A light irradiation unit includes a substrate having a longitudinal direction, the longitudinal direction being a first axis direction; multiple light sources arranged along the first axis direction on a first surface of the substrate; a heat dissipation member arranged on a second surface of the substrate opposite to the first surface; and a housing having a pair of first side surfaces holding the heat dissipation member therebetween in a second axis direction orthogonal to the first axis direction along the first surface. The substrate has, at an end portion in the first axis direction, an end surface intersecting the first axis direction. The location of the end surface in the first axis direction is near an edge of the first side surface along the first axis direction. The end surface is exposed from the housing or covered by a detachable protection member.

The invention provides an optical heating device and method of heating treatment capable of adjusting the illuminance distribution on the main surface of a substrate to be treated more precisely. An optical heating device that heats a substrate to be treated by irradiating light, the optical heating device includes; a support member supporting the substrate to be treated; and a light source unit including a plurality of LED substrates each having a first main surface on which a plurality of LED elements are mounted; in which at least one of the plurality of LED substrates is arranged such that the first main surface is inclined to the second main surface of the substrate to be treated when the substrate to be treated is supported by the support member.

A batch processing chamber and a process kit for use therein are provided. The process kit includes an outer liner having an upper outer liner and a lower outer liner, an inner liner, and a top plate and a bottom plate attached to an inner surface of the inner liner. The top plate and the bottom plate form an enclosure together with the inner liner, and a cassette is disposed within the enclosure. The cassette including shelves configured to retain a plurality of substrates thereon. The inner liner has inlet openings disposed on an injection side of the inner liner and configured to be in fluid communication with a gas injection assembly of a processing chamber, and outlet openings disposed on an exhaust side of the inner liner and configured to be in fluid communication with a gas exhaust assembly of the processing chamber. The inner surfaces of the enclosure comprise material configured to cause black-body radiation within the enclosure.

A lamp for heating is composed of a heat dissipation substrate made of metal, an insulating layer disposed on the heat dissipation substrate, a plurality of wiring patterns disposed on the insulating layer, a plurality of light source elements disposed on the plurality of wiring patterns on a one-to-one basis, a joining material electrically joining each of the plurality of wiring patterns and each of the plurality of light source elements, and a metal wiring electrically connecting each adjacent pair of the plurality of light source elements.

Examples disclosed herein relate to a to a pitch gradient in a lamp filament, and a method of making. In one implementation, a lamp has a bulb filled with a gas. A filament is disposed within the bulb. The filament has a plurality of coils that include a first coil having a first point. The plurality of coils includes a second coil having a second point, and a third coil having a third point. The pitch gradient is defined by a first pitch between the second point and the first point, and a second pitch between the third point and the second point. The second pitch is greater than the first pitch. The second point is 360 degrees away from the first point. The third point is 360 degrees from the second point. A terminal coil is electrically coupled to at least the first coil, the second coil, and the third coil.

A method and apparatus for improving film growth uniformity on a semiconductor substrate. The film growth uniformity is improved by adjusting the amount of power provided to the substrate by spot heaters as the substrate is rotated. Therefore, the amount of power provided to the substrate by the spot heaters changes as the portion of the substrate being heated by spot heater changes. The change in power provided by the spot heater is dependent on a temperature correction factor applied by the controller.

A thermal processing system is provided. The thermal processing system can include a processing chamber and a workpiece disposed within the processing chamber. The thermal processing system can include a heat source configured to emit light towards the workpiece. The thermal processing system can further include a tunable reflective array disposed between the workpiece and the heat source. The tunable reflective array can include a plurality of pixels. Each pixel of the plurality of pixels can include an electrochromatic material configurable in a translucent state or an opaque state. When the electrochromatic material of a pixel is configured in the translucent state, the light at least partially passes through the pixel. Conversely, transmission of light through a pixel is reduced when the electrochromatic material of the pixel is configured in the opaque state.

A substrate support device relating to technology disclosed in the description of the present application includes: a holding plate for opposing a substrate bowable by being heated by irradiation with flash light; and a plurality of substrate support pins provided on the holding plate and being for supporting the substrate, wherein the plurality of substrate support pins are arranged at locations where a volume of a space between the holding plate and the substrate in an unbowed state and a volume of a space between the holding plate and the substrate in a bowed state are equal to each other. Breakage of the substrate can be suppressed in a case where the substrate is bowed by flash light.

Embodiments of gas distribution modules for use with rapid thermal processing (RTP) systems and methods of use thereof are provided herein. In some embodiments, a gas distribution module for use with a RTP chamber includes: a first carrier gas line and a first liquid line fluidly coupled to a mixer, the mixer having one or more control valves configured to mix a carrier gas from the first carrier gas line and a liquid from the first liquid line in a desired ratio to form a first mixture; a vaporizer coupled to the mixer and configured to receive the first mixture in a hollow internal volume, the vaporizer having a heater configured to vaporize the first mixture; and a first gas delivery line disposed between the vaporizer and the RTP chamber to deliver the vaporized first mixture to the RTP chamber.

Methods and apparatus to control zone temperatures in a solar cell production system are disclosed. An example furnace to fire photovoltaic cells includes: a plurality of zones comprising firing elements configured to fire a metallization layer of photovoltaic cells by heating the photovoltaic cells in the zones; one or more belts configured to transport photovoltaic cells through a sequence of the plurality of zones; a user interface comprising one or more input devices; and control circuitry configured to: control the firing elements for the plurality of zones; and modify a configuration of two or more of the plurality of zones based on input received via the input device.