Patent ID: 8182869

Claim:
A method for controlling a temperature of a mounting table by circulating a coolant coming out of a coolant circulator in a first and a second coolant passageway provided at the mounting table for mounting thereon a target object, the method comprising a first temperature control mode and a second temperature control mode, wherein the first temperature control mode includes the steps of: connecting the first coolant passageway and the second coolant passageway in parallel between an output port and a return port of the coolant circulator; making a part of the coolant of a reference temperature outputted from the coolant circulator flow in the first coolant passageway after raising or lowering the temperature thereof to a desired set temperature; and making a residual coolant flow in the second coolant passageway while substantially maintaining the reference temperature thereof, wherein the second temperature control mode includes the steps of: connecting the first coolant passageway and the second coolant passageway in parallel between the output port and the return port of the coolant circulator; making a part of the coolant outputted from the coolant circulator flow in the first coolant passageway while substantially maintaining the reference temperature thereof; and making a residual coolant flow in the second coolant passageway while substantially maintaining the reference temperature thereof, wherein the first and the second temperature control mode may be switched depending on processing conditions for the target object.