 1512 — film thickness (µm) by spin speed (rpm)
Series	rpm	µm
AZ 1512	500	3.9
	1000	2.7
	1500	2.3
	2000	2.0
	2500	1.8
	3000	1.6
	3500	1.6
	4000	1.4

Values are the manufacturer's starting points, not a guarantee; verify on your own tool. Characterize on-tool. Series digitized from a published figure were independently cross-checked by a second blind read; treat those values as approximate (±10 %).

read from figure, "SPIN CURVES (150mm Wafers)", p.1 of AZ 1500 Series datasheet (Merck, Rev. (03/21)); trace identified as the magenta/pink square-marker series per the chart's own legend (AZ 1505 blue diamond / AZ 1512 magenta square / AZ 1518 red triangle / AZ 1529 green circle), read at each of the 8 plotted marker positions from 500-4000 rpm (the full plotted span; chart x-axis extends to 5000 rpm but no series has a point past 4000); anchor check: the AZ 1512-specific resolution/DOF/exposure-latitude test figures (p.3-5) all cite FT=1.30µm, modestly below this reading's highest-rpm point (~1.45µm at 4000 rpm), consistent with that test film having been coated at a speed slightly above this chart's plotted ceiling rather than a misread; digitized 2026-07-12

Redrawn from the manufacturer's published data — hover to read values between points, click to pin.

Multi-grade chart ("SPIN CURVES (150mm Wafers)", p.1) plots AZ 1505 / AZ 1512 / AZ 1518 / AZ 1529 together with distinct markers (diamond/square/triangle/circle). The AZ 1512 trace (magenta/pink square) has now been digitized directly from this chart at its 8 plotted marker positions, 500-4000 rpm — see spinCurves. The AZ 1505 and AZ 1512 traces run visually close together on the compressed 0-12µm y-axis at rpm ≥ 2000 despite differing by roughly 2x in absolute thickness there — exactly the kind of overlap that has produced misread spin data elsewhere in this project, so the two series were distinguished carefully by marker shape/colour against the legend, not by proximity or thickness-ordering assumptions. No spin accel/dispense parameters are published. AZ EBR Solvent / AZ EBR 70/30 are listed as companion products for thinning/edge-bead removal (COMPANION PRODUCTS, p.2) but no edge-bead procedure or parameters are given. No rehydration hold is mentioned (not applicable to this thin-film series).

Adhesion: HMDS recommended — "Oxide forming substrates (Si, etc.) should be primed with HMDS (hexamethyl disilazane) or other suitable primer prior to coating AZ 1500. Contact your AZ products representative for detailed information on pre-treating with HMDS." (SUBSTRATE PREPARATION, p.6). No specific HMDS bake temp/time is published.

—02 / Bake

Soft bake

Soft bake: Not published — characterize on-tool
Notes: Series-wide range only: "Soft bake temperatures for AZ 1500 should be in the 90-110°C range. Temperatures towards the high end of this range will improve adhesion to metals." No time is published; "optimum soft bake times and temperatures may be application specific." Bakes may be performed on hotplates or in vented ovens — method left as hotplate (the more common of the two, and what all downstream resolution/DOF/latitude test figures use: "Soft Bake: 100°C/90s (hotplate)"), but that 100°C/90s figure is a test condition for the resolution figures, not the datasheet's stated typical-process recommendation, so it is not promoted to the scalar fields here.

SOURCE: SOFT BAKE, p.6 of AZ 1500 Series datasheet; test-condition caption on p.3–4.

—03 / Exposure

Exposure dose

The manufacturer does not publish a clearing dose for AZ 1512. Determine it with a dose array on your own tool.

As published: "AZ 1500 is sensitive to exposure wavelengths between 310 and 450nm. 365-436nm is recommended." (EXPOSURE, p.6). All resolution/DOF/exposure-latitude test figures for AZ 1512 explicitly state "G-line exposure" (436 nm).

—04 / Development

Development

Developer: AZ 400K or AZ 300MIF (tank immersion); AZ 917MIF (puddle)
Dilution: AZ 400K 1:4; AZ 300MIF and AZ 917MIF used as supplied (both metal-ion-free/ready-to-use)
Time: 60 s
Developer family: TMAH or buffered alkaline

SOURCE: TYPICAL PROCESS, p.1 ("Develop: 60s Puddle or immersion Developer type: MIF or IN"); DEVELOPING, p.6; developer list, COMPANION PRODUCTS, p.2.

—05 / Post-processing

Hard bake, etch & strip

Etch resistance: Datasheet claims "excellent substrate adhesion for demanding wet etch applications" (APPLICATION, p.1) but publishes no etch-rate or selectivity data.
Stripper: AZ 300T, AZ 400T, or AZ Kwik Strip™ (STRIPPING, p.7): "Under normal process conditions, AZ 1500 strips readily in removers designed for DNQ/novolac type photoresists." Patterns baked above 140°C may cross-link and become harder to strip.

SOURCE: HARD BAKE, p.6 of AZ 1500 Series datasheet.

—06 / Applications

Where it's used

Etch maskElectroplating / molding

AZ 1512 is the ~1.3 µm-thick grade in Merck's AZ 1500 series of general-purpose positive DNQ/novolac photoresists, sharing a single four-grade product line (1505/1512/1518/1529) with a common process window. The series is compatible with both TMAH (metal-ion-free) and inorganic developers, and a puddle or immersion develop is quoted at a flat 60 s regardless of method. Resolution, depth-of-focus and exposure-latitude figures are all reported under g-line (436 nm) exposure rather than i-line, and only as multi-point sweeps (e.g. a 70–140 mJ/cm² latitude scan) rather than a single nominal dose — so no dose is published here. Soft bake, PEB and hard bake are each specified only as series-wide temperature ranges (90–110 °C, 105–115 °C, 100–110 °C) with no grade-specific values or times.

—07 / Sources

Sources & disclaimer

Merck — AZ 1512 datasheet (Rev. (03/21)) · accessed 2026-07-10

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 2026-07-12.

Cite this recipe

NANYTE. "AZ 1512 process recipe." NANYTE Photoresist Library. https://nanyte.com/photoresists/az-1512. Accessed 2026-07-12.

Ready to run this process on your own tool?Book a demo →

Expose it at 365 and 405 nm

NANYTE BEAM is a desktop maskless lithography system with software-selectable dual-wavelength exposure and 16-bit grayscale — no photomask, no mask cost, same-day iteration.

Book a demo

Improve this recipe

Run this resist in your lab? Send us what actually works, or flag a value that's wrong. No account, no email needed — a handle and affiliation are optional and become your credit line. Every contribution is checked against published sources before it appears.