Out on the wafer floor, you know how a soft bake that drifts even 0.2°C will nudge your critical dimensions, and a hard bake that runs hot at the edge can leave scum and residue. We built the cleanroom bench infrared lamp to take that variability out of the equation.
What matters under the hood
It runs on near-infrared (NIR) quartz emitters, heating fast and directional with minimal thermal lag. Across the illuminated zone, we hold wafer-level uniformity at ±0.1°C, and the closed-loop control settles on setpoint in seconds. The housing is cleanroom-compatible for Class 1–100, with sealed junctions, low-outgassing materials, and an internal airflow path that keeps particle generation down to single-digit counts per cubic foot. Output stays stable over 5,000+ hours, and run-to-run repeatability holds.
In lithography, you need a consistent soft bake to pull solvents out cleanly, and a hard bake that sets the photoresist without surprises. This lamp gives you both, with tight control of the thermal budget. The payoff is better CD uniformity and a smaller edge bead.
Plus, the fast response cuts bake time, which trims energy use and bumps throughput. You also pick up process margin, especially on thin resist and multi-layer stacks. Fewer scrap lots. Less rework.
A few practical notes. The lamp needs a dedicated, filtered power feed, and it has to be mounted with enough clearance to avoid shadowing or localized overheating. Surface temperatures can climb well beyond safe handling during operation, so plan your guards and interlocks. For best results, match the emitter spectrum to your resist stack and calibrate temperature at the wafer plane, not at the housing.