https://nanyte.com/photoresists/su-8-2010 · last updated 2026-09-28
- Manufacturer
- Kayaku Advanced Materials
- Tone
- negative
- Chemistry
- Epoxy (SU-8 type)
- Thickness
- 9.6–20.6 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 2010 | 1000 | 21 | 140–150 mJ/cm² · 16–25 µm row |
| 1500 | 16 | — | |
| 2000 | 13 | 110–140 mJ/cm² · 6–15 µm row | |
| 2500 | 12 | 110–140 mJ/cm² · 6–15 µm row | |
| 3000 | 11 | 110–140 mJ/cm² · 6–15 µm row | |
| 3500 | 10 | 110–140 mJ/cm² · 6–15 µm row | |
| 4000 | 9.6 | 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 yellow diamond markers legended 'SU-8 2010' 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.
- 20.6 µm at 1000 rpm, falling to 13.2 µm at 2000 and 9.6 µm at 4000 — most of the range is below 2000 rpm, so a 10 µm coat is a fast spin and a 20 µm coat a slow one.
- 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: 6-15 µm → 2-3 min and 16-25 µm → 3-4 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 2010'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: 6-15 µm films take 110-140 mJ/cm² and 16-25 µm films 140-150 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 2010 is the 10-20 µm grade of the SU-8 2000 line, at 58 % solids and 380 cSt. Pick the process row by the film you actually spin: around 10 µm, bake 2-3 minutes at 95 °C, expose 110-140 mJ/cm², post-bake 3-4 minutes and develop 2-3 minutes; around 20 µm, add roughly a minute to each bake, expose 140-150 mJ/cm² and develop 3-4 minutes. On glass or metal substrates the dose rises 1.5-2 times. The sheet's own sanity check applies at every thickness — a mask image should appear within a minute of the 95 °C post-exposure bake. Plan OmniCoat underneath if the structure ever 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 2010, 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.
Holes and trenches in my SU-8 2010 still have resist at the bottom after the published develop time. What helps?
The immersion times are approximate — 2–3 min for 6–15 µm and 3–4 min for 16–25 µm — because dissolution rate varies widely with agitation. Use strong agitation for high-aspect-ratio or thicker structures, and for via or hole patterns and tight pitch an ultrasonic or megasonic bath may help. Then spray-wash with fresh SU-8 developer for about 10 s and dry with filtered air or nitrogen. Ethyl lactate or diacetone alcohol are the listed alternative developers.
SOURCE: Kayaku SU-8 2000 (2000.5–2015) Technical Data Sheet, ver. 1, Aug 2020 — Development, Table 6 and Rinse and Dry, p.4
SU-8 2010 spans the 15 µm table boundary. How do bake and dose change between a fast and a slow spin?
SU-8 2010 runs from about 9.6 µm at 4000 rpm to 20.6 µm at 1000 rpm. At the thin end it is in the 6–15 µm row: 2–3 min soft bake, 110–140 mJ/cm², 3–4 min PEB, 2–3 min develop. Slow spins push it into the 16–25 µm row: 3–4 min soft bake, 140–150 mJ/cm², 4–5 min PEB, 3–4 min develop. All bakes are at 95 °C. Key the recipe to the measured film thickness, not to the bottle, and confirm the soft bake with the wrinkle test.
SOURCE: Kayaku SU-8 2000 (2000.5–2015) Technical Data Sheet, ver. 1, Aug 2020 — Figure 1b, p.2; Tables 2–3, p.3; Tables 5–6, p.4
I'm using SU-8 2010 as a plating mould. Does it need a primer?
For electroplating, yes — the datasheet recommends pretreating the substrate with HMDS for applications that include plating. Otherwise adhesion promoters are typically not required, provided the substrate is clean and dry: a piranha (H₂SO₄ + H₂O₂) clean and DI rinse, or an RIE or O₂ barrel-asher clean. Bear in mind that the usual plating seed metals (gold, copper, nickel) need 1.5–2X the silicon exposure dose.
SOURCE: SU-8 2000 (2000.5–2015) Technical Data Sheet
Kayaku SU-8 2000 (2000.5–2015) Technical Data Sheet, ver. 1, Aug 2020 — Substrate Preparation, p.2; Table 4 Exposure Doses for Various Substrates, p.4
Can SU-8 2010 wafers wait between exposure and post-exposure bake?
The datasheet says PEB should take place directly after exposure, and it publishes no allowable hold time, so plan the run so wafers go straight from the aligner to a 95 °C hotplate: 3–4 min for 6–15 µm films, 4–5 min for 16–25 µm. The in-process check is the same either way — a mask image should be visible after 1 min of PEB; none during or after means exposure, heating or both fell short.
SOURCE: Kayaku SU-8 2000 (2000.5–2015) Technical Data Sheet, ver. 1, Aug 2020 — Post Exposure Bake (PEB) and Table 5, p.4
Sources & disclaimer
- Kayaku Advanced Materials — SU-8 2010 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.