Columbia International Publishing

Journal of Sensors and Instrumentation

(2014) Vol. 2 No. 1 pp. 1-8
doi:10.7726/jsi.2014.1001

Research Article

Development of Spin Coating System Based on

AC Universal Motor for Deposition of Polymer Films
Anshu Mli Gaur1*, and Dinesh Singh Rana1
Received 31 January 2014; Published online 26 April 2014
The author(s) 2014. Published with open access at www.uscip.us

Abstract
In this research work we have developed a spin coating system that has capability of holding wafer size of
1.5 with the help of vacuum pump. A control unit is provided for achieving the spin rate in range of 500-6000
rpm. An ac universal motor was used for rotating the vacuum chuck. The spin coater whole structure was
firstly mechanically designed and then fabricated on rigid platform. Moreover in order to evaluate the
performance of developed spin coating unit, polymer film of polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) were deposited
on silicon substrate and corning glass slide. The thickness of film deposited by spin coating unit is found to be
15-95 m. The prominent feature of this whole developed system is simplicity, ruggedness and easily
adjustable spin rate. The developed spin coating system was successfully utilized for depositing films on
various sizes of substrate and glass slides.
Key words: Spin coating system; Spin rate; Vacuum chuck; AC universal motor; PVDF

1. Introduction
Spin coating is relatively simplest technique used for depositing of thin films on variety of
substrates such as silicon, glass slides, quartz as compare to other techniques. Spin coating process
has capability of depositing uniform films with good surface adherence on the even and uneven
substrate together with reproducibility (Thambidurai et al. 2011; and Stillwagon et al. 1990). Thin
films deposited by spin coating process exhibits several advantages such as uniformity and fast
processing (Aegerter et al. 2008). Spin coating process can be divided into number of sub processes
i.e. dispense of liquid, spinning and drying of thin films (Sahu et al. 2009; and Syms et al. 1998). Spin
coating process starts from displacing few drops of liquid on rotating disk and rotated at some
rpms for fixed amount of time (Ohara et al. 1989; and Haas et al. 2001). The liquid displaced due to
centrifugal force, as disk rotates (Bianchi et al. 2006; and Sevvanthi et al. 2012). The excess fluid
displaced through edges of substrate leaving a uniform thin film behind. Further, the thin film on
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
*Corresponding e-mail: gauranshu10@gmail.com
1 Department of Instrumentation, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra,
1
Haryana, India -136119.

Anshu Mli Gaur and Dinesh Singh Rana /

Journal of Sensors and Instrumentation (2014) Vol. 2 No. 1 pp. 1-8

substrate is to be baked for depositing subsequent films (Dixit et al. 2009; and Yonkoski et al.
1992). Thickness of deposited thin film depends mainly on spin rate, rheology of liquid, viscosity
and other factors (Scriven 1968). Spin coater is widely used for fabrication of thin films for micro
sensors, micro actuators, integrated circuits, optical mirrors, gas sensors and magnetic disks
(Reisfeld et al. 1991; Lawrence 1988; and Lawrence 1990). But recently the spin coating is
restricted only to deposition of photo resist in lithographical processes and optical reflecting
mirrors (Larson et al. 1997; and Britten et al. 1992). Recently the polymers blends were deposited
for obtaining the uniform film of thickness in nanometer range for solar cell applications (Munch et
al. 2011; and Ghosh et al. 2013). Polymers are gaining popularity due to vast applications ranging
from electronics to biomedical areas (Dang et al. 2003; Thakur et al. 2012; and Xu et al. 2011).
Polymers which are electro active have wide scope in piezoelectric energy harvesting applications
(Vatansever et al. 2011). PVDF is electro active polymer having strong piezoelectric properties and
utilized in many engineering applications from capacitor to complicated tactile sensor (Damaraju et
al. 2013; and Sencadas et al. 2012). The thin film of polymer is required for fabrication of
piezoelectric sensor and actuator, so a low cost spin coating system would be essential for
deposition of thin films.
There are variety of commercial spin coating systems available having number of advanced
features such as loading own recipes with in the inbuilt memory module. For research purposes a
simple spin coating system is suitable with necessary inbuilt functions. So we have developed a
simple spin coating system with all essential functions available which can be operated with much
ease. We have also evaluated the use of developed spin coater for deposition of thin film of PVDF
polymer on silicon substrate and glass slides. The quality of thin film deposited and performance of
developed spin coater was compared with commercially available spin coating system.

2. Spin coating System Design

Rotating disc of
vacuum chuck

O rings

Ball bearing

Base

To vacuum
pump
Fig. 1. Construction design of rotating structure
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Journal of Sensors and Instrumentation (2014) Vol. 2 No. 1 pp. 1-8

(a)

(b)
Fig. 2. (a) Layout of developed spin coating Unit (b) actual photograph of spin coating system
The whole spin coating system rests on base plate as shown in figure 1. The rotating disc was
fabricated and attached to hollow cylindrical shaft with o ring placed in between shaft and disc. The
hollow shaft fabricated of high speed steel with internal diameter of 5 mm and outer diameter of 20
mm. The figure 2 (a) shows the design layout of whole spin coating unit. The shaft was fitted in
hollow cylinder fitted with bearings on top and bottom, which was further attached to base plate. A
special nozzle was fabricated and attached to bottom side of the shaft through two o rings which
was further connected to outlet of vacuum pump. Ac universal motor attached on left side of base
plate having its shaft coupled to vacuum chuck through a rubber belt.
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Journal of Sensors and Instrumentation (2014) Vol. 2 No. 1 pp. 1-8
220 V
Triac Based
speed control
Circuit

AC Universal
Motor

Vacuum
chuck

Inlet
Vacuum Pump
Motor

Outlet

Fig. 3. Block diagram of spin coating system

The block diagram of spin coating system with speed control circuit is illustrated in figure 3. For
controlling spin rate of vacuum chuck, a triode and variable resistance based circuit is connected to
ac supply. Speed is controlled by varying the firing angle of triode, which is achieved by controlling
the gate current through variable resistor. By varying the resistance, the speed of motor is varied in
between 500-6000 rpm. This speed control circuit capable of driving maximum load up to 600
watts. The inlet of vacuum pump was connected to nozzle attached to end of vacuum chuck. Table 1.
list the specifications of ac motor used for rotating vacuum chuck.
Table 1 Specification of Ac motor
Power

65 watts

Voltage

220-240 volts

Rated current

0.6 amps

Frequency

50 Hz

Speed

6000 rpm

Anshu Mli Gaur and Dinesh Singh Rana /

Journal of Sensors and Instrumentation (2014) Vol. 2 No. 1 pp. 1-8

3. Result and Discussions

6000

Developed Spin coater

5000

Speed (rpm)

4000

3000

2000

1000

0
0

10

12

Knob position

(a)
6000

Speed (rpm)

4000

2000

0
150

200

250

Resistance (K)

(b)
Fig. 4. Curve (a) Knob position vs. speed (rpm) (b) Resistance vs. speed (rpm)
Figure 4 (a) shows graph plotted between knob positions vs. speed. It is evident from the plot, as
the knob position moved to next level, the spin rate of spin coating system increases. The speed
saturates at last position of knob position. Figure 4 (b) shows the graph plotted between
resistances vs. speed, predicting the variation in resistance on the speed of the spin coater unit. As
knob position move to next positions, the resistance decreases gradually and spins coater start
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Journal of Sensors and Instrumentation (2014) Vol. 2 No. 1 pp. 1-8

rotating at lower rpm. Further decrease in resistance doesnt have any effect on spin coater speed.
At maximum resistance vacuum chuck fails to rotate.
100

Developed spin coater

Dupont Spinner
SC-8P

PVDF thickness (m)

80

60

40

20

0
0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

Speed (rpm)

(a)
Developed Spin Coater
Dupont Spinner

Spin time (sec)

0.6

SC-8P

0.4

0.2

0.0
0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

Speed (rpm)

(b)
Fig 5. Curve (a) Speed vs. thickness of PVDF film (b) Speed vs. spin time (sec)
The performance of developed spin coater was evaluated by depositing a polymer film of PVDF on
silicon substrate and glass slides. The prepared solution of PVDF was used for depositing thin film
with spin rate varying in between 500-6000 rpm respectively. For obtaining film of sufficient
thickness, PVDF films were dried in furnace at 130 C. The thickness was measured with surface
profilometer and found to be in between 15-95 m for variable spin rates. The performance of
developed spin coater is compared with two commercially available spin coater units. Figure 5 (a)
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Journal of Sensors and Instrumentation (2014) Vol. 2 No. 1 pp. 1-8

shows the plot between speed (rpm) and PVDF thickness (m). It is evident from the curve that the
thickness of thin film deposited by developed spin coater almost similar to other spin coaters.
Figure 5 (b) shows a plot between speed (rpm) and spin time (sec). It is observed from curve that
for the developed spin coater, the spin time is less than the other coaters which confirm the
improved performance of developed coating system. It took almost 0.4 seconds to achieve
maximum stable speed. The developed spin coater take less time to reach at higher spin rate in
comparison to other spin coating units.

4. Conclusion
In this paper we have developed a low cost spin coater system for deposition of polymer films. An
ac Universal motor was used to rotate the vacuum chuck. The main advantage of this spin coating
system is simplicity and efficient speed control circuit. In present design the spin rate was adjusted
at different levels by varying the value of resistance. The developed spin coater took less time to
reach its stable speed and the thickness of thin film obtained was found to be similar to
commercially available coating systems. The performance can be improved further by adding
temperature control circuit for protecting the motor from burn out for long time operation of spin
coating unit. The enhancement in present design would be to increase the spin rate to higher value
with more stability and embedding more functionality. This home made spin coating system can be
used for deposition of films on variety of substrates and glass slides with simple control in wide
range of spin rates.

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