Methods and apparatus for thermal processing of materials

A photonic processing apparatus for substantially uniform thermal processing of at least a first set of items, the photonic processing apparatus comprising:

• a first mobile support configured to support the first set of items in a first item arrangement in which the items span a first distance, the first mobile support configured to support the first set of items in the first item arrangement for thermally processing the first set of items;
• an illumination system configured to emit a plurality of illumination pulses in an illumination area, the illumination area having an illumination span that is less than the first distance;
• and
• a control system comprising:
• a photonic processing controller operatively connected to the illumination system;
• and
• a tangible, non-transitory storage medium operatively connected to the photonic processing controller, the tangible, non-transitory storage medium storing controller-executable instructions configured to, when executed by the photonic processing controller, operate the illumination system to emit a plurality of illumination pulses to thermally process the first set of items as a position of the first set of items changes relative to the illumination system in a travel direction that corresponds to the illumination span of the illumination area to thermally process an entirety of the first set of items with the plurality of illumination pulses, wherein the operation of the illumination system is controlled as a function of a temporal heating characteristic associated with heat transfer through the mobile support to the first set of items upstream of the illumination area.