FAQ

Spin coating is commonly used for quickly applying uniform thin films to substrates, from a few nanometers to a few microns in thickness. A thin film is created by dispensing photo-resist, sol-gel or other fluid or polymer, on a rotating substrate. Most substrates can be spin coated: small 5 mm fragments, semiconductor wafers up to 450 mm, microscope slides, square glass or photo masks, or even LED panels up to 1 meter! (Also read our spin coating theory.)

Our spin coaters are suitable for spin coating, as well as for developing, wet chemical etching or spin rinse/dry. The spin bowl construction material can be either Polypropylene (NPP) or PTFE (TFM) for maximum chemical compatibility. The basic units for fragments and substrate sizes up to 150 mm (SPIN150x) or up to 200 mm (SPIN200x) comes with full programming features and 3 I/O ports to add and control external equipment. The POLOS Advanced series can be customized to any spin coating or spin process requirement you may have.

The spin coater control panel is integrated in a polypropylene body and covered by a solvent resistant, protective FEP film. The touch panel can simply be unhooked from the spin coater body and the LAN cable can be disconnected.

Yes, our spin coaters come standard with a detachable control panel (LAN connection) to easily fit in a standard glove box, and can be used in an argon environment. We offer in-deck units to use in your existing wet bench. All POLOS spin coaters are cleanroom compatible.

Do you want to use a spin coater in a glove box?

A glovebox provides a versatile working space isolated from the outside (room) atmosphere, designed to shield operators from danger, and enable repeatable spin coating in a high purity inert atmosphere.

The SPIN150x spin coater has been specifically designed for R&D purposes and is ideal for processing small fragments and wafers up to 150 mm in a clean, particle-free environment. The chamber can be supplied in either Natural Polypropylene (NPP) or PTFE for greater chemical compatibility. The versatile platform with 3 programmable I/O ports is ideal for applications including photoresist spin coating, etch, develop or cleaning processes, or, when used in a glove box with proper filtered exhaust, processes with aggressive chemicals.

The detachable keyboard, connected using a standard CAT5 ethernet cable, makes it easy to install the SPIN150x into the glovebox. The small footprint and height of only 250mm (9.84”) allows the unit to fit through a standard air-lock.

The keyboard can be installed, either inside or outside the glove box. The large icons on the touchscreen panel and chemical resistant keyboard are glove-friendly. Alternatively the unit can be operated by optional foot switch.

For OEM-installations we also offer in-deck spin coaters, which are designed for full integration* into the glove box.

Only if your process requires an N2 environment in the process chamber. The nitrogen purge can reduce air turbulence in the chamber. All spin coating models come standard with a height adjustable syringe holder and diffuser with nitrogen connector, that you can simply connect to your nitrogen supply (ID 4 mm – OD 6 mm tubing). But you hook up the nitrogen only if you want to.

Connecting the motor purge to a clean dry air, or compressed air (CDA) source ensures no vapors can enter the motor housing. Isolating the spin motor from the fumes of the process environment increases tool life-time.

Only for the POLOS Advanced spin processors a compressed air connection is available. This is necessary to control valves, the use of a pneumatic lid or some of the other options, only available on the Advanced models. Connector: ID 6 mm – OD 8 mm. Requirement: min. 300 – max. 400 kPa (or Min. 3.0 bar – max. 4.0 bar.)

We offer clear, transparent (PET) process chamber liners to minimize cross-contamination between different processes, and for easy cleaning. Also done with our own esPRO^® line VOC-Free Resist Cleaner. Ecofriendly, non-explosive, and safe to handle, our resist cleaner lowers costs by eliminating scrubbing and cleaning time.

The 150 mm SPIN150x spin coaters come standard with a fragment adapter and vacuum chuck. (For the 200 mm spin coater you have the option between a vacuum chuck for 200mm or a vacuum chuck for smaller substrates that fits the fragment adapter.) The fragment adapter has a 10 mm opening. It can easily be pressed over the vacuum chuck and is ready for spin coating. Optionally we also offer fragment adapters with a 1 mm or 2.5 mm opening.

In the semiconductor industry the sol-gel method is often used to deposit silicon dioxide. This method is known as the Spin-On Glass method (SOG).

Films are normally formed from SOG sols using a spin coating technique. Typically silicon alkoxide (tetraethoxysilane - TEOS or Si(OC2H5)4), water (H2O) , isopropanol ((CH5)2CH(OH)) and hydrochloric acid (HCl). All chemicals are compatible with standard Polypropylene. The substrate must be cleaned first. Our POLOS Advanced spin coaters can be equipped with a megasonic cleaning unit, for enhanced spin cleaning method.

All chucks fit easily on the same base, suitable for clockwise (CW) and counter clockwise (CCW) rotation. We offer recessed chucks specifically designed for your microscope slides. And a full range of vacuum or non-vacuum chucks for round or rectangular substrates or even thin wafers or foils. Chucks can easily be exchanged. Have a look at our spin coating chucks!

You can run all our spin coaters either with or without vacuum (requires a mechanical chuck). For the correct operation of vacuum chucks and adapters, the vacuum supply requirements are: - 70 kPa (-21 inchHg) (relative to atmospheric pressure). Connector: ID 6mm (1/4”) – OD 8mm.

Thin Film uniformity is influenced by viscosity, process temperature, rotational speed, acceleration and time.

The film thickness d corresponds directly to the rotational speed ω. Thickness , where ɑ contains photoresist specific parameters alike angular viscosity. Every vendor of a photoresist publishes curves for d vs. w (normally specified by the resist vendor at 3,000 or 4,000 rpm). For typical photoresists and film thicknesses we achieve a uniformity of better than 5%. The speed can be set from 1-12,000 rpm, time 0.1-99999 sec/step. Vacuum can also affect film uniformity in some processes. Vacuum can be set on or off. We offer mechanical chucks for non-vacuum applications.

Our low-cost FR-portable thickness film measurement tool is recommended for quick scan of the layer thickness.

Yes, the intuitive, color touchscreen display makes it extremely easy to program a spinner process. There is unlimited program storage for recipes of multiple steps / each. You can label your programs with icons and even store the programs on a USB-stick. When running your process recipe, the controller graphically displays the recipe progress.

3 Build-in programmable relay-contacts control an external dispense unit or dispenser pump. The dispense can be programmed in the process recipe on the spinner. Connector: DSub9 female. Contact Ratings:0.5 A/125 VAC – 0.3A/60VDC. Unit can be hooked up with a standard DSub9 female connector.

POLOS Advanced spincoater equipped with a Prosys Megpie transducer operated around 1 MHz is typically used after CMP processes, for particle removal or for metal lift off processes.

(link to: YouTube)

First of all, please define the type of thin polymer film you need to deposit and how you can dilute it. To control the thickness of a thin polymer film, sol-gel spin coating can be used.

The parameters are the concentration of the sol solution (creating viscosity), the rotation speed rate and also the time of the rotation. And of course the amount of the sol. (See also thin film thickness uniformity after spin coating).

You should drop the polymer first, and then start spinning. If the solution is too viscous than high speed rotation is preferable. If the thickness at high speed is 100nm, you can repeat the spin coating at the same speed several times, until you obtain the required thickness.

Just remember, film thickness decreases with the decrease of concentration and increase of spin-on rotation. For example, to deposit 500 nm PMMA film you could use a solution with a concentration of say 7% and rotation speed of 3000 rpm for 30 sec.

Tip: to measure the thickness of the film quickly: POLOS offers affordable, in-situ thickness measurement tools.