Patent ID: 6998580

Claim:
A thermal processing apparatus irradiating a substrate with a flash thereby heating said substrate, comprising: a light source having a plurality of flash lamps; a holding element, capable of holding said substrate in spaced relation to said light source along a vertical direction, and comprising an assist-heating mechanism for preheating said substrate; an adjusting element capable of adjusting a distance of irradiation between said holding element holding said substrate and said light source when said light source emits said flash, said adjusting element being operable to move said holding element substantially along said vertical direction; and a table holding element holding a correlation table associating the intensity of irradiation on the surface of said substrate irradiated with said flash emitted from said light source and the distance of irradiation with each other, wherein said adjusting element obtains the distance of irradiation corresponding to predetermined intensity of irradiation from said correlation table and adjusts the position of said holding element so that the distance between said holding element holding said substrate and said light source reaches obtained said distance of irradiation.