https://nanyte.com/photoresists/ordyl-alpha-900 · last updated 2026-10-15
- Manufacturer
- Elga Europe
- Tone
- negative
- Thickness
- 20–60 µm
- Developer
- Na2CO3 0.8-1.2 % (optimum 0.9 %, 29 °C) or K2CO3 0.6-1.0 % (optimum 0.8 %, 28 °C)
- Applications
- Etch mask · Electroplating / molding
Cross-checked — the spin curve (where published) and the single-value figures were read twice, independently, from the datasheet, with any disagreement settled against it.
- Substrate
- Resist
- Exposed
Coating — dry-film lamination
Ordyl Alpha 900 is supplied as a pre-cut dry-film sheet and applied by hot-roll lamination — it is not spin-coated. Thickness is fixed per sheet, 20–60 µm, selected by sheet rather than by spin speed.
- Alpha 900 goes on with a hot-roll laminator; there is nothing to spin and the sheet sets the thickness.
- The panel must be completely dry.
- Both laminator types run the hot roll at 105-125 °C and 1-3 m/min (3-10 ft/min), with an optional pre-heat.
- Roll pressure is 2.5-3.5 bar (36-50 psi) on a manual machine and 2.5-6.0 bar (36-87 psi) on an automatic one, which adds a seal step of 1-4 s at 40-80 °C and 3.0-6.0 bar (44-87 psi).
- Exit temperature of the panel should be 50-70 °C on inner layers and 45-60 °C on outer layers.
- Wait at least 20 minutes after lamination (or until the panel is at room temperature) and no more than 1 week before exposing.
- (Process Information, p.2.)
- Adhesion
- No adhesion promoter is mentioned. The sheet states very good adhesion on copper and names the surfaces it covers: vendor copper, electroless and panel-plated copper (unscrubbed or pumice-and-brush treated) and chemically microetched copper. Thorough cleaning before lamination is recommended (Product Description, p.1; Process Information, Surface preparation, p.2).
Soft bake
- Soft bake
- Not published — characterize on-tool
- Notes
- No bake step sits between lamination and exposure; the laminated film is exposed after its hold period.
SOURCE: Process Information, p.2-3 -- lamination and hold time lead directly to exposure
Exposure dose
Ordyl Alpha 900's dose is published per sheet thickness, not as a single number. Read the row for the sheet you laminate and run a dose array around it.
- As published
- Dose follows the sheet: 20-25 mJ/cm² for the 20 µm film up to 45-50 mJ/cm² for the 60 µm film, each set to 8 solid steps on a Stouffer 21-step tablet, with a 360-380 nm lamp or laser.
| Sheet | Dose |
|---|---|
| 20 µm | 20–25 mJ/cm² |
| 30 µm | 25–30 mJ/cm² |
| 40 µm | 30–35 mJ/cm² |
| 50 µm | 35–40 mJ/cm² |
| 60 µm | 45–50 mJ/cm² |
SOURCE: Exposure table 'Energy (mJ/cm2)', p.3, columns Alpha920 / 930…
Exposure table 'Energy (mJ/cm2)', p.3, columns Alpha920 / 930 / 940 / 950 / 960, 'referred to 8 Solid STEP of SST21'. The table carries no single wavelength; the text above it recommends lamps or a laser with an emission peak at 360-380 nm, so no wavelength is given here. Column-to-thickness pairing follows the table's own Resolution row (see thickness note).
Development
- Developer
- Na2CO3 0.8-1.2 % (optimum 0.9 %, 29 °C) or K2CO3 0.6-1.0 % (optimum 0.8 %, 28 °C)
- Method
- spray
- Rinse
- Water rinse at 9-15 °dH (150-250 ppm CaCO3; optimum 12 °dH, 213 ppm), 15-25 °C with 20 °C optimum, in a rinse module no shorter than two thirds of the developing module.
- Developer family
- Buffered alkaline
Not published for this resist: Dilution, Time — characterize on-tool.
SOURCE: Developing and Developing time tables, p.3
Hard bake, etch & strip
- Stripper
- Strip in NaOH or KOH, 1.0-3.0 %, at 40-60 °C, spray pressure 1.5-4.0 bar (22-58 psi), break point 40-60 %, with Ordyl Antifoam C. The data sheet prints a strip-curve graph (p.4) that plots strip time against NaOH concentration from about 1 to 3 %. Read off the graph, Alpha 940 strips in roughly 170 s at 1 % and 40 s at 3 %, Alpha 960 in roughly 390 s at 1 % and 105 s at 3 %. These are figure reads (about +/-10 %) from a laboratory dip test. The same graph shows chip size growing with NaOH concentration. A proprietary stripper (Ordyl Stripper 5600) gives smaller flakes and faster stripping with less copper oxidation and less tin / tin-lead attack. (Stripping, p.4.)
Not published for this resist: Hard bake, Descum, Etch resistance, Storage — characterize on-tool.
SOURCE: Whole data sheet -- no hardbake or post-develop bake appears
Where it's used
Practical notes from the datasheet
Alpha 900 is billed as the universal film in Elga's line, aimed at the most common PCB jobs: acid etching, tenting, and copper, tin and tin/lead plating. The datasheet calls out high flexibility and conformability, good polymerisation through the full film depth, and easy stripping in small flakes; tenting over large tooling holes is possible from 40 µm film upward. Resolution is simply the sheet thickness: 20 µm lines on the 20 µm film, up to 60 µm on the 60 µm film (p.3). The 20 µm sheet is flagged as the ultra-fine-line option and the other four as standard. Like its siblings it is written for copper-clad boards on production lines, so the spray-pressure and break-point settings assume a conveyorised developer. Storage details are in a separate Ordyl specification form, not in this sheet.
Troubleshooting
Common failure modes for Ordyl Alpha 900, 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.
The strip is slow and the flakes are large. How do I change that?
Raise the NaOH concentration. On the Alpha 940/950/960 strip graph, strip time falls steeply between 1 % and about 2 % NaOH and flattens out toward 3 %, while chip size grows, so a stronger bath strips faster but leaves bigger flakes. The data sheet's alternative is its proprietary stripper, which it offers for smaller flakes and faster stripping with less copper oxidation.
SOURCE: 900 Product Data Sheet
Elga Europe, Ordyl Alpha 900 Product Data Sheet Ed. 05 (28 August 2019) -- Stripping, graph 'Stripping Time/Chip Size with different NaOH Concentration' and Proprietary strippers, p.4
Sources & disclaimer
- Elga Europe — Ordyl Alpha 900 datasheet (Edition 05 -- 28 August 2019 (printed on every page of the PDF)) · accessed 2026-10-15
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 2026-10-15.