AZ 1518 process recipe

AZ 1518 is a mid/thick grade in Merck's AZ 1500 series of general-purpose positive-tone photoresists, spin-coating to roughly 1.9-5.6 µm; this datasheet documents it specifically at a 2.4 µm reference film thickness with resolution and depth-of-focus data.

https://nanyte.com/photoresists/az-1518 · last updated 2026-07-10

At a glance

Manufacturer: Merck (AZ Electronic Materials)
Tone: positive
Chemistry: DNQ-novolak
Thickness: 1.9–5.6 µm
Exposure dose: 150 mJ/cm² at 436 nm
Developer: AZ 300MIF
Applications: Etch mask · Electroplating / molding · General prototyping

Etch maskSuitable for

Cross-checked — two independent extractions agree.

Coat1.9–5.6 µm Softbake100 °C · 1.5 min · hotplate Expose150 mJ/cm² at 436 nm Develop60 s

—01 / Coating

Spin coating

AZ 1518 is spin-coated to 1.9–5.6 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 1518 — film thickness (µm) by spin speed (rpm)
Series	rpm	µm
AZ 1518 as supplied	500	5.6
	1000	3.9
	1500	3.3
	2000	2.9
	2500	2.6
	3000	2.3
	3500	2.1
	4000	1.9

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)" chart, p.1 of AZ 1500 Series Technical Datasheet (Merck, Rev. 03/21); AZ 1518 identified by its red triangle legend marker, distinct from AZ 1505 (blue diamond), AZ 1512 (magenta square) and AZ 1529 (green circle) plotted on the same axes. Cross-checked for plausibility against the reference thickness (2.40 µm film) named in the p.2-4 resolution/DOF figures, which sits between the 1000 and 1500 rpm figure-read points, consistent with a typical process spin speed in that band.

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

Datasheet does not state spin ramp/acceleration, dispense volume, or static vs dynamic dispense for the spin-curve chart. Spin coating is named as one of several compatible coating methods (spray and roller coating are also mentioned, p.6 COATING) but no method-specific parameters are published beyond that. No edge-bead-removal recipe is given, only that AZ EBR Solvent or AZ EBR 70/30 are the companion EBR products (p.2).

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." Source: SUBSTRATE PREPARATION, p.6.

—02 / Bake

Soft bake

Soft bake: 100 °C · 1.5 min · hotplate
Notes: 100°C/90s hotplate soft bake is the condition used for the AZ 1518 resolution ladder (p.3, FT=2.4 µm on Si) and the AZ 1518 depth-of-focus series (p.4, FT=2.40 µm on Si). The series-wide TYPICAL PROCESS section (p.1) only states a 90-110°C range without a single value or time, so this is a specific documented test condition for AZ 1518 rather than the generic series spec.

SOURCE: RESOLUTION OF AZ 1518 at FT=2.4µm on Si, p.3; DEPTH OF FOCUS FOR 2.0µM LINES AZ 1518 AT FT=2.40µM ON SI, p.4

—03 / Exposure

Exposure dose

The manufacturer publishes 150 mJ/cm² at 436 nm (g-line (436 nm) exposure — verbatim from the p.2 SEM caption: "AZ 1518 Photoresist, 1.0µm lines in 2.40µm film, 150mJ/cm2 g-line exposure, AZ 300 MIF Develop (60s)". The series-wide EXPOSURE section (p.6) separately states AZ 1500 is sensitive 310-450 nm with 365-436 nm recommended (broadband, no single wavelength).). Dose scales with film thickness and depends on your optics, so treat it as a starting point and run a dose array.

Dose at 436 nm (g-line): 150 mJ/cm²
As published: g-line (436 nm) exposure — verbatim from the p.2 SEM caption: "AZ 1518 Photoresist, 1.0µm lines in 2.40µm film, 150mJ/cm2 g-line exposure, AZ 300 MIF Develop (60s)". The series-wide EXPOSURE section (p.6) separately states AZ 1500 is sensitive 310-450 nm with 365-436 nm recommended (broadband, no single wavelength).

SOURCE: p.2 SEM image caption; p.3 RESOLUTION OF AZ 1518 at FT=2.4µm; p.4 DEPTH OF FOCUS FOR 2.0µM LINES AZ 1518

—04 / Development

Development

Developer: AZ 300MIF
Time: 60 s
Method: puddle
Developer family: TMAH-based

SOURCE: p.2 SEM caption ("AZ 300 MIF Develop (60s)"); p.4 DEPTH OF FOCUS caption ("Develop: AZ 300MIF (60s) puddle"); p.3 resolution caption ("Develop: AZ 300MIF (60s)")

—05 / Post-processing

Hard bake, etch & strip

Etch resistance: Marketed for "demanding wet etch applications" with "excellent substrate adhesion"; no quantitative etch rate or resistance data is published in this datasheet. Source: APPLICATION, p.1.
Stripper: AZ 300T, AZ 400T, or AZ Kwik Strip — removers designed for DNQ/novolac type photoresists. Strip times vary with thermal history; patterns processed above 140°C may cross-link and become harder to strip, and charred resist will not dissolve in solvent-based removers. Source: STRIPPING, p.7.

SOURCE: HARD BAKE, p.6

—06 / Applications

Where it's used

Etch maskElectroplating / moldingGeneral prototyping

AZ 1518 is a mid-to-thick grade in Merck's AZ 1500 series, a general-purpose positive DNQ/novolak-type resist sold for wet-etch masking needing strong adhesion (the datasheet's stripper guidance — removers "designed for DNQ/novolac type photoresists" — is the basis for this chemistry classification, since the document never states the chemistry as a standalone claim). Unlike AZ 1505, this datasheet documents AZ 1518 with dedicated resolution and depth-of-focus figures at a 2.4 µm reference film thickness: 100°C/90s hotplate soft bake, g-line exposure on a Nikon 1755G7A (0.54 NA) stepper, and a 60 s AZ 300MIF puddle develop, resolving down to roughly 1.0-1.2 µm lines and holding pattern fidelity across a documented ±0.8-1.2 µm focus window. PEB and hard-bake conditions, by contrast, are given only as series-wide ranges (105-115°C optional PEB; 100-110°C hard bake), not single values specific to AZ 1518. On the p.1 multi-grade spin-speed chart (AZ 1505/1512/1518/1529 plotted together), the AZ 1518 curve was identified by its red triangle legend marker; the reported points are a figure read, not a printed table, and warrant a visual QC pass against the source chart.

—07 / Sources

Sources & disclaimer

Merck (AZ Electronic Materials) — AZ 1518 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 2026-07-10.

Cite this recipe

NANYTE. "AZ 1518 process recipe." NANYTE Photoresist Library. https://nanyte.com/photoresists/az-1518. Accessed 2026-07-10.

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