Wafer processing apparatus

摘要

A processing apparatus and method for rapid thermal processing wherein the radiant heat source is dynamically reconfigurable to change the heating distribution across the radii of the wafer. Since the radiative and conductive heat flow paths from parts of the wafer near the center are different from the heat flow paths for the parts of the wafer near the edge, the loadings will change dynamically as the wafer is heated and cooled. This temperature dependence in the relative couplings across the wafer makes it very difficult to maintain a flat temperature profile during heatup and cooldown, and failure to maintain a flat temperature profile can cause wafer damage (especially wafer warpage). The present application describes a processing apparatus and method which changes the distribution dynamically, so that a higher fraction of the total power is provided to the wafer edge regions after the wafer is at high temperature. This can be done by using (as a radiant heat source) a lamp module wherein the central portion of the lamp reflector module is mechanically moved in and out to change the center to edge distribution of heating power.