[labnetwork] HSQ Alternatives

[Mark K Mondol]

Long:


Mike Rooks will probably also chime in with better information than I have, but LN2 freezing has worked really well for me and is reasonably convenient for me as I already have LN2 dewars in my lab for other reasons. I bought a big dewar that holds racks of cryo tubes (Chart MVE CryoSystem4000Cryogenic about $3,800 with wheels) that makes it easy to store. The hold time when about 1/3 filled so that the HSQ is not actually immersed in liquid is >6weeks, probably much more.


One way of reducing cost is to order the 6% HSQ and dilute it with Dow MIBK which is very expensive but has worked well for me ( $420/500ml -

DC MIBK RINSE SOLVENT 500 ML) which should be available from your HSQ distributor.


Regards,


Mark K Mondol

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark K Mondol
Assistant Director NanoStructures Laboratory
And
Facility Manager Scanning Electron Beam Lithography Facility
Bldg 36 Room 229
 mondol at mit.edu
office - 617-253-9617
cell - 617-224-8756
________________________________
From: labnetwork <labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu> on behalf of Chang, Long <lvchang at Central.UH.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, May 6, 2021 12:26 PM
To: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu
Subject: [labnetwork] HSQ Alternatives

Hi All,

I'm looking for HSQ alternatives since it's expensive, has a 14 week lead time and comes in 250mL bottle. We waste most of the bottle due to it's 6 months shelf life. Although we had some bottles still good after 2 years at 5C, it's just a huge gamble after a year. We tried LN2 freezing, but it takes too much effort.

I've attached a table of the cost per mL for the alternatives I found assuming you want 100nm thick. The AQM and EMResist are in powder form and advertise 1 year powder shelf life and 3 months mixture shelf life. They can distribute the powder into many small bottles.

Particularly interesting is the Medusa 82 which has the lowest cost and advertises better shelf life. Does anyone have experience with these HSQ alternatives?

[cid:EA246686-78D1-44AC-9192-C364E1E8651D at serc.dhcp.e.uh.edu]

Thanks,
Long

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