[labnetwork] litho spin developer

Wed Apr 15 16:44:04 EDT 2026

Hi Kurt,

I would add a few points here following Garry’s excellent advice:
(1). CNF had the luxury of acquiring the robust Auto Spin Develop systems, which were designed for production. If you don’t have the big budget (>>$100k per system), a cheaper auto spin develop system can add a lot more maintenance work for the tool manager. This is the common drawback of a cheap auto spin develop systems not mentioned in Garry’s post.
(2). If you have a lot more users working with small chips, the benefit of an auto spin develop system is also not obvious, as users have to use a carrier wafer every time, which can be painful to prepare.
(3) The advantages of an auto spin develop system will only shine when most of your users do the majority of their fabrication on standard size wafers (e.g. 4”, 6” or 8”). Comparing to manual developing procedures, the consistency of the auto spin develop system is simply amazing.

For advanced lithography using steppers, it’s also recommended that the cleanroom facility should be equipped with some automated systems, such as the auto spin develop system, auto spin rinse system, auto spin etch system…etc. When throughput, consistency, uniformity are required for your applications, such automated systems will deliver the magic.

Best,
Yong Sun

________________________________
From: labnetwork <labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu> on behalf of Garry J. Bordonaro <bordonaro at cnf.cornell.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2026 11:37 AM
To: 'Kurt Kupcho' <kurt.kupcho at wisc.edu>; labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu <labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu>
Subject: Re: [labnetwork] litho spin developer

Kurt,

We have been using automated developers for over 20 years.  The advantages are *reproducibility*, reduced chemical usage, reduced glassware usage.

The only disadvantage for us is maintenance, although that is generally quite low.  You may have issues with chemical disposal depending on your local rules and the particular equipment you use.  Piece work can be done with some effort and special chucks.

Users like them as they get better and more consistent results, and do not have to deal with pouring chemicals and glassware.

The tools can be expensive.  We got ours during the 2000 bubble crash auctions.

Garry J. Bordonaro

Microlithographic Engineer

Cornell NanoScale Facility

250 Duffield Hall

343 Campus Road

Ithaca NY 14853-2700

(607) 254-4936

bordonaro at cnf.cornell.edu<mailto:bordonaro at cnf.cornell.edu>

http://www.cnf.cornell.edu/

Please acknowledge CNF in your publications:

"This work was performed in part at the Cornell NanoScale Science & Technology Facility (CNF), a member of the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI), which is supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant NNCI-2025233)."

From: labnetwork <labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu> On Behalf Of Kurt Kupcho
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2026 10:25 AM
To: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu
Subject: [labnetwork] litho spin developer

Hi all

I was wondering who out there has litho spin developers vs. doing litho development manually with dishes.

Do you users/students like the spin developer?

Advantages and disadvantages of the spin developer?

Any opinions and guidance would be much appreciated!

Thank you

Kurt

Kurt Kupcho

Materials Science Engineer

Nanoscale Fabrication Center (NFC)

University of Wisconsin

1550 Engineering Dr.

ECB 3110

Madison, WI  53706

E:  kurt.kupcho at wisc.edu<mailto:kurt.kupcho at wisc.edu>

T:  608-262-2982

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