Steady-state thermal uniformity and gas flow patterns in a rapid thermal processing chamber

The steady-state temperature distribution and gas flow patterns in a rapid thermal processing system are calculated numerically for various process conditions. The results are verified by comparison to experimental epitaxial growth rate data. The gas flow patterns and temperature distributions depend strongly on pressure and ambient composition. Steady-state uniformity is found to be described to first order by the radiant uniformity at the wafer surface and substrate heat flow considerations alone. For high-thermal-uniformity systems, however, convective cooling does play an important role, approximately equal to that of edge losses