Optimal Design of Baking Plates for an Inductive Wafer Baking Oven

Abstract

A finite-element model of a baking plate pair used in an inductively heated wafer baking oven is derived and used for design optimization. Based on frequency-domain analyses of the electromagnetic field, the heat source generated by induced currents is approximated. This reduces the computational complexity by eliminating the need for coupled simulations. A nonlinear description of phase transformations in the batter, mainly the vaporization of water, is compared to a linearized approach. The antagonistic objectives of good temperature homogeneity and fast startup time of the oven lead to a tradeoff for the baking plate thickness. For a simple objective function, the optimal baking plate thickness is calculated explicitly by relations obtained from FEM simulations.