SU-8 is composed of Bisphenol A Novolac epoxy that is dissolved in an organic solvent (gamma-butyrolactone GBL or cyclopentanone, depending on the formulation) and up to 10 wt% of mixed Triarylsulfonium/hexafluoroantimonate salt as the photoacid generator.
SU-8 absorbs light in the UV region, allowing fabrication of relatively thick (hundreds of micrometers) structures with nearly vertical side walls. The fact that a single photon can trigger multiple polymerizations makes the SU-8 a chemically amplified resist which is polymerized by photoacid generation. The light irradiated on the resist interacts with the salt in the solution, creating hexafluoroantimonic acid that then protonates the epoxides groups in the resin monomers. The monomer are thus activated but the polymerization will not proceed significantly until the temperature is raised as part of the post-expose bake. It is at this stage that the epoxy groups in the resin cross-link to form the cured structure. When fully cured, the high crosslinking degree gives to the resist its excellent mechanical properties.
The processing of SU-8 is similar to other negative resists with particular attention on the control of the temperature in the baking steps. The baking times depend on the SU-8 layer thickness; the thicker the layer, the longer the baking time. The temperature is controlled during the baking in order to reduce stress formation in the thick layer (leading to cracks) as the solvent evaporates.
The soft bake is the most important of the bake steps for stress formation. It is performed after spin coating. Its function is to remove the solvent from the resist and make the layer solid. Typically at least 5% of the solvent remains in the layer after the soft bake, however the thicker the coating, the harder it becomes to remove the solvent, as evaporating solvent through thick layers becomes increasingly difficult with coating thickness. The bake is performed on a programmable hot plate to reduce the skinning effect of solvent depletion at the surface creating a dense layer which makes the remainder of the solvent more difficult to remove. In order to reduce stress, the bake procedure is generally a two-step process made up of holding at 65 °C before ramping to 95 °C and holding again for a time dependent on the layer thickness. The temperature is then lowered slowly to room temperature.
When dry films are used, the photoresist is laminated rather than spin-coated. As this formulation is essentially solventless (less than 1% solvent remaining), it does not require a soft bake step and does not suffer stress or skinning. For enhanced adhesion, a post lamination bake can be added. This step is carried out in a similar way to the solution based resist - i.e. holding at 65 °C then 95 °C, the time dependent on film thickness.
After this stage the SU-8 layer can now be exposed. Typically this is through a photomask with an inverse pattern, as the resist is negative. The exposure time is a function of exposure dose and film thickness. After exposure the SU-8 needs to be baked again to complete the polymerization. This baking step is not as critical as the prebake but the rising of the temperature (again to 95 °C) needs to be slow and controlled. At this point the resist is ready to be developed.
The main developer for SU-8 is 1-methoxy-2-propanol acetate. Development time is primarily a function of SU-8 thickness.
After exposing and developing, its highly cross-linked structure gives it high stability to chemicals and radiation damage - hence the name "resist". Cured cross-linked SU-8 shows very low levels of outgassing in a vacuum.
However it is very difficult to remove, and tends to outgas in an unexposed state.