https://nanyte.com/photoresists/su-8-2015 · last updated 2026-09-28
- Manufacturer
- Kayaku Advanced Materials
- Tone
- negative
- Chemistry
- Epoxy (SU-8 type)
- Thickness
- 13.2–38.5 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.
- Substrate
- Resist
- Exposed
Spin coating
Data points
| Series | rpm | µm | Published dose |
|---|---|---|---|
| SU-8 2015 | 1000 | 39 | 150–160 mJ/cm² · 26–40 µm row within 10 % of a bracket edge |
| 1500 | 27 | 140–150 mJ/cm² · 16–25 µm row 150–160 mJ/cm² · 26–40 µm row within 10 % of a bracket edge | |
| 2000 | 21 | 140–150 mJ/cm² · 16–25 µm row | |
| 2500 | 18 | 140–150 mJ/cm² · 16–25 µm row | |
| 3000 | 16 | 110–140 mJ/cm² · 6–15 µm row 140–150 mJ/cm² · 16–25 µm row within 10 % of a bracket edge | |
| 3500 | 14 | 110–140 mJ/cm² · 6–15 µm row within 10 % of a bracket edge | |
| 4000 | 13 | 110–140 mJ/cm² · 6–15 µm row |
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 blue square markers legended 'SU-8 2015' on Figure 1b 'SU-8 2000 Thickness vs. Spin Speed', p.2 of the SU-8 2000, 2000.5-2015 Technical Data Sheet, ver. 1, August 2020. Seven plotted markers at 500 rpm steps; no numeric table accompanies the chart. Reads are calibrated against the 5 µm axis ticks of the embedded chart image.
- The steepest curve on the chart: 38.5 µm at 1000 rpm, 26.7 µm at 1500 and 21.2 µm at 2000, then flattening to 13.2 µm at 4000.
- Below 2000 rpm small speed errors move the thickness a lot.
- 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.
Soft bake
- Soft bake
- 95 °C · hotplate
- Notes
- Times are set by film thickness: 16-25 µm → 3-4 min and 26-40 µm → 4-5 min at 95 °C (6-15 µm → 2-3 min for the fastest spins). 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
Exposure dose
SU-8 2015'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: 16-25 µm films take 140-150 mJ/cm² and 26-40 µm films 150-160 mJ/cm² (110-140 mJ/cm² at 6-15 µm). On glass and most metals multiply by 1.5-2.
- Post-exposure bake
- 95 °C · hotplate
| Film thickness | Dose |
|---|---|
| 0.5–2 µm | 60–180 mJ/cm² |
| 3–5 µm | 90–105 mJ/cm² |
| 6–15 µm | 110–140 mJ/cm² |
| 16–25 µm | 140–150 mJ/cm² |
| 26–40 µm | 150–160 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.
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
Hard bake, etch & strip
- Hard bake
- 150–250 °C · 5–30 min (optional — when the resist stays on the device)
- 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
Where it's used
Practical notes from the datasheet
SU-8 2015 bridges the thin SU-8 2000 grades and SU-8 2025, reaching almost 40 µm at 1000 rpm from a 1250 cSt resin. Most coats fall in the 16-25 or 26-40 µm rows of the process tables: bake 3-5 minutes at 95 °C, expose 140-160 mJ/cm² on silicon, post-bake 4-6 minutes and develop 3-5 minutes in SU-8 Developer with strong agitation for tall or narrow features. At the slow end of the curve the thickness is sensitive to spin speed, so check the first wafer. The cured epoxy stays on the device; use OmniCoat underneath if it has to be released.
Grades in this family
Other grades in the SU-8 2000 series line differ mainly in coating thickness:
Troubleshooting
Common failure modes for SU-8 2015, 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.
My SU-8 2015 spun at 1000 rpm still wrinkles after the listed soft bake. What's going on?
At 1000 rpm SU-8 2015 coats to about 38.5 µm, the top of the datasheet's 26–40 µm row, which calls for 4–5 min at 95 °C. Wrinkling on re-heat after a cool-down is the sheet's own sign the film is still wet: leave it on the hotplate a few more minutes and repeat the cool-down/heat-up cycle until the wrinkles stop. Bake on a level hotplate with good uniformity, not a convection oven, where a skin can trap solvent and stretch the bake further.
SOURCE: SU-8 2000 (2000.5–2015) Technical Data Sheet
Kayaku SU-8 2000 (2000.5–2015) Technical Data Sheet, ver. 1, Aug 2020 — Figure 1b, p.2; Soft Bake and Table 2 Soft Bake Times, p.3
What dose does a thick SU-8 2015 film need, and how do I know it was enough?
Dose rises with thickness across this grade's range: 110–140 mJ/cm² for 6–15 µm, 140–150 for 16–25 µm and 150–160 for 26–40 µm, on silicon. The check comes on the PEB hotplate: a latent image should appear within 5–15 s at optimal exposure, and by 1 min at 95 °C at the latest — no image means too little exposure, heat or both. If you fit a sub-350 nm long-pass filter for vertical sidewalls, expect about 40 % longer exposure.
SOURCE: SU-8 2000 (2000.5–2015) Technical Data Sheet
Kayaku SU-8 2000 (2000.5–2015) Technical Data Sheet, ver. 1, Aug 2020 — Exposure and Table 3 Exposure Dose, p.3; Post Exposure Bake note, p.4
Can I spin SU-8 2015 below 1000 rpm to get past 40 µm?
The datasheet doesn't support it. Its SU-8 2015 curve stops at 1000 rpm (about 38.5 µm), and every bake, dose and develop table in this sheet ends at the 26–40 µm row, so there is no published process beyond that. SU-8 2000 comes in twelve viscosities, and the thicker grades (2025–2075) have their own sheet with tables running to 225 µm — for a thicker single coat, move up a grade.
SOURCE: SU-8 2000 (2000.5–2015) Technical Data Sheet
Kayaku SU-8 2000 (2000.5–2015) Technical Data Sheet, ver. 1, Aug 2020 — Coat and Figure 1b, p.2; Tables 2–3, p.3; Tables 5–6, p.4; SU-8 2000 (2025–2075) Technical Data Sheet, Aug 2020 — Tables 2–3, p.3
Deep SU-8 2015 structures take longer to clear than the develop table says. Normal?
It can be. The Table 6 times for this grade — 2–3 min (6–15 µm), 3–4 min (16–25 µm) and 4–5 min (26–40 µm) in SU-8 developer — are approximate, and actual dissolution rate varies widely with agitation. Kayaku recommends strong agitation for thick, high-aspect-ratio structures, and notes that an ultrasonic or megasonic bath may help with vias, holes or tight pitch. Rinse with a ~10 s spray of fresh developer before drying.
SOURCE: Kayaku SU-8 2000 (2000.5–2015) Technical Data Sheet, ver. 1, Aug 2020 — Development, Table 6 and Rinse and Dry, p.4
Sources & disclaimer
- Kayaku Advanced Materials — SU-8 2015 datasheet (SU-8 2000, 2000.5-2015 Technical Data Sheet, ver. 1, August 2020) · accessed 2026-09-10
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 2026-09-28.