Patent ID: 7965927

Claim:
A heat treatment method for exposing a substrate placed on a heating plate to a flash of light emitted from a flash lamp to perform a heating process on the substrate, comprising the steps of: upwardly and downwardly moving said heating plate between a transfer position and a treatment position in accordance with a predetermined up-and-down pattern of movement when performing a steady process on a substrate to be treated, said transfer position being a position in which said heating plate lies when a substrate is transported into and out of a chamber for housing said heating plate therein, said treatment position being a position in which said heating plate lies when a substrate is exposed to a flash of light emitted from said flash lamp; and upwardly and downwardly moving said heating plate in accordance with said up-and-down pattern during the entire period when the heating plate is in a standby condition pending the transport of the substrate into said chamber.