Abstract: The present invention is a developing treatment apparatus for performing development by supplying a developing solution to a substrate having a front surface coated with a positive resist or a negative resist and then subjected to exposure wherein a movable cup is raised to introduce one of scattering developing solutions for the positive and negative resists into an inner peripheral flow path of a cup and the movable cup is lowered to introduce the other of scattering developing solutions for the positive and negative resists into an outer peripheral flow path of the cup, and the developing solution introduced into the inner peripheral flow path and the developing solution introduced into the outer peripheral flow path are separately drained.

Abstract: The present invention is a developing treatment apparatus for performing development by supplying a developing solution to a substrate having a front surface coated with a positive resist or a negative resist and then subjected to exposure wherein a movable cup is raised to introduce one of scattering developing solutions for the positive and negative resists into an inner peripheral flow path of a cup and the movable cup is lowered to introduce the other of scattering developing solutions for the positive and negative resists into an outer peripheral flow path of the cup, and the developing solution introduced into the inner peripheral flow path and the developing solution introduced into the outer peripheral flow path are separately drained.

Abstract: A printing system includes a plurality of printers capable of communicating with each other, wherein each of the plurality of printers includes a communication unit configured to transmit/receive a job, a determination unit configured to determine whether print setting of a received job is processable by a printing function of the printer, and a storage unit configured to store the job in a memory, and each of the plurality of printers stores the job in the memory by the storage unit when the print setting of the received job is determined to be processable by the determination unit by the printing function of the printer and transfers the job by the communication unit to any printer of the plurality of printers when the print setting is determined to be not processable.

Abstract: The present invention is a developing treatment apparatus for performing development by supplying a developing solution to a substrate having a front surface coated with a positive resist or a negative resist and then subjected to exposure wherein a movable cup is raised to introduce one of scattering developing solutions for the positive and negative resists into an inner peripheral flow path of a cup and the movable cup is lowered to introduce the other of scattering developing solutions for the positive and negative resists into an outer peripheral flow path of the cup, and the developing solution introduced into the inner peripheral flow path and the developing solution introduced into the outer peripheral flow path are separately drained.

Abstract: A developing method including a developing step in which, while a wafer horizontally held by a spin chuck is being rotated, the wafer is developed by supplying a developer onto a surface of the wafer, wherein provided before the developing step is a pre-wetting step in which, simultaneously with the developer being supplied from a first nozzle that is located on a position near a central part of the surface of the rotating wafer, a deionized water as a second liquid is supplied from a second nozzle that is located on a position nearer to an outer peripheral part of the wafer than the first nozzle, to thereby spread out the developer in the rotating direction of the wafer by a wall that is formed by the deionized water flowing to the outer peripheral side of the wafer with the rotation of the wafer.

Abstract: A developing apparatus includes a first cup module and a second cup module arranged to be spaced apart from each other in a transverse direction; a first developing solution nozzle configured to wait in a standby position between the first cup module and the second cup module; and a first moving mechanism configured to move the first developing solution nozzle between the standby position and a processing position in which the developing solution is supplied to the substrate, wherein the first developing solution nozzle includes an ejection hole configured to eject the developing solution to form a liquid puddle on a surface of the substrate, the first developing solution nozzle includes a contact portion formed smaller than the surface of the substrate and installed to face the surface of the substrate, and the first developing solution nozzle spreads the liquid puddle on the substrate.

Abstract: Disclosed is a technique for preventing a water-repellent protective film formed on a resist film from peeling off during immersion exposure. A resist film is formed on the front surface of a substrate and then the peripheral edge portion of the resist film is removed. Before forming a water-repellent protective film onto the resist film, an adhesion-improving fluid, preferably hexamethyldisilazane gas, for improving the adhesion of the water-repellent protective film, is supplied to the region from which the resist film is removed.

Abstract: A substrate liquid treatment apparatus comprises a chuck (13) that holds and rotates a wafer, a back surface purging nozzle (15) that discharges a purge gas toward the back surface of the wafer, and a periphery purging nozzle 16 that discharges the purge gas onto the back surface of the wafer. The back surface purging nozzle has a slit-like opening part extending from a central side to a peripheral side of the substrate in a plan view. Vertical distance between the slit-like opening part and the substrate held by the substrate holding unit increases as approaching an end of the opening part on the central side of the substrate. The periphery purging nozzle discharges the purge gas, toward a central part of the substrate, toward a region on the back surface of the substrate, which region is located radially outside an end of the slit-like opening part of the back surface purging nozzle and radially inside an peripheral edge of the substrate.

Abstract: A cleaning apparatus includes a first substrate-holding portion configured to hold a first area of a back surface of the substrate so that the top surface is kept face up; a second substrate-holding portion configured to hold a second area of the back surface of the substrate, the second area being not overlapped with the first area, and rotate the substrate; a top-surface cleaning nozzle configured to supply a top surface cleaning fluid to a top surface of the substrate; a bevel cleaning nozzle configured to supply a bevel cleaning fluid to a bevel portion of the substrate; a cleaning fluid supplying portion configured to supply a back surface cleaning fluid to the back surface of the substrate held by the first or the second substrate-holding portion; and a cleaning member configured to clean the back surface of the substrate held by the first or the second-substrate holding portion.

Abstract: A coating and developing system for forming a resist film on a substrate by coating the substrate with a liquid resist and developing the resist film after the resist film has been processed by immersion exposure that forms a liquid layer on the surface of the substrate is capable of reducing difference in property among resist films formed on substrates. The coating and developing system includes: a cleaning unit; a carrying means; and a controller. A set time interval is determined such that the substrate is subjected to the immersion exposure process after contact angle drop rate at which contact angle between the cleaning liquid and a surface of the substrate drops has dropped from an initial level at the wetting time point when the surface of the substrate is wetted with the cleaning liquid to a level far lower than the initial level.

Abstract: A printing system includes a plurality of printers capable of communicating with each other, wherein each of the plurality of printers includes a communication unit configured to transmit/receive a job, a determination unit configured to determine whether print setting of a received job is processable by a printing function of the printer, and a storage unit configured to store the job in a memory, and each of the plurality of printers stores the job in the memory by the storage unit when the print setting of the received job is determined to be processable by the determination unit by the printing function of the printer and transfers the job by the communication unit to any printer of the plurality of printers when the print setting is determined to be not processable.

Abstract: There is disclosed a polishing cleaning mechanism configured to be in contact with a rear surface of a substrate which is held in a substrate holding unit for holding the rear surface of the substrate and perform a polishing process and a cleaning process on the rear surface of the substrate, including a cleaning member configured to clean the rear surface of the substrate, a polishing member configured to polish the rear surface of the substrate, and a support member configured to support the polishing member and the cleaning member to face the rear surface of the substrate held in the substrate holding unit, wherein a surface of the polishing member facing the substrate and a surface of the cleaning member facing the substrate differ in relative height from each other.

Abstract: A substrate cleaning method that includes: a step in which, while a substrate holder is being continuously rotated, a to-be-discharged position of the cleaning liquid on the substrate is changed to an eccentric position deviated from the central part of the substrate, and a gas is discharged from a gas nozzle to the central part of the substrate so as to form a dried area of the cleaning liquid under a condition in which a shortest distance between an edge of a cleaning liquid flow output from the cleaning-liquid nozzle and an edge of a gas flow output from the gas nozzle is set between 9 mm and 15 mm.

Abstract: A developing method includes: horizontally holding an exposed substrate by a substrate holder; forming a liquid puddle on a part of the substrate, by supplying a developer from a developer nozzle; rotating the substrate; spreading the liquid puddle on a whole surface of the substrate, by moving the developer nozzle such that a supply position of the developer on the rotating substrate is moved in a radial direction of the substrate; bringing, simultaneously with the spreading of the liquid puddle on the whole surface of the substrate, a contact part into contact with the liquid puddle, the contact part being configured to be moved together with the developer nozzle and having a surface opposed to the substrate which is smaller than the surface of the substrate. According to this method, an amount of liquid falling down to the outside of the substrate can be inhibited. In addition, since the rotating speed of the substrate can be decreased, spattering of the developer can be inhibited.

Abstract: A developing apparatus includes: a substrate holder that hold a substrate horizontally; a developer nozzle that supplies a developer onto the substrate to form a liquid puddle; a turning flow generation mechanism including a rotary member that rotates about an axis perpendicular to the substrate while the rotary member is being in contact with the liquid puddle thereby to generate a turning flow in the liquid puddle of the developer formed on the substrate; and a moving mechanism for moving the turning flow generation mechanism along a surface of the substrate. The line-width uniformity of a pattern can be improved by forming turning flows in a desired region of the substrate and stirring the developer.

Abstract: There are provided first and second cleaning members which are configured to clean a central zone in a rear surface of a wafer when the wafer held by an absorption pad is horizontally held, and configured to clean a peripheral zone in the rear surface of the wafer when the wafer is held by the spin chuck. Due to the provision of the first and second cleaning members, detergency can be improved as compared with a case in which only one cleaning member is used. The first and second cleaning members are configured to be horizontally turned by a common turning shaft. When the central zone in the rear surface of the wafer is cleaned, the turning shaft is located to be overlapped with the wafer. Since the turning shaft is located by using the moving area of the wafer, a size of an apparatus can be reduced.

Abstract: A liquid processing apparatus for performing liquid processing with respect to a substrate using processing fluid, includes: a plurality of substrate holding units arranged side by side in a left-right direction; a nozzle configured to supply the processing fluid to the substrate held in each of the substrate holding units; and a nozzle moving mechanism configured to move the nozzle forward and backward in a front-rear direction intersecting an arrangement direction of the substrate holding units between a supplying position in which the processing fluid is supplied to a region including a central portion of the substrate and a waiting position which is defined at a rear side of a row of the substrate holding units opposite to a front side of the row of the substrate holding units at which the substrate is loaded and unloaded.

Abstract: Disclosed is a polyurethane urea elastic fiber containing 5-40% by weight of a polyurethane compound, wherein the compression deformation starting temperature determined by thermomechanical analysis (TMA) is not less than 150° C. but not more than 180° C. and time for thermal cutting at 180° C. is not less than 30 seconds.

Abstract: A cleaning apparatus includes a first substrate-holding portion configured to hold a first area of a back surface of the substrate so that the top surface is kept face up; a second substrate-holding portion configured to hold a second area of the back surface of the substrate, the second area being not overlapped with the first area, and rotate the substrate; a top-surface cleaning nozzle configured to supply a top surface cleaning fluid to a top surface of the substrate; a bevel cleaning nozzle configured to supply a bevel cleaning fluid to a bevel portion of the substrate; a cleaning fluid supplying portion configured to supply a back surface cleaning fluid to the back surface of the substrate held by the first or the second substrate-holding portion; and a cleaning member configured to clean the back surface of the substrate held by the first or the second-substrate holding portion.

Abstract: A developing method including a developing step in which, while a wafer horizontally held by a spin chuck is being rotated, the wafer is developed by supplying a developer onto a surface of the wafer, wherein provided before the developing step is a pre-wetting step in which, simultaneously with the developer being supplied from a first nozzle that is located on a position near a central part of the surface of the rotating wafer, a deionized water as a second liquid is supplied from a second nozzle that is located on a position nearer to an outer peripheral part of the wafer than the first nozzle, to thereby spread out the developer in the rotating direction of the wafer by a wall that is formed by the deionized water flowing to the outer peripheral side of the wafer with the rotation of the wafer.