AZ ECI 3012 process recipe

AZ ECI 3012 is the middle grade in Merck's AZ ECI 3000 series of general-purpose, high-throughput positive-tone cross-over (i-line/g-line) photoresists, and the best-documented grade in this datasheet — dedicated i-line and g-line reference processes, wet-etch adhesion data on ITO and thermal oxide, and PROLITH modeling parameters.

https://nanyte.com/photoresists/az-eci-3012 · last updated 2026-07-10

At a glance

Manufacturer: Merck
Tone: positive
Chemistry: DNQ-novolak
Thickness: 1.1–1.9 µm
Exposure dose: 220 mJ/cm² at 436 nm
Developer: AZ 300MIF
Applications: Etch mask · Electroplating / molding

Etch maskSuitable for

Cross-checked — two independent extractions agree.

Coat1.1–1.9 µm Softbake90 °C · 1.5 min · hotplate Expose220 mJ/cm² at 436 nm Develop60 s

—01 / Coating

Spin coating

AZ ECI 3012 is spin-coated to 1.1–1.9 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 ECI 3012 — film thickness (µm) by spin speed (rpm)
Series	rpm	µm
AZ ECI 3012	1500	1.9
	2000	1.6
	3000	1.3
	4000	1.1
	5000	1.1

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 ECI 3000 Series datasheet — legend-labeled "ECI 3012" (red/pink circle marker), clearly separated (~2x factor) from the ECI 3007 and ECI 3027 traces across the full 1500-5000 rpm plotted range, unlike closely-spaced multi-grade charts seen elsewhere in this project.

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

Multi-grade chart plots ECI 3007 / ECI 3012 / ECI 3027 together (legend, distinct colors, p.1); unlike some other multi-grade AZ charts, the three traces stay well-separated (roughly 2x factor between adjacent grades) across the whole 1500-5000 rpm range, so the ECI 3012 trace could be identified with reasonable confidence — but the reading is still a visual estimate from a plotted curve, not a printed numeric table, and no point is extrapolated past the 1500-5000 rpm plotted range. No spin accel/dispense parameters, no edge-bead removal procedure, and no rehydration hold are published for this grade; AZ EBR Solvent/AZ EBR 70/30 are listed only as companion thinning/edge-bead products (COMPANION PRODUCTS, p.2) with no protocol given. Rehydration is not applicable — this is a thin film (<2 µm), not a thick-DNQ resist.

Adhesion: HMDS recommended — "Oxide forming substrates (Si, etc.) should be primed with HMDS (hexamethyl disilazane) or other suitable primer prior to coating AZ ECI 3000." (SUBSTRATE PREPARATION, p.10). The oxide-etch wet-etch adhesion test (p.8) explicitly used "Primer: HMDS vapor".

—02 / Bake

Soft bake

Soft bake: 90 °C · 1.5 min · hotplate
Notes: Both grade-specific reference processes agree: "Soft Bake: 90°C, 90 seconds, proximity hotplate" — used for the i-line reference process (p.3) and repeated verbatim for the g-line reference process (p.5). A third reference process (Broadband Mask Aligner, p.7) uses a different condition: "90°C, 60 seconds, contact hotplate" for that specific tool setup — not used here since the two i-line/g-line stepper references agree with each other and are the primary documented process.

SOURCE: REFERENCE PROCESS tables, p.3 and p.5 of AZ ECI 3000 Series datasheet.

—03 / Exposure

Exposure dose

The manufacturer publishes 220 mJ/cm² at 436 nm ("g-line @ 220mJ/cm2 nominal (0.54NA) Nikon Stepper" — REFERENCE PROCESS (Dense lines in AZ ECI 3012 Photoresist, g-line exposure), p.5.). 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): 220 mJ/cm²
As published: "g-line @ 220mJ/cm2 nominal (0.54NA) Nikon Stepper" — REFERENCE PROCESS (Dense lines in AZ ECI 3012 Photoresist, g-line exposure), p.5.
Post-exposure bake: 110 °C

SOURCE: REFERENCE PROCESS (Dense lines and holes in AZ ECI 3012 Photoresist), p.3; REFERENCE PROCESS (Dense lines in AZ ECI 3012 Photoresist, g-line exposure), p.5 of AZ ECI 3000 Series datasheet.

—04 / Development

Development

Developer: AZ 300MIF
Dilution: used as supplied (ready-to-use MIF developer)
Time: 60 s
Method: puddle
Rinse: Not published — characterize on-tool
Developer family: TMAH-based

SOURCE: REFERENCE PROCESS tables, p.3, p.5, p.7 and WET ETCH ADHESION CHARACTERISTICS, p.8 of AZ ECI 3000 Series datasheet.

—05 / Post-processing

Hard bake, etch & strip

Etch resistance: Wet-etch adhesion data (p.8) shows AZ ECI 3012 surviving a 70s FeCl3/HCl ITO etch at 45°C (200nm ITO film) and a 6-minute thermal-oxide etch at 22°C, with acceptable pattern retention in the accompanying SEM cross-sections (8.0µm/6.0µm lines post-ITO-etch; 100µm pad edge and 7.0µm lines post-oxide-etch). No numeric etch rate or resist:film selectivity ratio is published.
Stripper: AZ 100 Remover, AZ 300T, AZ 400T, or AZ Kwik Strip™ (STRIPPING, p.10): "AZ ECI 3000 strips readily in removers designed for DNQ/novolac type photoresists." Patterns baked above 140°C may cross-link and become harder to remove.

SOURCE: HARD BAKE, p.10 of AZ ECI 3000 Series datasheet.

—06 / Applications

Where it's used

Etch maskElectroplating / molding

AZ ECI 3012 is the middle grade in Merck's AZ ECI 3000 cross-over series and the best-documented grade in this datasheet, with dedicated i-line (110/136 mJ/cm² nominal for dense lines/holes respectively) and g-line (220 mJ/cm² nominal) reference processes, PROLITH Dill and development-rate parameters, and demonstrated wet-etch adhesion on ITO (FeCl3/HCl, 70s) and thermal oxide (6 min). Its two documented PEB conditions differ by exposure wavelength (60s on a direct-contact hotplate for i-line vs. 90s on a proximity hotplate for g-line, both at 110°C), so PEB time is published as null rather than merged — a QC reviewer should pick the pairing matching the intended exposure tool. The i-line reference dose is itself split between two feature targets (110 mJ/cm² for lines, 136 mJ/cm² for holes) rather than one nominal number, which is why it is not used for the scalar dose field. Like the rest of the series it is a DNQ/novolac positive resist compatible with both TMAH (MIF, AZ 300MIF used throughout every reference process for this grade) and inorganic developers, stripping in standard DNQ/novolac removers.

—07 / Sources

Sources & disclaimer

Merck — AZ ECI 3012 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 ECI 3012 process recipe." NANYTE Photoresist Library. https://nanyte.com/photoresists/az-eci-3012. Accessed 2026-07-10.

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