Method for achieving process uniformity by modifying thermal coupling between heater and substrate

A method of performing a process with a desired uniformity on a substrate, the method comprising:

• providing a heater to heat the substrate in a process chamber, the heater having a heater surface in substantially full contact with a bottom surface of the substrate, the heater surface having a surface feature which has been determined to achieve a preset uniformity of a uniformity parameter of a process to be performed on the substrate under a set of process conditions, based on a correlation between the uniformity parameter of the process to be performed on the substrate and the surface feature of the heater surface;
• and
• performing the process on the substrate having the preset uniformity of the uniformity parameter according to the set of process conditions.

A method of achieving a desired uniformity of a process to be performed on a substrate which is heated by a heater, the method comprising:

• modifying a heater surface of the heater in substantially full contact with a bottom surface of the substrate according to a surface feature which has been determined to achieve a preset uniformity of a uniformity parameter of a process to be performed on the substrate, by performing numerical simulation each by simulating heat transfer between the heater and the substrate for the process to be performed on the substrate;
• varying the surface feature of the heater surface;
• and calculating the uniformity parameter of the process to be performed on the substrate, based on the correlation between the uniformity parameter of the process to be performed on the substrate and the surface feature, until the preset uniformity is achieved for a simulated surface feature of the heater surface.