https://nanyte.com/photoresists/az-9260 · last updated 2026-07-10
- Manufacturer
- MicroChemicals GmbH / Merck KGaA (AZ brand; originally launched by Clariant / AZ Electronic Materials)
- Tone
- positive
- Chemistry
- DNQ-novolak
- Thickness
- 7.9–11.4 µm
- Exposure dose
- 1500 mJ/cm²
- Developer
- AZ 400K Developer (buffered, KOH-based)
- Applications
- Electroplating / molding · Etch mask · Lift-off · High aspect ratio
Cross-checked — two independent extractions agree.
Spin coating
AZ 9260 is spin-coated to 7.9–11.4 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
| Series | rpm | µm |
|---|---|---|
| AZ 9260 Photoresist (520 cP) | 2000 | 11 |
| 2500 | 9.6 | |
| 3000 | 8.8 | |
| 3500 | 7.9 |
Values are the manufacturer's starting points, not a guarantee; verify on your own tool. Characterize on-tool.
numeric table, 'Film Thickness' row for AZ 9260 Photoresist 520 cP, Thermal Comparison section, p.7 of AZ 9200 Photoresist -- High-Resolution Thick Resist Product Data Sheet (Clariant / AZ Electronic Materials, copyright 1997). Only 4 points are published (2000-3500 rpm); the datasheet does not plot or tabulate points below 2000 or above 3500 rpm for this grade. Cross-check: interpolating this table to 2400 rpm gives ~10.0 um, matching the same document's separately-stated 'Typical Process for 10 um Film Thickness' recipe (2400 rpm), which is a useful internal consistency check.
Coat by dispense (static or dynamic) at 300 rpm. Kayaku-equivalent 'Typical Process' recipes from the same datasheet: for a single-coat ~10 um film, spin at 2400 rpm for 60 s; for a double-coat ~24 um stack, first coat at 2400 rpm/60 s (target ~10 um) then a second coat at 2100 rpm/60 s (target 24 um total), with an intermediate softbake between coats. Edge-bead removal in all cases: rinse at 500 rpm for 10 s, then dry-spin at 1000 rpm for 10 s. Post-develop rinse/dry: 300 rpm for 20 s rinse, then 4000 rpm for 15 s dry. Separately, current MicroChemicals process guidance (app-note level, not the 1997 datasheet) recommends spinning highly-viscous resists such as AZ 9260 at an elevated spin speed to suppress edge-bead formation, and notes that at conventional 3000-4000 rpm speeds AZ 9260 reaches roughly 7 um in about 20 s.
- Adhesion
- Rehydration
Soft bake
- Soft bake
- 110 °C · 2.8 min · hotplate
- Notes
SOURCE: 'Typical Process for 10 um Film Thickness [AZ 9260 Photoresist (520 CPS)]' table, p.6 of AZ 9200 Photoresist Product Data Sheet (Clariant / AZ Electronic Materials, 1997); softbake rule-of-thumb cross-reference from MicroChemicals 'Basics of Microstructuring' application note (undated, current)
Exposure dose
The manufacturer publishes 1500 mJ/cm² (Multiple thickness- and tool-specific doses are published for AZ 9260, all on 'broadband' steppers unless noted: 900 mJ/cm2 (10% bias) for a 4.6 um AZ 9245 film; 1500 mJ/cm2 (10% bias) for a single-coat 10 um AZ 9260 film; 2100 mJ/cm2 (10% bias) for a double-coat 24 um AZ 9260 stack. The primary value recorded here (1500 mJ/cm2) is for the 10 um single-coat AZ 9260 'Typical Process'.). Dose scales with film thickness and depends on your optics, so treat it as a starting point and run a dose array.
- As published
Not published for this resist: Dose at 365 nm, Dose at 405 nm — characterize on-tool.
SOURCE: 'Typical Process for 10 um Film Thickness' table (p.6) and 'Focus and Exposure Latitude [i-Line]' section (p.5), AZ 9200 Photoresist Product Data Sheet, Clariant / AZ Electronic Materials, 1997
Development
- Developer
- AZ 400K Developer (buffered, KOH-based)
- Dilution
- 1:4
- Time
- 3 min
- Method
- spray, dispense temperature 27 C (immersion is also usable per current MicroChemicals guidance)
- Rinse
- 300 rpm spin rinse for 20 s, then 4000 rpm spin-dry for 15 s (from the 10 um single-coat 'Typical Process')
- Developer family
- Buffered alkaline
SOURCE: 'Typical Process for 10 um Film Thickness [AZ 9260 Photoresist (520 CPS)]' table, p.6 of AZ 9200 Photoresist Product Data Sheet, Clariant / AZ Electronic Materials, 1997. Related published points: 120 s spray for a 4.6 um AZ 9245 film; 260 s spray for a 24 um double-coat AZ 9260 stack. Current MicroChemicals compatibility guidance (application-notes level) also lists AZ 326 MIF and AZ 726 MIF (both TMAH-based, metal-ion-free) as compatible developers for AZ 9260, and the original 1997 datasheet separately notes AZ 300 MIF (a TMAH developer) can be used for IC applications requiring metal-ion-free processing.
Hard bake, etch & strip
- Etch resistance
- Stripper
- Storage
Not published for this resist: Hard bake, Descum — characterize on-tool.
SOURCE: Thermal Comparison section, p.7 of AZ 9200 Photoresist Product Data Sheet, Clariant / AZ Electronic Materials, 1997 (softening behavior only); general hardbake/etch-resistance guidance from MicroChemicals 'Basics of Microstructuring' application note (undated, current) -- not AZ 9260-specific
Where it's used
AZ 9260 is the 520 cP (higher-viscosity) grade of the AZ 9200 family, paired with the 220 cP AZ 9245 grade; it is one of the resists MicroChemicals specifically recommends when thick-film bubbling or cracking is a problem, because it has a lower photo-active-compound (PAC) concentration than most positive resists and therefore generates less N2 gas during exposure -- the N2 that IS generated still needs to diffuse out before it forms visible bubbles or stress-cracks, so thick coats, high exposure intensity, and inadequate softbake all raise bubbling risk; work-arounds given by the vendor include lowering exposure intensity (splitting exposure into steps with delays between them), increasing softbake time/temperature, and improving substrate adhesion. Separately, and just as important for thick coats: AZ 9260 needs real rehydration time after softbake before exposure (tens of minutes at 40-50% RH for a >20 um film per MicroChemicals' own study) or the substrate-near resist develops far too slowly and the profile suffers -- this is easy to overlook since PEB (a separate bake step) is explicitly NOT needed for this resist. Exposure dose also scales with target thickness rather than holding constant: the datasheet's own worked processes run roughly 900 mJ/cm2 (broadband) for a thin ~4.6 um coat, ~1500 mJ/cm2 for the 10 um single-coat target, and ~2100 mJ/cm2 for the 24 um double-coat stack, so a dose calibrated for one thickness should be re-benchmarked before reuse at another. Handling note from MicroChemicals' general troubleshooting guide: N2 can also form inside an unopened resist bottle over time from slow PAC decomposition, so a bottle that has been closed for a while (or recently shaken/moved) should be left to stand for 1-2 hours (longer for very viscous resists) before dispensing, to let bubbles rise out.
Sources & disclaimer
- MicroChemicals GmbH / Merck KGaA (AZ brand; originally launched by Clariant / AZ Electronic Materials) — AZ 9260 datasheet (AZ 9200 Photoresist -- High-Resolution Thick Resist, Product Data Sheet, Clariant AG / AZ Electronic Materials, copyright July 1997 (accessed via a University of Utah Nanofab-hosted mirror of the original vendor PDF; the current commercial custodian of the AZ brand, MicroChemicals GmbH / Merck KGaA, does not appear to host this specific legacy datasheet on microchemicals.com, which returned a 404 for the AZ 9260/9200 filename pattern used by its other current photoresist TDS files during this session)) · accessed 2026-07-10
- https://www.microchemicals.com/dokumente/application_notes/lithography_trouble_shooting.pdf — MicroChemicals GmbH 'Basics of Microstructuring' / lithography troubleshooting application note (current, undated) -- manufacturer-authored, not university content, but used here only for general (non-AZ-9260-specific) guidance: N2-bubble/cracking mechanism and mitigations for thick DNQ resists, generic softbake rule-of-thumb, generic hardbake/etch-resistance guidance, developer compatibility table listing AZ 9260's compatible developers, and lift-off suitability of positive resists including AZ 9260.
- https://research.engineering.ucdavis.edu/cnm2/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2014/07/photoresist_rehydration.pdf — MicroChemicals GmbH 'Rehydration of Photoresists' application note (2007-02-26, authored by Dr. Christian Koch of MicroChemicals), mirrored by UC Davis' cleanroom facility -- manufacturer-authored, not university-derived content, and used as the primary source for the AZ-9260-specific 22 um rehydration study numbers quoted in the rehydration field above.
- Conédéra et al.. Potentialities of a new positive photoresist for the realization of thick moulds. Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering (1999). doi:10.1088/0960-1317/9/2/317The founding AZ 9260 mold paper: aspect ratio 15-20 at 100 µm on a standard aligner
- O'Donnell et al.. Thin film micro-transformers for future power conversion. Nineteenth Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, 2004. APEC '04. (2004). doi:10.1109/APEC.2004.129593581 µm molds used for on-chip power micro-transformers, Q ~23 at 0.4 GHz
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.