Patent ID: 8474468

Claim:
A thermal processing apparatus for heating a layer on a substrate in a bath of a heated liquid, the thermal processing apparatus comprising: a vessel including a base and a lid movable relative to said base between opened and closed positions, said vessel adapted to be partially filled by the bath of the heated liquid so that a headspace is defined between the bath and said lid as an unfilled volume; a substrate support in said vessel, said substrate support moveable relative to said vessel for transporting the substrate between a first position in which the substrate contacts the heated liquid in the bath and a second position in which the substrate has a non-contacting relationship with the heated liquid in the bath; and a compressed gas source communicating with said vessel, said compressed gas source adapted to communicate compressed gas to the headspace for pressurizing the headspace to a pressure effective to elevate a boiling point of the liquid in the bath, wherein a backside of the substrate contacts the heated liquid in the bath and the layer on the substrate does not contact the liquid when the substrate is in the first position.