Specific Process Knowledge/Lithography/Resist/UserBottles

User resist bottles in the cleanroom

We recommend all e-beam users, and certain UV users, to have their own small bottle of resist inside the cleanroom.

Procedure for bringing new user resist bottles into the cleanroom:

1. Outside the cleanroom: Find a blue-cap glass bottle in the storage cabinet, next to office 055, in building 346
2. Gowning: Clean the bottle in gowning
   • Clean it thoroughly on the outside with water or alcohol
3. Fumehood: Bring the bottle to a fumehood inside the cleanroom
   • Clean the bottle and the lid thoroughly on the inside with a relevant solvent, i.e for CSAR use anisole and for 5214 use acteone
     If you are in doubt about which solvent your resist contains, consult the MSDS of the resist on Kemibrug - requires login
   • If you need to dilute the resist, find a measurement beaker and clean it thoroughly with the same solvent as you used for cleaning your own bottle. For CSAR, ZEP, mr EBL, and anisole-based PMMA, you can use the measurement beaker in the box inside the fumehood in E-4
4. Let the bottle dry in the fumehood
5. Take the supply resist bottle from the chemical cabinet, and place it in the fumehood next to your own cleaned bottle
6. Carefully unscrew the lid of the resist bottle
7. Only if necessary: Wipe the thread of the resist bottle before you pour resist into your own bottle. You must wipe in such a way, that you do not create particles, which fall into the resist bottle
8. After pouring is complete you must clean all bottles on the outside with acetone or IPA
9. Clean the measurement beaker (if used) with appropriate solvent

Remember to label your resist bottle correctly - bottles without correct labels will be removed from the cleanroom:

1. Find the label which matches your resist and write the following on it:
   • Your name (initials)
   • Your group name
   • Resist expiration date

Use pipettes for resist transfer:

When spin coating thin resist, you should always use a pipette, to transfer resist from your bottle to the substrate. If you pour the resist directly from your bottle, you will leave resist in the bottle threading, which will dry and create particles in the resist. The disposable pipettes need to be thoroughly cleaned with a N2 gun before use, for ~20 seconds. After some practice, you can obtain particle-free 4" wafers, if the bottle and pipette (and spin coater) are properly cleaned.

Bottle storage and handling:

Keep your resist bottles in up-right position, and do not tilt or shake them too much, as this can spread particles from the bottle sidewall, and cap, into the resist.