Patent ID: 7129168

Claim:
A method of estimating substrate temperature, comprising: epitaxially growing a first semiconductor layer on a substrate for temperature estimation, the first semiconductor layer being made of a single crystal material having an optical constant that is different from an optical constant of the substrate for temperature estimation, and then epitaxially growing a second semiconductor layer on the first semiconductor layer under a reaction control condition, the second semiconductor layer being made of a single crystal material having an optical constant that is substantially equal to the optical constant of the substrate for temperature estimation and different from the optical constant of the first semiconductor layer; measuring a film thickness of the second semiconductor layer by a method of optical measurement and measuring a surface temperature of the second semiconductor layer; calculating a rate of growth of the second semiconductor layer based on the film thickness of the second semiconductor layer thus measured to derive a relationship between the rate of growth of the second semiconductor layer and the surface temperature of the second semiconductor layer; epitaxially growing a third semiconductor layer on a substrate for device fabrication made of a material identical to a material of the substrate for temperature estimation, the third semiconductor layer being made of a single crystal material having an optical constant that is different from the optical constant of the substrate for device fabrication, and then epitaxially growing a fourth semiconductor layer on the third semiconductor layer under a reaction control condition, the fourth semiconductor layer being made of a single crystal material having an optical constant that is substantially equal to the optical constant of the substrate for device fabrication and different from the optical constant of the third semiconductor layer; measuring a film thickness of the fourth semiconductor layer by a method of optical measurement; calculating a rate of growth of the fourth semiconductor layer based on the film thickness of the fourth semiconductor layer thus measured; and estimating a surface temperature of the fourth semiconductor layer based on the rate of growth of the fourth semiconductor layer thus calculated and a relationship.