Temperature measuring apparatus, temperature measurement method, temperature measurement system, control system and control method

A temperature measurement method, comprising:

• a step in which n measurement beams, i.e., first through nth measurement beams, with optical path lengths thereof different from one another are each radiated onto one of various measurement points at a temperature measurement target and a reference beam is radiated onto a reference beam reflecting means;
• a step in which interference between said first through nth measurement beams reflected from said temperature measurement target and said reference beam reflected from said reference beam reflecting means is measured while altering the optical path length of said reference beam reflected from said reference beam reflecting means by moving said reference beam reflecting means along a single direction;
• and
• a step in which temperatures at the various measurement points at said temperature measurement target are measured based upon the results of the interference measurement.

A temperature measurement system, comprising:

• a substrate processing apparatus;
• and
• a temperature measuring apparatus, wherein:
• said substrate processing apparatus includes at least a processing chamber in which a specific type of processing is executed on a work substrate;
• and
• said temperature measuring apparatus comprises a light source, a first splitter that splits light originating from said light source into a temperature measurement beam and a reference beam, a second splitter that further splits said temperature measurement beam from said first splitter into n measurement beams, i.e., first through nth measurement beams, a reference beam reflecting means for reflecting said reference beam from the first splitter, an optical path length altering means for altering the optical path length of said reference beam reflected at said reference beam reflecting means, a reflected light transmitting means for transmitting said reference beam from said first splitter to a reference beam irradiating position at which said reference beam is radiated onto said reference beam reflecting means, first through nth measurement beam transmitting means for transmitting said first through nth measurement beams from said second splitter to specific measurement beam irradiating positions at which said first through nth measurement beams are radiated onto the various measurement points at said work substrate, and a light receiving means for measuring interference of said first through nth measurement beams reflected from said work substrate with said reference beam reflected from said reference beam reflecting means, and that the optical path lengths of said first through nth measurement beams extending from said second splitter to said work substrate are different from one another.

A control system comprising:

• a substrate processing apparatus;
• a temperature measuring apparatus;
• and
• a control device, wherein:
• said substrate processing apparatus includes at least a processing chamber in which a specific type of processing is executed on said work substrate;
• and
• said temperature measuring apparatus comprises a light source, a first splitter that splits light originating from said light source into a temperature measurement beam and a reference beam, a second splitter that further splits said temperature measurement beam from said first splitter into n measurement beams, i.e., first through nth measurement beams, a reference beam reflecting means for reflecting said reference beam from the first splitter, an optical path length altering means for altering the optical path length of said reference beam reflected at said reference beam reflecting means, a reflected light transmitting means for transmitting said reference beam from said first splitter td a reference beam irradiating position at which said reference beam is radiated onto said reference beam reflecting means, first through nth measurement beam transmitting means for transmitting said first through nth measurement beams from said second splitter to measurement beam irradiating positions at which said first through nth measurement beams are radiated onto the various measurement points at said work substrate and a light receiving means for measuring interference between said first through nth measurement beams reflected from said work substrate and said reference beam reflected from said reference beam reflecting means, that the optical path lengths of said first through nth measurement beams extending from said second splitter to said work substrate are different from one another;
• and
• that said control device calculates temperatures at the individual measurement points at said work substrate based upon interference waves induced between said first through nth measurement beams and said reference beam having been measured by said light receiving means and implements at least either temperature control or process control for said work substrate placed inside said processing chamber at said substrate processing apparatus based upon the temperatures thus calculated.

A control method to be adopted in a control system for a substrate processing apparatus that executes a specific type of processing on a work substrate, comprising:

• a step in which n measurement beams, i.e., first through nth measurement beams, with optical path lengths thereof different from one another are each radiated onto one of various measurement points at a work substrate and a reference beam is radiated onto a reference beam reflecting means;
• a step in which interference of said first through nth measurement beams reflected from said work substrate with said reference beam reflected from said reference beam reflecting means is measured while altering the optical path length of said reference beam reflected from said reference beam reflecting means by moving said reference beam reflecting means along a single direction;
• a step in which temperatures at various measurement points at said work substrate are measured based upon the results of the interference measurement;
• and
• a step in which at least either temperature control or process control for said work substrate at said substrate processing apparatus is executed based upon the temperatures at the individual measurement points at said work substrate having been measured.