Patent ID: 7868270

Claim:
A temperature control method for controlling a temperature of a hot plate, so that a measured temperature of the hot plate conforms to a target temperature thereof, in a heat processing apparatus for performing a heat process on a substrate placed on the hot plate, which is used in a coating/developing system for applying a resist coating onto the substrate to form a resist film and then performing development on the resist film after light exposure, the method comprising: acquiring adjustment data necessary for adjusting a reaching time defined by a time period for increasing the temperature of the substrate from a first temperature around an initial temperature to a second temperature around the target temperature; adjusting the target temperature by use of the adjustment data thus acquired, after starting the process on the substrate; and wherein said acquiring adjustment data includes a first stage arranged to measure a before-adjustment reaching time, and a second stage arranged to acquire the adjustment data by use of a time difference between a measured reaching time and a target reaching time.