Thank you everyone for posting. All of the information was unbelievably
helpful. I will try to respond as well as I can to each person's
questions and concerns, and I will give a little break down to my
approach to cleaning up this problem. Also, for clarification to
everyone, the spin coater we currently use it a manual coater, in which
the resist is applied using a syringe.

Bill: You are correct; we have spoken previously about image reversal
for lift off lithography with diffraction grids and other applications.
I am still trying to get some time together to expose a sample so that
we can send it out to you for reversal, so we can see in person how nice
the machine works. I got your call yesterday, sorry I was unable to
return it. I am running all over trying to get several things together
all at once.

1. We are currently not using HMDS to prime the substrate. If we were to
test HMDS as a surface primer, will it affect our current exposure and
development process?
2. I need to take a look at the exhaust to see how it works on our
machine.

Mike:
1. We apply the resist using a glass syringe.
2. I need to do an experimental coating run to check between each
individual step, specifically between coating and softbaking. How would
you examine these parts? I might have a difficult time being able to see
these parts under yellow light, and I am afraid that if I expose them by
using white light prior to softbake that it may change the out gassing
characteristics. I am not sure that it would, but it is a concern. Dark
field on the microscope might help me out with a filter on the light
source.
3. The process works for pretty much everything else we do that is flat.
It has never worked well for this steep lens surface.
4. The exhaust could be a problem; I have to examine that more closely
5. The bowl is dirty, I know that. It rarely gets cleaned. That is
definitely something that can quickly improve our process.

Rick:
1. The resist is fresh
2. The resist is not filtered, though that is a route that we were
looking at and have ordered parts to do.

So as of now I have a little list of things to do, in order of
importance.

1. Clean the bowl
2. Examine before and after softbake
3. Examine exhaust and adjust as necessary
4. Examine spin speed
5. Get filter set up and working
6. Try dragging the syringe out as the spin coater slowly ramps up while
constantly applying resist.
7. Try a surface primer (HMDS)
8. Try meniscus or dip coating
9. Examine the possibility of Vapor Deposition

I hope that will be a decent list for us to run down to try and get this
all squared away. I also hope that we can get this process nailed down
before I have to head back to school, because I really want to be a part
of it.

Thank you all for the terrific suggestions,
David Casale
MLA