TEMPERATURE CONTROLLER UTILIZING HEAT PIPE

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a temperature controller capable of being miniaturized and also improving both the even temperature and thermal response. SOLUTION: A circular plate type heat pipe is used for a heat plate 1. Pins 9 are provided at plural places of it in a vertically movable way while the pins 9 respectively go through the plate 1. A semiconductor wafer 27 is mounted on the front edge part of each pin 9. In the processes of baking and cleaning, the front edge part of each pin 9 is positioned at a position slightly projected from the top surface of the plate 1 and is held by a driving mechanism. The height position where the wafer 27 is held is located just over the plate 1 with a small air gap separated from the top surface of the plate 1. As for a basic configuration, the plate has space where prescribed hydraulic fluid is contained internally and has extremely high conductivity and small thermal capacity. What has thin thickness and also includes a pin fin structure is used because heat exchange among plural thermoelectric modules 3 coming into contact with the bottom face of the plate 1 almost uniformly and efficiently has to be performed over the whole surface of the wafer 27.