Methods Used at NIST to Characterize and Callibrate Lightpipe Radiation Thermometers

Published

June 1, 2001

Author(s)

Benjamin K. Tsai, D P. DeWitt

Abstract

Lightpipe radiation thermometers (LPRTs) are the sensors of choice for high temperature thermal processing of sillicon wafers. At temperatures above 800 K, sapphire LPRTs are capable of indicating temperature differences and temperatures with an uncertainty of less than 50 mK and 1K, respectively, using well-characterized blackbody furnaces. However, in actual semiconductor process, the uncertainties are substantially larger because of the effects due to radiative properties of the target surface and the surroundings. Calibration procedures over the range 1025 K to 1175 K are described, and differences between the hot vs. cold conditions are demonstrated. Discrepancies between NIST and instrument vendor-performed calibrations range from 2 K to 8 K, making evident that the user communityis not benefiting from best practices in temperature scale traceability.

Proceedings Title

International Symposium on Temperature and Thermal Measurements in Industry and Science | 8th | | VDE

Volume

8

Issue

no. 2

Conference Dates

June 19-21, 2001

Conference Location

Berlin, GE

Conference Title

TEMPMEKO

Pub Type

Conferences

Keywords

calibration, lightpipe characterization, lightpipe radiation thermometer (LPRT), lightpipes, radiometric temperature measurement, rapid thermal processing (RPT), temperature

Citation

Tsai, B. and DeWitt, D. (2001), Methods Used at NIST to Characterize and Callibrate Lightpipe Radiation Thermometers, International Symposium on Temperature and Thermal Measurements in Industry and Science | 8th | | VDE, Berlin, GE (Accessed May 15, 2026)

Additional citation formats