Abstract: A substrate holding apparatus is used for a substrate processing apparatus for supplying the processing liquid to a substrate. The substrate holding apparatus includes a holding member, a ring member, and a rotation mechanism. The holding member holds the substrate in a horizontal attitude. The ring member is in a shape of a ring surrounding a peripheral edge of the substrate held by the holding member, and has an upper surface level with or positioned below a front surface of the substrate. The rotation mechanism rotates the holding member and the ring member about a rotation axis at rotation speeds different from each other and/or in rotational directions different from each other, the rotation axis being a vertical axis passing through the substrate held by the holding member.

Abstract: This invention includes a substrate holder provided rotatably about an axis of rotation extending in a vertical direction while sucking and holding a central part of a lower surface of a substrate, a rotating mechanism for outputting a rotational driving force for rotating the substrate holder, a processing mechanism for processing the substrate by supplying a processing liquid to the substrate held by the substrate holder, and a rotating cup provided rotatably about the axis of rotation while surrounding an outer periphery of the rotating substrate and configured to collect liquid droplets of the processing liquid scattered from the substrate. The rotating mechanism includes a power transmitter for transmitting a part of the rotational driving force as a cup driving force to the rotating cup, and simultaneously rotates the substrate holder and the rotating cup by the rotational driving force.

Abstract: The invention includes an upper sealing member fixed near a ceiling wall of a processing chamber and a lower sealing member provided movably in a vertical direction below the upper sealing member. A sealed space is formed by moving down the lower sealing member to a lower limit position where an upper end part of the lower sealing member is aligned or partially overlapped with a lower end part of the upper sealing member in the vertical direction. On the other hand, a conveyance space for carrying the substrate to and from a substrate holder is formed by moving up the lower sealing member to a retracted position above the lower limit position.

Abstract: In a substrate processing apparatus for supplying a processing liquid onto a substrate being rotated, to thereby process the substrate, an upper support body which is a placement member is separably placed on a lower support body for supporting the substrate. The upper support body is moved up and down by an up-and-down moving part. The upper support body includes a first contact part outside an outer periphery of the substrate in a radial direction. When a second contact part of the up-and-down moving part goes up, the second contact part comes into contact with the first contact part, to thereby move the upper support body up. When the second contact part goes down, the upper support body is placed on the lower support body and the second contact part is separated from the first contact part, and in this state, the lower support body is rotatable.

Abstract: In a substrate processing apparatus for supplying a processing liquid onto a lower surface of a substrate being rotated, to thereby process the substrate, provided are an upper support body which is separably placed on a lower support body, a plurality of upper holding members protruding downward from the upper support body, for holding the substrate, and an upper hold-driving part for moving the upper holding members separably from and contactably with an outer edge portion of the substrate. Preferably, the upper hold-driving part moves the upper holding members by using a magnetic action between holding-side magnetic members and an annular driving-side magnetic member.

Abstract: In a substrate processing apparatus for supplying a processing liquid onto a substrate being rotated, to thereby process the substrate, an upper support body which is an annular member is separably placed on a lower support body for supporting the substrate. The upper support body rotates together with the lower support body while covering an outer edge portion of the substrate. The upper support body includes an annular sidewall opposed to an outer periphery of the substrate and an outer periphery of the upper support body in a radial direction and an annular upper portion which extends from the annular sidewall inward in the radial direction and is opposed to an outer edge portion of an upper surface of the substrate in an up-and-down direction. The opening area of the annular upper portion is not less than a half of the area of the substrate.

Abstract: A transfer path is provided which is extended so as to be passed on a lateral side of a processing portion that processes a substrate. The substrate transferred between a container held by a holding unit and the processing portion passes through the transfer path. A first transfer robot carries the substrate into and out of the container held by the holding unit, and accesses a reception/delivery region arranged within the transfer path. A second transfer robot receives and delivers the substrate from and to the first transfer robot in the reception/delivery region, and carries the substrate into and out of the processing portion. A second transfer robot raising/lowering unit which raises and lowers the second transfer robot is arranged within the transfer path. The reception/delivery region and the second transfer robot raising/lowering unit are located between the first transfer robot and the second transfer robot.

Abstract: A substrate processing system includes a protective film forming liquid supplying unit which supplies a protective film forming liquid to one surface of a substrate, a protective film forming unit which solidifies or hardens the protective film forming liquid and forms a protective film on the one surface of the substrate, a suction unit which suctions the one surface of the substrate, a processing unit which executes predetermined processing with respect to the other surface of the substrate in a state that the one surface of the substrate is suctioned by the suction unit, and a removing liquid supplying unit which has a removing liquid discharge port that discharges a removing liquid being capable of removing the protective film and supplies the removing liquid toward the one surface of the substrate from the removing liquid discharge port.

Abstract: A substrate rotation mechanism rotates the substrate holder about a central axis. A top plate opposes the upper surface of the substrate and rotates about the central axis. A gas supply part supplies a treatment atmospheric gas to a radial central part of a lower space that is a space below the top plate. An ion generator generates and supplies ions to the treatment atmospheric gas supplied from the gas supply part. Then, in a state in which the top plate is positioned lower than when the substrate is transported into the apparatus, the treatment atmospheric gas that contains the ions is supplied to the lower space to form an ion stream that spreads radially outward from the radial central part of the lower space while rotating the substrate holder and the top plate. Accordingly, charges can be dissipated from the top plate with a simple structure.

Abstract: A protective disk is disposed between a spin base and a substrate W and is capable of being raised and lowered between a separated position which is separated downward from the substrate W and a near position which is nearer to the substrate than the separated position. An upper surface of the protective disk has an inner surface which is provided on an inner side of a plurality of holding pins in a radial direction and a flat surface which is provided on an outer side of the inner surface in the radial direction and is provided above the inner surface. The flat surface faces a lower surface of a part on an inner side of an outer circumferential end in the radial direction, in a circumferential edge portion of the substrate.

Abstract: A substrate processing method includes a liquid film forming step of forming a liquid film, a liquid film heat retaining step of keeping the liquid film warm, a gas phase layer forming step of forming a gas phase layer which holds the processing liquid on a center portion of the liquid film, an opening forming step of forming an opening in the center portion of the liquid film by excluding the processing liquid held by the gas phase layer, a substrate rotating step of rotating the substrate around a rotation axis, and an opening expanding step of expanding the opening, while a state in which the gas phase layer is formed on an inner circumferential edge of the liquid film is maintained, by moving the irradiation region toward a circumferential edge portion of the substrate while the liquid film heat retaining step and the substrate rotating step are performed.

Abstract: A substrate rotation mechanism rotates the substrate holder about a central axis. A top plate opposes the upper surface of the substrate and rotates about the central axis. A gas supply part supplies a treatment atmospheric gas to a radial central part of a lower space that is a space below the top plate. An ion generator generates and supplies ions to the treatment atmospheric gas supplied from the gas supply part. Then, in a state in which the top plate is positioned lower than when the substrate is transported into the apparatus, the treatment atmospheric gas that contains the ions is supplied to the lower space to form an ion stream that spreads radially outward from the radial central part of the lower space while rotating the substrate holder and the top plate. Accordingly, charges can be dissipated from the top plate with a simple structure.

Abstract: A substrate holding apparatus is used for a substrate processing apparatus for supplying the processing liquid to a substrate. The substrate holding apparatus includes a holding member, a ring member, and a rotation mechanism. The holding member holds the substrate in a horizontal attitude. The ring member is in a shape of a ring surrounding a peripheral edge of the substrate held by the holding member, and has an upper surface level with or positioned below a front surface of the substrate. The rotation mechanism rotates the holding member and the ring member about a rotation axis at rotation speeds different from each other and/or in rotational directions different from each other, the rotation axis being a vertical axis passing through the substrate held by the holding member.

Abstract: The substrate holding/rotating device includes a plurality of movable pins each having a support portion in contact with a peripheral edge portion of the substrate to support the substrate, and a rotation unit which rotates the plurality of movable pins around the rotation axis, a support portion of each of the movable pins included in a first pin group is disposed so as to move between a first hold position included hold positions, the first hold position close to a rotation axis and a second hold position included the hold positions, the second hold position far apart from the first hold position to one in a circumferential direction and also so as to move between the first and second hold positions and an open position far apart from the rotation axis.

Abstract: A top plate when located at a first position is held by an opposing-member holder, and the top plate when located at a second position is held by a substrate holder and rotated along with the substrate holder. In a substrate processing apparatus, a first processing liquid nozzle located at a supply position inside a to-be-held part of the top plate supplies a first processing liquid through an opposing-member opening to a substrate and is moved from the supply position to its retracted position, and a second processing liquid nozzle is moved from its retracted position to the supply position and supplies a second processing liquid through the opposing-member opening to the substrate. This configuration suppresses or prevents mixture of multiple types of processing liquids, as compared with the case where multiple types of processing liquids are sequentially supplied from a single processing liquid nozzle.

Abstract: A first transfer robot carries a substrate into and out of a container. A second transfer robot receives and delivers the substrate from and to the first transfer robot, and carries the substrate into and out of a first processing portion through a first exit/entrance port. A third transfer robot receives and delivers the substrate from and to the second transfer robot, carries the substrate into and out of a second processing portion through a second exit/entrance port, and carries the substrate into and out of a third processing portion through a third exit/entrance port.

Abstract: A pair of guide parts of a substrate inverting device comes in contact with the peripheral edge portion of a substrate on both sides in the width direction of the substrate. The switching mechanism changes a state of contact between the pair of guide parts and the substrate by switching the positions of the pair of guide parts between a first contact position and a second contact position. Each of the pair of guide parts has a first contact region and a second contact region. The second contact region is located at a position different in the up-down direction and the width direction from the position of the first contact region. The substrate inverting device is capable of switching regions of the guide parts that come in contact with the substrate between the first contact regions and the second contact regions in accordance with the state of the substrate.

Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus includes a heater having an infrared lamp and a housing for heating an upper surface of a substrate held by a substrate holding mechanism with the heater in opposed relation to the upper surface. A heater cleaning method includes locating the heater at a position above a lower nozzle in opposed relation to a first spout of the lower nozzle, the lower nozzle being in opposed relation to a lower surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding mechanism, and a lower cleaning liquid spouting step of supplying a cleaning liquid to the lower nozzle to spout the cleaning liquid upward from the first spout with no substrate being held by the substrate holding mechanism to thereby supply the cleaning liquid to an outer surface of the housing of the heater located at the heater cleaning position.

Abstract: A protective disk is disposed between a spin base and a substrate W and is capable of being raised and lowered between a separated position which is separated downward from the substrate W and a near position which is nearer to the substrate than the separated position. An upper surface of the protective disk has an inner surface which is provided on an inner side of a plurality of holding pins in a radial direction and a flat surface which is provided on an outer side of the inner surface in the radial direction and is provided above the inner surface. The flat surface faces a lower surface of a part on an inner side of an outer circumferential end in the radial direction, in a circumferential edge portion of the substrate.

Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus has a labyrinth around a processing liquid nozzle above a nozzle gap, and a seal gas is supplied to the labyrinth to seal the nozzle gap from an external space. Consequently, the entry of the atmosphere of the external space into a processing space through the nozzle gap can be suppressed. An opposing-member flange part of a top plate has a first uneven part on the upper surface, and a holder body of an opposing-member moving mechanism has a second uneven part on the lower surface. The labyrinth is formed by raised portions of one of the first and second uneven parts being disposed within recessed portions of the other of the first and second uneven parts with a gap therebetween only when the top plate is located at a second position (i.e., the processing space is created). This achieves flattening of the substrate processing apparatus.