https://nanyte.com/photoresists/su-8-2000-5 · last updated 2026-09-28
- Manufacturer
- Kayaku Advanced Materials
- Tone
- negative
- Chemistry
- Epoxy (SU-8 type)
- Thickness
- 0.5–0.8 µm
- Developer
- SU-8 Developer; ethyl lactate or diacetone alcohol may also be used
- Applications
- MEMS structural · High aspect ratio · 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
Spin coating
Data points
| Series | rpm | µm | Published dose |
|---|---|---|---|
| SU-8 2000.5 | 1000 | 0.76 | 60–180 mJ/cm² · 0.5–2 µm row |
| 2000 | 0.64 | 60–180 mJ/cm² · 0.5–2 µm row | |
| 3000 | 0.51 | 60–180 mJ/cm² · 0.5–2 µm row within 10 % of a bracket edge |
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 round markers legended 'SU-8 2000.5' 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. Reads are calibrated against the 0.2 µm axis ticks of the embedded chart image.
- Only three speeds are plotted, and the curve is shallow: 0.76 µm at 1000 rpm, 0.64 µm at 2000 and 0.51 µm at 3000, so speed moves this grade by only a quarter of a micron across the whole chart.
- 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: 0.5-2 µm → 1 min at 95 °C. 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 2000.5'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: 0.5-2 µm films take 60-180 mJ/cm². 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 2000.5 is SU-8 thinned down to 14.3 % solids and 2.49 cSt, which is what it takes to get the epoxy under a micron. The sheet presents the whole series for permanent applications, where the imaged film is cured and left on the device. The dose band the sheet gives for 0.5-2 µm films is unusually wide, 60-180 mJ/cm², so an exposure matrix is not optional here. Process is fast: 1 minute soft bake at 95 °C, 1-2 minutes post-exposure bake, 1 minute in SU-8 Developer. Like all SU-8 2000, once fully cross-linked it is very hard to strip, so plan an OmniCoat underlayer if it has to come off.
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 2000.5, 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.
No mask image shows up in my SU-8 2000.5 film during PEB. Is the dose too low?
It can be, or the bake was too cool: the datasheet reads no image during or after PEB as insufficient exposure, heating or both. SU-8 2000.5 coats at roughly 0.5–0.8 µm, so it runs off the 0.5–2 µm row: 60–180 mJ/cm² exposure and 1–2 min PEB at 95 °C. After 1 min at 95 °C a latent image of the mask should be visible. That dose row is wide, so run an exposure matrix, and scale up on anything but silicon — 1.5X on glass, Pyrex or ITO, 1.5–2X on nitride and metals.
SOURCE: SU-8 2000 (2000.5–2015) Technical Data Sheet
Kayaku SU-8 2000 (2000.5–2015) Technical Data Sheet, ver. 1, Aug 2020 — Table 3 Exposure Dose, p.3; Post Exposure Bake note, Table 4 and Table 5, p.4
My SU-8 2000.5 pattern came out wrong. Can I strip it and recoat?
Only easily if it has not been fully cured. Remover PG swells and lifts minimally cross-linked SU-8 2000: heat the bath to 50–80 °C and immerse for 30–90 min, the time depending on thickness and cross-link density. Fully cured or hard-baked SU-8 2000.5 cannot be removed that way unless an OmniCoat layer (30–100 nm) went down first. Past that point the rework options are oxidizing acids such as piranha, plasma ash, RIE (200 W, 80 sccm O₂, 8 sccm CF₄, 100 mTorr), laser ablation or pyrolysis.
SOURCE: Kayaku SU-8 2000 (2000.5–2015) Technical Data Sheet, ver. 1, Aug 2020 — Removal, p.5; rework and Plasma Removal, p.6
SU-8 2000.5 lines are lifting off the wafer in the developer. What surface prep does Kayaku call for?
Start from a clean, dry substrate: a piranha (H₂SO₄ + H₂O₂) clean followed by a DI water rinse, or an RIE or O₂ barrel-asher clean. With that, adhesion promoters are typically not required. The one case where the sheet recommends HMDS pretreatment is electroplating.
SOURCE: Kayaku SU-8 2000 (2000.5–2015) Technical Data Sheet, ver. 1, Aug 2020 — Substrate Preparation, p.2
Is a 1 min soft bake really enough to dry SU-8 2000.5?
It is the published time for 0.5–2 µm films at 95 °C, on a level, well-controlled hotplate. Check it rather than trust it: take the wafer off after the prescribed time, let it cool to room temperature, then put it back on the hotplate. If the film wrinkles, give it a few more minutes and repeat the cool-down/heat-up cycle until it no longer wrinkles. Don't substitute a convection oven — a skin can form that traps solvent, leaving the film incompletely dried or needing longer bakes.
SOURCE: Kayaku SU-8 2000 (2000.5–2015) Technical Data Sheet, ver. 1, Aug 2020 — Soft Bake and Table 2 Soft Bake Times, p.3
Sources & disclaimer
- Kayaku Advanced Materials — SU-8 2000.5 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.