https://nanyte.com/photoresists/az-p4620 · last updated 2026-09-28
- Manufacturer
- AZ Electronic Materials
- Tone
- positive
- Chemistry
- DNQ-novolak
- Thickness
- 6–20 µm
- Developer
- AZ 400K
- Applications
- Electroplating / molding
- Substrate
- Resist
- Exposed
Spin coating
Data points
| Series | rpm | µm | Published dose |
|---|---|---|---|
| AZ P4620 as supplied | 1000 | 15 | — |
| 1500 | 12 | — | |
| 2000 | 10 | — | |
| 2500 | 8.9 | — | |
| 3000 | 8.0 | — | |
| 3500 | 7.4 | — | |
| 4000 | 6.9 | — |
Values are the manufacturer’s starting points, not a guarantee — characterize on your own tool. Series digitized from a published figure are approximate (±10 %).
Published dose is the datasheet’s own thickness bracket, quoted as printed — the full table and its citation are in the exposure section. A thickness the table does not cover shows nothing, and a thickness within 10 % of a bracket edge shows every bracket it could fall in.
read from figure, "AZ® P4620 Spin Speed Curve", p.26 of AZ P4620 Photoresist Data Package — single-product chart with one plotted series (unambiguous), softbake 110°C/180 s hotplate on 150 mm Si
- Curve conditions per p.26: 150 mm silicon substrate, softbake 110°C/180 s hotplate.
- A separate multi-grade comparison chart (p.27, a lower-resolution scanned image) plots P4620 alongside P4903, P4400, P4330-RS, P4210 and P4110; at matching speeds it reads noticeably higher (~16.5 µm at 1000 rpm vs. 14.8 µm on the dedicated p.26 chart, an ~11% disagreement between the two figures in the same document).
- The p.26 chart is the published curve here because it is the higher-precision, single-product source with unambiguous curve identity; the p.27 comparison is noted for context, not as a second measurement.
- No dispense volume, spin ramp, or edge-bead detail is published anywhere in this document.
- Adhesion
- HMDS recommended — No HMDS or other adhesion-promoter step is mentioned in AZ P4620's own Photoresist Data Package. The AZ P4000 TDS (Substrate Preparation, p.6) states: "Oxide forming substrates (Si, etc.) should be HMDS primed prior to coating AZ P4000."
- Rehydration
- A 60-minute rehydration wait is specified after the two-stage softbake (100°C/500 s hotplate, then 90°C/180 min oven) in the 28 µm single-coat gold-plating process, before exposure.1
Soft bake
- Soft bake
- 110 °C · 3 min · hotplate
- Rehydrate
- 30–60 min (films over 4 µm, 40–45 % RH)
- Notes
- This is the most consistently repeated single-recipe softbake in the document (15 µm copper-plating process, p.4-6, and matches the spin-curve conditions on p.26). Other film thicknesses in this same datasheet use different bakes: 12 µm at 110°C/80 s (p.10, p.13-17); a two-layer 24 µm coat at 110°C/80 s then 115°C/180 s (p.18-21); 17 µm at 120°C/240 s (p.22); and the 28 µm single-coat process at 100°C/500 s hotplate then 90°C/180 min oven, followed by a 60-minute rehydration wait (p.7-9, see rehydration field). Softbake is thickness- and tool-dependent; no single value applies to all P4620 processes.
SOURCE: p.4-6 of AZ P4620 Photoresist Data Package (AZ P4620 Copper plating process conditions)
SOURCE: Film Rehydration, p.6 of the AZ P4000 Series technical…
Film Rehydration, p.6 of the AZ P4000 Series technical datasheet: "P4000 photoresist films thicker than 4.0µm require a rehydration hold between soft bake and exposure. Hold times are typically 30-60 minutes (depending upon film thickness) @ relative humidity 40-45%." AZ P4620's own data package instead documents a 60-minute hold in its 28 µm gold-plating process — see the rehydration field.
Exposure dose
AZ P4620's dose is published against film thickness, not as a single number. Read the row for the film you coat and run a dose array around it.
- As published
- Every P4620 dose is tied to one film and one tool: 893 to 927 mJ/cm² for a 12 µm coat on a gh-line stepper, 630 mJ/cm² at 17 µm on a ghi-line contact aligner, 1574 to 1742 mJ/cm² for a 24 µm two-layer stack.
| Film thickness | Dose |
|---|---|
| 12 µm | 893–927 mJ/cm² |
| 24 µm | 1574–1742 mJ/cm² |
SOURCE: AZ P4620 Photoresist Data Package — Ultratech 1500 gh-line…
AZ P4620 Photoresist Data Package — Ultratech 1500 gh-line stepper: dense lines / contact holes in a 12 µm film (p.11) and in a 24 µm two-layer coat (p.19). Broadband gh-line, so no single exposure wavelength is claimed.
| Film thickness | Dose |
|---|---|
| 17 µm | 630 mJ/cm² |
SOURCE: AZ P4620 Photoresist Data Package — Canon PLA-501F ghi-line…
AZ P4620 Photoresist Data Package — Canon PLA-501F ghi-line contact aligner, 17 µm film (p.22). Broadband ghi-line, so no single exposure wavelength is claimed.
Development
- Developer
- AZ 400K
- Dilution
- 1:4
- Time
- 5 min
- Method
- immersion
- Rinse
- Not published — characterize on-tool
- Developer family
- Buffered alkaline
SOURCE: AZ P4620 Copper plating process conditions, p.4-6 of AZ P4620…
AZ P4620 Copper plating process conditions, p.4-6 of AZ P4620 Photoresist Data Package (AZ 400K 1:4, immersion 300 s, 23°C)
Hard bake, etch & strip
- Stripper
- AZ 300T, AZ 400T or AZ Kwik Strip (AZ P4000 TDS, companion products, p.1). AZ P4620's own data package does not name a stripper.
Not published for this resist: Hard bake, Descum, Etch resistance, Storage — characterize on-tool.
Where it's used
Practical notes from the datasheet
AZ P4620 is a DNQ-novolak (diazonaphthoquinone/novolak) positive resist from AZ's thick-film P4000 series, positioned in this datasheet for copper and gold electroplating molds rather than lift-off or etch masking. It develops in AZ 400K (a buffered, metal-ion-containing alkaline developer — the datasheet's own preferred choice) or, for finer-pitch stepper lithography, in AZ 300 MIF (TMAH, metal-ion-free). Softbake, exposure dose and develop time all scale with film thickness rather than following one fixed recipe: a 12 µm coat baked at 110°C/80 s takes roughly 900 mJ/cm² on a gh-line stepper, while a 24 µm two-layer coat (110°C/80 s then 115°C/180 s) takes 1742 mJ/cm² for dense lines and 1574 mJ/cm² for contact holes (p.19). The 28 µm single-coat gold-plating process is the process worth flagging for a first-time user: it uses a two-stage softbake (100°C/500 s hotplate, then 90°C/180 min oven) followed by a 60-minute rehydration wait before exposure — a classic thick-DNQ step that is easy to skip and, if skipped, tends to cause scumming or adhesion failure at develop. As a non-chemically-amplified DNQ resist it needs no post-exposure bake.
Grades in this family
Other grades in the AZ P4000 Series line differ mainly in coating thickness:
| Grade | Thickness |
|---|---|
| AZ P4110 | 1–3 µm |
| AZ P4210 | 2–4 µm |
| AZ P4330-RS | 3–5 µm |
| AZ P4400 | 4–6 µm |
| AZ P4620 (this page) | 6–20 µm |
| AZ P4903 | 10–30 µm |
Troubleshooting
Common failure modes for AZ P4620, 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.
Why is a 24 µm AZ P4620 coat so much fussier about dose than a 12 µm one?
Exposure latitude falls sharply between the data package's two stepper runs, though the developer changed too, so thickness is not the only variable. On an Ultratech 1500 gh-line stepper, 10 µm dense lines in a 12 µm film print at 893 mJ/cm² with 91 % exposure latitude (AZ 300 MIF, 200 s spray at 23 °C). In the 24 µm two-layer coat the same lines need 1742 mJ/cm² and 29 %, and contact holes 1574 mJ/cm² and 39 % (AZ 400K 1:4, 260 s spray at 27 °C). At 24 µm, hold dose tightly and redo the dose series whenever thickness or developer changes.
SOURCE: AZ P4620 Photoresist Data Package (AZ Electronic Materials) —…
AZ P4620 Photoresist Data Package (AZ Electronic Materials) — Lithography Performance, 12 µm (p.10–12) and 24 µm (p.18–20) process conditions and summary tables
What does a single-coat 28 µm AZ P4620 gold-plating mold need beyond a normal hotplate bake?
A far longer bake and a real rehydration wait. The data package's 28 µm single-coat gold-plating process soft-bakes in two stages — 100 °C for 500 s on a hotplate, then 90 °C for 180 min in an oven — and waits 60 min for rehydration before ghi-line exposure, developing in AZ 400K 1:3 at 21.5 °C. Thinner coats in the same package bake for 80 s at 110 °C (12 µm) or 180 s at 110 °C (15 µm). A thin-film bake carried over to 28 µm leaves the lower part of the film solvent-rich.
SOURCE: AZ P4620 Photoresist Data Package (AZ Electronic Materials) —…
AZ P4620 Photoresist Data Package (AZ Electronic Materials) — AZ P4620 Gold Plating Process, p.7; Copper plating process conditions, p.4; Lithography Performance process conditions, p.10. MicroChemicals 'Photolithography Trouble Shooter' application note — Bath Contamination by Remaining Solvent? (Thick Resist Films), p.17
Bubbles appear in exposed AZ P4620 once it goes into a warm plating bath — why?
Nitrogen from the exposure. MicroChemicals notes that the N2 generated when a positive resist is exposed can form thermally activated bubbles in the softening resist during any later step at elevated temperature, electroplating included, and recommends a delay after exposure so the N2 can outgas first. During the exposure itself, lower intensity or an exposure split into steps with pauses lets a thick film release N2 in time; the thicker the film, the harder that diffusion gets.
SOURCE: MicroChemicals 'Photolithography Trouble Shooter' application…
MicroChemicals 'Photolithography Trouble Shooter' application note — Bubbles in Resist Film After Thermal Processes, p.15; Bubbles in Resist Film After Exposure, p.14–15
Metal is plating under the edges of my AZ P4620 mold — how do I stop it?
Underplating is an adhesion failure. MicroChemicals explains that resist swells in aqueous plating solutions, which weakens its hold on the substrate. On a gold seed, a few-nm titanium film (chromium or aluminium also work) greatly improves resist adhesion and can be etched away in the developed openings afterwards, taking care not to undercut the resist. Also rule out residue: a few nm of undeveloped resist left in the openings keeps the plated metal from bonding to the seed.
SOURCE: MicroChemicals 'Photolithography Trouble Shooter' application…
MicroChemicals 'Photolithography Trouble Shooter' application note — Electro-Plating: Common Problems (Underplating?; Resist Residuals After Development?), p.17–18
Can a thick AZ P4620 mold leach solvent into my plating bath, and what bake prevents it?
Yes. MicroChemicals warns that solvent released from the resist can disturb the deposition chemistry, and that thick films hold a comparatively high solvent concentration near the substrate even after a prolonged soft bake. Its fix for thick films is a bake after development at about 10 °C below the resist's softening point, which it puts at 110–130 °C for most positive AZ resists. The data package itself publishes no post-develop bake, so qualify that step on your own molds.
SOURCE: MicroChemicals 'Photolithography Trouble Shooter' application…
MicroChemicals 'Photolithography Trouble Shooter' application note — Bath Contamination by Remaining Solvent? (Thick Resist Films), p.17; Dry Etching: Resist Rounding/Flowing?, p.16. AZ P4620 Photoresist Data Package (AZ Electronic Materials) — plating and lithography process conditions, p.4–22
Sources & disclaimer
- AZ Electronic Materials — AZ P4620 datasheet · accessed 2026-07-10
- https://www.microchemicals.com/dokumente/datenblaetter/tds/merck/en/tds_az_p4000_series.pdf — AZ P4000 Series technical datasheet, Rev. (08/21): the p.1 grade table rates AZ P4620 at '6.0 - >20µm'; Substrate Preparation (p.6) and companion products (p.1) supply the HMDS priming statement, the Film Rehydration hold and the strippers (AZ 300T, AZ 400T, AZ Kwik Strip) recorded above for this grade.
- AZ® P4620 Gold Plating Process, p.7 of AZ P4620 Photoresist Data Package
- Cheng et al.. Thick-film lithography using laser write. Microsystem Technologies (2002). doi:10.1007/s00542-002-0201-yAZ P4620 at 30 um thickness, over an AZ BARLi II anti-reflective coating, was patterned on a Heidelberg DWL 66 laser writer for LIGA x-ray masks. Multiple-writing schemes and defocus control were used to straighten sidewalls and suppress intensity fluctuation in the thick film.
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.