On the fab floor, you know the drill: a half-degree excursion during soft bake or hard bake can shift critical dimensions and eat into yield. The 2026 wafer heater was built for the process window we actually run—tight thermal control, clean operation, and repeatability shift after shift. What matters under the hood We run short-wave infrared with a quartz-halogen source and a mapped, closed-loop zone array. The result is wafer-level uniformity within ±0.1°C across 150–300 mm substrates. Temperature ramp rates hit 10°C/s with controlled overshoot, so thin films stay intact and thermal budget stays under control. Surface temperature is measured in situ, and recipe execution holds setpoint stability to ±0.5°C under load. Cleanroom compatibility isn’t an add-on—Class 1–100 operation, zero particle generation verified by in-line monitoring, and exhaust routing that keeps outgassing from drifting onto adjacent tools. Power is 24 V DC with CE-compliant isolation, and the footprint is compact enough to drop into standard handlers and coat/bake tracks. Why this matters for photoresist Photoresist processing doesn’t forgive sloppy heat. Soft bake sets solvent removal and adhesion. Hard bake locks in etch resistance and pattern integrity. Hold those steps at consistent temperature and you get tighter CD distribution, fewer defects, and less rework. Energy use drops because ramp-to-soak is fast and standby power is low. Uptime is the other payoff—field data put MTBF above 20,000 hours, with service intervals at 8,000 hours for lamp and sensor calibration. What you need to plan for Installation comes down to verified exhaust pressure and proper grounding—micro-vibration can couple into alignment if either is off. The tool talks SECS/GEM for integration, but retrofit kits vary by track model. Confirm mechanical fit and protocol match before you schedule changeover. And run a short qualification to lock in ramp rates and soak times for your resist stack.