The present invention provides a method for controlling and/or regulating a cooling system, a desired coolant temperature being determined from a desired component temperature in a desired coolant temperature determination. Energy consumption of a driving engine and a coolant flow may be taken into consideration in the determination of the desired coolant temperature.

The invention solves the problem of continuously monitoring wafer temperature during processing using an optical or fluoro-optical temperature sensor including an optical fiber having an end next to and facing the backside of the wafer. This optical fiber is accommodated without disturbing plasma processing by providing in one of the wafer lift pins an axial void through which the optical fiber passes. The end of the fiber facing the wafer backside is coincident with the end of the hollow lift pin. The other end is coupled via an "external" optical fiber to temperature probe electronics external of the reactor chamber. The invention uses direct wafer temperature measurements with a test wafer to establish a data base of wafer temperature behavior as a function of coolant pressure and a data base of wafer temperature behavior as a function of wafer support or "puck" temperature. These data bases are then employed during processing of a production wafer to control coolant pressure in such a manner as to minimize wafer temperature deviation from the desired temperature.

A refrigerant circulating passage is provided in a bottom electrode in a processing chamber of an etching system. A refrigerant CW1 is fed from a refrigerant tank to the passage via a refrigerant supply pipe. The refrigerant is cooled in a cooler via a refrigerant pipe and is returned to the refrigerant tank. Temperature sensors provided in the refrigerant supply pipe and refrigerant discharge pipe, detect a feed temperature, an inlet temperature, an outlet temperature and a return temperature, respectively. A target differential value is derived from the heat quantity of a wafer. During processing, the temperature of the refrigerant CW1 is controlled, permitting an actual differential value between the inlet and outlet temperatures follow the target differential value which in turn permits the return temperature to follow a target return temperature which is obtained by subtracting the target differential value from a set temperature of the wafer W.

A cluster tool for processing a substrate includes a cassette and a processing module including a first processing chamber that is configured to perform a chill process on a substrate, a second processing chamber that is configured to perform a bake process on the substrate, and an input chamber. The first processing chamber, the second processing chamber, and the input chamber are substantially adjacent to each other. The processing module also includes a robot that is configured to receive the substrate in the input chamber and transfer and position the substrate in the first processing chamber and second processing chamber. The robot includes a robot blade, an actuator, and a heat exchanging device. The heat exchanging device includes a chilled transfer arm assembly. The cluster tool also includes a 6-axis articulated robot configured to transfer the substrate between the cassette and the input chamber.