Heat treatment method and heat treatment apparatus

A heat treatment method for irradiating a substrate with a flash of light to heat the substrate, the heat treatment method comprising:

• a flash of light irradiation step of irradiating a surface of a substrate with a flash of light from a flash lamp;
• a preheating step of, before said flash of light irradiation step, preheating said substrate to a preheating temperature with light irradiation from a continuously lit lamp;
• a temperature measurement step of measuring a surface temperature of said substrate with a radiation thermometer in a predetermined data collection cycle;
• a warning step of transmitting a warning signal before starting irradiation with said flash of light;
• and
• a profile creation step of, after transmitting said warning signal, setting temperature data acquired a predetermined number of points before temperature data when a temperature measured by said radiation thermometer reaches a threshold value as starting point temperature data, and extracting a fixed number of temperature data at and after said starting point temperature data from a plurality of temperature data acquired in said temperature measurement step to create a temperature profile,
• wherein said warning signal is transmitted halfway through said preheating step, and
• said threshold value is set higher than said preheating temperature and lower than a maximum temperature reached by a surface of said substrate by irradiation with said flash of light.

A heat treatment method for irradiating a substrate with a flash of light to heat the substrate, the heat treatment method comprising:

• a flash of light irradiation step of irradiating a surface of a substrate with a flash of light from a flash lamp;
• a temperature measurement step of measuring a surface temperature of said substrate with a radiation thermometer in a predetermined data collection cycle;
• and
• a profile creation step of setting temperature data acquired a predetermined number of points before temperature data when inclination of a temperature measured by said radiation thermometer with respect to time is continuously not less than a threshold value for a certain period of time or more as starting point temperature data, and extracting a fixed number of temperature data at and after said starting point temperature data from a plurality of temperature data acquired in said temperature measurement step to create a temperature profile,
• wherein determining that a flash of light irradiation from said flash lamp has been started when inclination of a temperature measured by said radiation thermometer with respect to time is continuously not less than said threshold value for said certain period of time or more.

A heat treatment apparatus configured to irradiate a substrate with a flash of light to heat the substrate, the heat treatment apparatus comprising:

• a chamber configured to house a substrate;
• a flash lamp configured to irradiate a surface of said substrate housed in said chamber with a flash of light;
• a radiation thermometer configured to receive infrared light radiated from a surface of said substrate and to measure a temperature of the surface in a preset data collection cycle;
• and
• a profile creation unit configured to extract, of a plurality of temperature data measured and acquired by said radiation thermometer, a fixed number of temperature data before and after said flash lamp starts irradiation with said flash of light to create a temperature profile,
• wherein said data collection cycle is made variable, and
• further comprising a cycle determination unit configured to determine said data collection cycle according to a waveform of said flash of light applied by said flash lamp.

A heat treatment apparatus configured to irradiate a substrate with a flash of light to heat the substrate, the heat treatment apparatus comprising:

• a chamber configured to house a substrate;
• a flash lamp configured to irradiate a surface of said substrate housed in said chamber with a flash of light;
• a continuously lit lamp configured to irradiate said substrate with light before a flash of light is applied from said flash lamp and to perform preheating said substrate to a preheating temperature;
• a radiation thermometer configured to receive infrared light radiated from a surface of said substrate and to measure a temperature of the surface in a predetermined data collection cycle;
• a warning signal transmitting unit configured to transmit a warning signal before irradiation with said flash of light is started by said flash lamp;
• and
• a profile creation unit configured to, after said warning signal is transmitted, set temperature data acquired a predetermined number of points before temperature data when a temperature measured by said radiation thermometer reaches a threshold value as starting point temperature data, and to extract a fixed number of temperature data at and after said starting point temperature data from a plurality of temperature data measured and acquired by said radiation thermometer to create a temperature profile,
• wherein said warning signal transmitting unit transmits said warning signal halfway through said preheating, and
• said threshold value is set higher than said preheating temperature and lower than a maximum temperature reached by a surface of said substrate by said flash of light irradiation from said flash lamp.

A heat treatment apparatus configured to irradiate a substrate with a flash of light to heat the substrate, the heat treatment apparatus comprising:

• a chamber configured to house a substrate;
• a flash lamp configured to irradiate a surface of said substrate housed in said chamber with a flash of light;
• a radiation thermometer configured to receive infrared light radiated from a surface of said substrate and to measure a temperature of the surface in a predetermined data collection cycle;
• and
• a profile creation unit configured to set temperature data acquired a predetermined number of points before temperature data when inclination of a temperature measured by said radiation thermometer with respect to time is continuously not less than a threshold value for a certain period of time or more as starting point temperature data, and to extract a fixed number of temperature data at and after said starting point temperature data from a plurality of temperature data measured and acquired by said radiation thermometer to create a temperature profile,
• wherein determining that a flash of light irradiation from said flash lamp has been started when inclination of a temperature measured by said radiation thermometer with respect to time is continuously not less than said threshold value for said certain period of time or more.