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SU-8 2002 process recipe

SU-8 2002 coats about 2.0-2.9 µm between 3000 and 1000 rpm, the thin-film grade of Kayaku's SU-8 2000 epoxy negative resist for permanent layers a couple of microns thick.

https://nanyte.com/photoresists/su-8-2002 · last updated 2026-09-13

At a glance
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Manufacturer
Kayaku Advanced Materials
Tone
negative
Chemistry
Epoxy (SU-8 type)
Thickness
2.0–2.9 µm
Developer
SU-8 Developer; ethyl lactate or diacetone alcohol may also be used
Applications
MEMS structural · High aspect ratio · Electroplating / molding

Cross-checked — two independent extractions agree on the spin curve and the single-value figures.

The exposed resist stays after development; the unexposed film dissolves. Schematic cross-sections for SU-8 2002 — feature width, film aspect ratio and sidewall angle are illustrative, not to scale.
01 / Coating

Spin coating

Spin curve for SU-8 2002: film thickness in µm against spin speed in rpm.1.52.02.53.03.51k1.5k2k2.5k3kSPIN SPEED (rpm)THICKNESS (µm)
Data points
SU-8 2002 — film thickness (µm) by spin speed (rpm)
SeriesrpmµmPublished dose
SU-8 200210002.9
20002.4
30002.0

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 — the square markers legended 'SU-8 2002' on Figure 1a 'SU-8 2000 Thickness vs. Spin Speed', p.2 of the SU-8 2000, 2000.5-2015 Technical Data Sheet, ver. 1, August 2020. Three plotted markers at 1000, 2000 and 3000 rpm; no numeric table accompanies the chart. Marker centres located against the 0.2 µm axis ticks of the embedded chart image.

Redrawn from the manufacturer's published data — hover to read between points, click to pin.
  • Three speeds are plotted: 2.93 µm at 1000 rpm, 2.40 µm at 2000 and 2.01 µm at 3000.
  • Kayaku's recommended program for the series: dispense 1 ml of resist per inch (25 mm) of substrate diameter, spread at 500 rpm for 5-10 s at 100 rpm/s, then spin at 2000 rpm for 30 s at 300 rpm/s, choosing the final speed from the spin chart.
  • Remove the edge bead with EBR PG so the mask can seat in close contact.
Adhesion
HMDS not required — 'Adhesion promoters are typically not required.' Clean and dry the substrate first — piranha (H2SO4 and H2O2) with a DI rinse, or RIE or an oxygen barrel asher. For applications that include electroplating, an HMDS pre-treatment is recommended.
02 / Bake

Soft bake

Soft bake
95 °C · hotplate
Notes
Times are set by film thickness: 0.5-2 µm → 1 min and 3-5 µm → 2 min at 95 °C; the table skips 2-3 µm, which is where this grade coats, so use 1-2 min and confirm with the wrinkle test. Use a level hotplate — convection ovens are not recommended because a skin can form and trap solvent. To check the bake, cool the wafer to room temperature and return it to the hotplate; if the film wrinkles, bake a few more minutes and repeat until it does not.

SOURCE: Table 2 'Soft Bake Times', p.3 of the SU-8 2000, 2000.5-2015 Technical Data Sheet, ver. 1, August 2020

03 / Exposure

Exposure dose

SU-8 2002'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
Dose follows the film you spin, not the grade name: the table gives 60-180 mJ/cm² for 0.5-2 µm and 90-105 mJ/cm² for 3-5 µm, and has no row for the 2-3 µm films this grade makes. On glass and most metals multiply by 1.5-2.
Post-exposure bake
95 °C · hotplate
SU-8 2002 — dose by film thickness
Film thicknessDose
0.5–2 µm60–180 mJ/cm²
3–5 µm90–105 mJ/cm²
6–15 µm110–140 mJ/cm²
16–25 µm140–150 mJ/cm²
26–40 µm150–160 mJ/cm²
SOURCE: SU-8 2000 2000.5-2015 Technical Data Sheet

Table 3 'Exposure Dose', p.3 of the SU-8 2000, 2000.5-2015 Technical Data Sheet, ver. 1, August 2020 — indexed by film thickness and shared by the six grades that sheet covers; no wavelength is attached to the table.

04 / Development

Development

Developer
SU-8 Developer; ethyl lactate or diacetone alcohol may also be used
Method
immersion, spray or spray-puddle
Rinse
Spray and wash the developed image with fresh SU-8 developer for about 10 s, then air-dry with filtered pressurised air or nitrogen.
Developer family
Solvent

Not published for this resist: Dilution, Time — characterize on-tool.

SOURCE: SU-8 2000 2000.5-2015 Technical Data Sheet

Development section and Table 6 'Development Times for SU-8 Developer', p.4 of the SU-8 2000, 2000.5-2015 Technical Data Sheet, ver. 1, August 2020

05 / Post-processing

Hard bake, etch & strip

Hard bake
150–250 °C · 5–30 min
Descum
Not published — characterize on-tool
Etch resistance
Not characterised as an etch mask. Once cross-linked the film is described as chemically and thermally stable — 315 °C at 5 % weight loss, a glass transition of 210 °C — and extremely difficult to remove with solvent strippers.
Stripper
Minimally cross-linked SU-8 2000 swells and lifts off in Remover PG at 50-80 °C for 30-90 min; with a 30-100 nm OmniCoat underlayer the lift-off is clean. Fully cured or hard-baked SU-8 2000 cannot be removed without OmniCoat. To rework fully cross-linked films: piranha, plasma ash, RIE (200 W, 80 sccm O2, 8 sccm CF4, 100 mTorr, 10 °C), laser ablation or pyrolysis.
Storage
Store upright in tightly closed containers in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight, light, acids, heat and ignition sources, at 4-21 °C (40-70 °F). Shelf life is thirteen months from date of manufacture.

SOURCE: Hard bake (cure) section, p.5 of the SU-8 2000, 2000.5-2015 Technical Data Sheet, ver. 1, August 2020

06 / Applications

Where it's used

Practical notes from the datasheet

SU-8 2002 fills the gap between the sub-micron 2000.5 and the 2005 grade, making permanent epoxy films of two to three microns. One quirk of the sheet matters for this grade specifically: its bake, dose and develop tables jump from a 0.5-2 µm row to a 3-5 µm row, and most SU-8 2002 coats fall between them. Development is 1 minute either side of the gap, so that step is unaffected, but bake and dose have to be bracketed — start between the two rows and let the latent image and the wrinkle test tell you when it is right. Kayaku's check for exposure is a visible mask image within a minute of the 95 °C post-exposure bake. As with every SU-8 2000 grade, the cross-linked film is permanent; use OmniCoat if it must be removed.

07 / Family

Grades in this family

Other grades in the SU-8 2000 series line differ mainly in coating thickness:

SU-8 2000 series — grade comparison
GradeThickness
SU-8 2000.50.5–0.8 µm
SU-8 2002 (this page)2.0–2.9 µm
SU-8 20054.6–7.8 µm
SU-8 20076.7–12.4 µm
SU-8 20109.6–20.6 µm
SU-8 201513.2–38.5 µm
SU-8 202521.7–79.2 µm
SU-8 203533–119 µm
SU-8 205040.1–171 µm
SU-8 207559–239 µm
SU-8 2100103–269 µm
08 / Sources

Sources & disclaimer

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 2026-09-13.

Cite this recipe

NANYTE. "SU-8 2002 process recipe." NANYTE Photoresist Library. https://nanyte.com/photoresists/su-8-2002. Accessed 2026-09-13.

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