Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
Thermocouples are often used as a calibration standard for rapid thermal processing. Although it has been recognized that the thermocouple temperature can be different from the wafer temperature, the magnitude of the temperature difference is difficult to quantify. In this work, we present a simple analytical model to demonstrate the difference between the thermocouple temperature and the true wafer temperature. The results show that a large difference can exist between the thermocouple and the wafer temperature. This is because the optical and thermophysical properties of the thermocouple and the glue material are different from those of the wafer. The model results show that temperature measurement becomes more accurate if fine diameter thermocouple wires with very low emissivity are used.