Rapid thermal processing (RTP) is a method of thermally processing wafers for the manufacture of integrated circuits. During the thermal processing of wafers, it is essential that the wafer temperature follow a pre-specified temperature trajectory and that the temperature across the wafer be uniform especially at high temperatures. To ensure that the above objectives of RTP temperature control be met at any time during the process, the estimation of some parameters of the process is of fundamental importance in the design of the control system.

This thesis demonstrates the implementation of an interactive software system in which the emissivity of wafers in a 3-zone RTP station can be estimated on-line. The simulation of the RTP system is performed to ensure the proper performance of the estimator and the closed loop control system. In addition, it is necessary for the control of temperature uniformity of the wafer to implement simulations of the control system and to experiment with new ways to obtain states and parameters estimations.

The implementation of the system is carried out on a Pentium based PC using LabVIIBW and G Math Toolkit with the full advantages of graphical programming or EL The capabilities of LabYIIEW to directly interface with the system using the data acquisition boards provided motivates the utilization of this software system.