摘要 |
Temperature of a processed workpiece may be regulated by flowing a thermal control fluid from a thermal source to a thermal drain, in a direction substantially normal to the plane occupied by the workpiece. This flow orientation ensures that any resulting temperature gradient in the thermal control fluid is also positioned substantially normal to the substrate, thereby avoiding processing variation in different areas of the workpiece attributable to an in-plane gradient. The thermal control fluid may be flowed from a common source to a plurality of pixel-like regions proximate to the workpiece, in order to ensure uniform temperature control. Use of such pixel-like regions promotes scalability of the temperature control apparatus. |