https://nanyte.com/photoresists/az-eci-3027 · last updated 2026-09-28
- Manufacturer
- Merck (AZ Electronic Materials)
- Tone
- positive
- Chemistry
- DNQ-novolak
- Thickness
- 2.4–4.4 µm
- Exposure dose
- 262 mJ/cm² at 365 nm
- Developer
- AZ 726MIF
- Applications
- Etch mask · Electroplating / molding · General prototyping
Cross-checked — two independent extractions agree on the spin curve and the single-value figures.
- Substrate
- Resist
- Exposed
Spin coating
Data points
| Series | rpm | µm |
|---|---|---|
| AZ ECI 3027 as supplied | 1500 | 4.4 |
| 2000 | 3.8 | |
| 3000 | 3.1 | |
| 4000 | 2.7 | |
| 5000 | 2.4 |
Values are the manufacturer’s starting points, not a guarantee — characterize on your own tool. Series digitized from a published figure are approximate (±10 %).
read from figure, "SPIN CURVES (150mm Wafers)" chart, p.1 of AZ ECI 3000 Series Technical Datasheet (Merck, Rev. 03/21); AZ ECI 3027 identified by its purple/violet legend marker (topmost curve), distinct from AZ ECI 3007 (blue, bottom curve) and AZ ECI 3012 (red/magenta, middle curve) plotted on the same axes.
- 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.10 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 ECI 3000. Contact your products representative for detailed information on pre-treating with HMDS."1
Soft bake
- Soft bake
- 100 °C (90–110 °C) · 60 s · hotplate
- Notes
- This is the REFERENCE PROCESS condition for AZ ECI 3027 (2.5 µm film on bare Si) on p.4, using a proximity hotplate. The series-wide TYPICAL PROCESS section (p.1) separately states a broader 90-110°C range with a fixed 60 s time for the whole ECI 3000 series (higher end of the range improves adhesion to metals); the AZ ECI 3027-specific reference-process value (100°C) sits inside that range.
SOURCE: REFERENCE PROCESS (Dense lines in AZ ECI 3027 Photoresist), p.4; TYPICAL PROCESS, p.1
Exposure dose
The manufacturer publishes 262 mJ/cm² at 365 nm. Dose scales with film thickness and depends on your optics, so treat it as a starting point and run a dose array.
- Dose at 365 nm
- 262 mJ/cm²
- Dose at 405 nm
- Not published — characterize on-tool
- As published
- 262 mJ/cm² i-line is the nominal for a 2.5 µm film developed in AZ 726MIF; drop to about 240 mJ/cm² if you develop in AZ 300MIF instead.
- Post-exposure bake
- 120 °C · 60 s (optional)
SOURCE: REFERENCE PROCESS (Dense lines in AZ ECI 3027 Photoresist), p.4
Development
- Developer
- AZ 726MIF
- Time
- 60 s
- Method
- puddle
- Developer family
- TMAH or buffered alkaline
Not published for this resist: Dilution, Rinse — characterize on-tool.
SOURCE: REFERENCE PROCESS (Dense lines in AZ ECI 3027 Photoresist), p.4 ("Develop: AZ 726MIF, 60s single puddle @ 23°C")
Hard bake, etch & strip
- Hard bake
- 100–115 °C
- Etch resistance
- Datasheet demonstrates wet-etch adhesion/profile retention for AZ ECI 3012 (a different, thinner grade in the same series, not AZ ECI 3027 specifically) through an ITO etch (FeCl3/HCl, 70s @ 45°C, on a 200nm ITO film) and a thermal-oxide etch (6 min @ 22°C, on a 690nm oxide film), both shown with SEM cross-sections retaining resist profile (WET ETCH ADHESION CHARACTERISTICS, p.8). No etch-resistance data specific to AZ ECI 3027 is published; the series is marketed generally for 'plasma/RIE and wet etching applications' (APPLICATION, p.1).
- Stripper
- AZ 100 Remover, 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.2
Not published for this resist: Descum, Storage — characterize on-tool.
SOURCE: PROCESS CONSIDERATIONS / HARD BAKE, p.10
Where it's used
Practical notes from the datasheet
AZ ECI 3027 is the thickest grade in Merck's AZ ECI 3000 series, a general-purpose, high-throughput positive DNQ/novolak cross-over resist explicitly usable at both i-line (365 nm) and g-line (436 nm), marketed for plasma/RIE and wet-etch masking (the DNQ/novolak classification comes directly from the datasheet's own stripper-compatibility statement, p.10). Unlike AZ ECI 3007/3012 (documented in the same datasheet at ~1.2 µm film with resolution down to 0.4 µm lines/0.5 µm holes), the dedicated AZ ECI 3027 reference process (p.4) is run at 2.5 µm film thickness — 100°C/60s soft bake, i-line exposure at 262 mJ/cm² nominal (0.54NA, 0.6s, Nikon stepper; ~240 mJ/cm² if developing with AZ 300MIF instead of the AZ 726MIF actually used), 120°C/60s PEB, and a 60s AZ 726MIF single-puddle develop at 23°C — and resolves dense lines down to roughly 0.60 µm at that dose, per the p.4 Dense Line Linearity chart. The series-wide 'production resolution to 0.4µm' headline claim (p.1) applies to the thinner grades' reference processes, not to AZ ECI 3027 at its documented 2.5 µm thickness. On the p.1 multi-grade spin-speed chart (ECI 3007/3012/3027 plotted together), the AZ ECI 3027 curve was identified by its distinct purple/violet legend marker as the topmost (thickest) curve; the reported points are a figure read, not a printed table, so treat each as a ±5-10% estimate against the chart. Soft bake, PEB, and hard bake are also given as series-wide ranges (90-110°C, 105-115°C, 100-115°C respectively) in the generic TYPICAL PROCESS/PROCESS CONSIDERATIONS sections — the reference-process values above were preferred where available since they are resist- and thickness-specific.
Grades in this family
Other grades in the AZ ECI 3000 series line differ mainly in coating thickness:
| Grade | Thickness | Exposure dose |
|---|---|---|
| AZ ECI 3007 | 0.6–1.1 µm | — |
| AZ ECI 3012 | 1.1–1.9 µm | 220 mJ/cm² @ 436 nm |
| AZ ECI 3027 (this page) | 2.4–4.4 µm | 262 mJ/cm² @ 365 nm |
Troubleshooting
Common failure modes for AZ ECI 3027, 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.
I switched AZ ECI 3027 from AZ 726MIF to AZ 300MIF and my lines came out wrong — does the dose change?
Yes. The 2.5 µm AZ ECI 3027 reference process exposes at 262 mJ/cm² nominal (i-line, 0.54 NA Nikon stepper) and develops in AZ 726MIF, 60 s single puddle at 23 °C. A footnote on that table says to adjust the nominal dose for this film thickness to about 240 mJ/cm² when using AZ 300MIF instead. Carrying 262 mJ/cm² over to AZ 300MIF puts you about 9 % above the recommended dose.
SOURCE: AZ ECI 3000 Series Technical datasheet (Merck, Rev. 03/21) —…
AZ ECI 3000 Series Technical datasheet (Merck, Rev. 03/21) — Reference Process (Dense lines in AZ ECI 3027), p.4, including its dose footnote
Why doesn't my AZ ECI 3027 dose carry over when I change spin speed?
Dose to clear climbs with thickness and carries an interference swing on top. The datasheet's i-line curve for AZ ECI 3027 on silicon rises from roughly 110 to 150 mJ/cm² between about 2.15 and 2.7 µm, with smaller oscillations along the way, and the spin curve spans about 2.4–4.4 µm from 5000 down to 1500 rpm. A dose set at one speed will not hold at another; re-check it whenever the target thickness moves.
SOURCE: AZ ECI 3000 Series Technical datasheet (Merck, Rev. 03/21) —…
AZ ECI 3000 Series Technical datasheet (Merck, Rev. 03/21) — ECI 3027 i-line TFI curve on Si, p.6; Spin Curves (150 mm wafers), p.1
What PEB should AZ ECI 3027 get, given the reference process runs hotter than the general rule?
The grade's reference process uses 120 °C for 60 s on a proximity hotplate after a 100 °C / 60 s proximity soft bake. The same datasheet's general guidance puts PEB at 105–115 °C, and the series typical process at 110 °C for 60–90 s. PEB is there to widen process latitude and suppress standing waves from monochromatic exposure, and the datasheet calls PEB times and temperatures application specific. Treat 120 °C as the value qualified for that 2.5 µm proximity-hotplate run, and confirm it on your own hotplate.
SOURCE: AZ ECI 3000 Series Technical datasheet (Merck, Rev. 03/21) —…
AZ ECI 3000 Series Technical datasheet (Merck, Rev. 03/21) — Reference Process (Dense lines in AZ ECI 3027), p.4; Typical Process, p.1; Post Expose Bake, p.10
My AZ ECI 3027 etch mask rounded over during hard bake or dry etch — how hot can it go?
The datasheet keeps hard bake at 100–115 °C to limit thermal distortion. Its thermal-stability SEMs (100 µm pads, 1.2 µm film, 60 s bakes) show a sharp edge at 110 °C, slight change at 115 °C and a visibly rounded edge at 120 °C. MicroChemicals puts the softening point of most positive AZ resists at 110–130 °C, and warns that a dry etch heating the resist past it rounds the profile, so both the bake and the etch need to stay below that point.
SOURCE: AZ ECI 3000 Series Technical datasheet (Merck, Rev. 03/21) —…
AZ ECI 3000 Series Technical datasheet (Merck, Rev. 03/21) — Hard Bake, p.10; Thermal Stability, p.9. MicroChemicals 'Photolithography Trouble Shooter' application note — Dry Etching: Resist Rounding/Flowing?, p.16
Why won't AZ ECI 3027 strip after a hot process step?
Under normal conditions it strips readily in DNQ/novolac removers — AZ 100 Remover, AZ 300T, AZ 400T or AZ Kwik Strip. Strip time depends on thermal history: patterns taken above 140 °C may crosslink and become harder to remove, and charred resist will not dissolve in solvent-based removers at all. The datasheet's advice is to avoid excessive processing temperatures in the first place.
SOURCE: AZ ECI 3000 Series Technical datasheet (Merck, Rev. 03/21) — Stripping, p.10
Sources & disclaimer
- Merck (AZ Electronic Materials) — AZ ECI 3027 datasheet (Rev. (03/21)) · accessed 2026-07-10
- SUBSTRATE PREPARATION, p.10. (A p.8 example process for AZ ECI 3012 — a different grade in this series — separately used 'HMDS vapor' as the primer ahead of an oxide-etch adhesion test, consistent with this recommendation, but that example is not AZ ECI 3027-specific.)
- STRIPPING, p.10.
- Lipp et al.. Aperture-Controlled Fabrication of All-Dielectric Structural Color Pixels. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (2023). doi:10.1021/acsami.3c03353A 750 nm AZ ECI 3007 film was patterned on a maskless writer to control aperture geometry and tune all-dielectric structural colour.
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 2026-09-28.