The design of an integrated bake/chill module for photoresist processing in microlithography is presented, with an emphasis on the substrate spatial and temporal temperature uniformity. The system consists of multiple radiant heating zones for heating the substrate, coupled with an array of thermoelectric devices which provide real-time dynamic and spatial control of the substrate temperature. The integration of the bake and chill steps eliminates the loss of temperature control encountered during the mechanical transfer from the bake to chill step. The feasibility of the proposed approach is demonstrated via detailed modeling and simulations based on first principle heat transfer analysis. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.