AbstractThe applications of in situ automated ellipsometry in the measurement and control of temperature in rapid-thermal processing (RTP) equipment are investigated. This technique relies on the accurate measurement of the index of refraction of a wafer using ellipsometry and the strong temperature dependence of the index of refraction to determine the wafer temperature. In principle, this technique is not limited to silicon wafer processing and could be applied to any surface whose index of refraction has a strong and well known temperature dependence. This technique is non-invasive, non-contact, fast, accurate, compatible with ultraclean processing, and lends itself to monitoring the dynamic heating and cooling cycles encountered in rapid-thermal processing.