Patent ID: 11929250
Assignee: KIOXIA CORPORATION
Field: Semiconductors (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 0:
1. A substrate processing apparatus, comprising:
a batch cleaning unit configured to simultaneously clean a plurality of substrates in a batch process with a first liquid;
a holding unit configured to receive the plurality of substrates from the batch cleaning unit while still wet with the first liquid and then store the plurality of substrates in a space inside the holding unit while still wet with the first liquid;
a single-substrate drying unit configured to receive substrates one by one from the holding unit and then dry the substrates one by one; and
a conveyance unit between the holding unit and the single-substrate drying unit, the conveyance unit configured to take out one of the substrates at a time from the holding unit and convey the taken out substrate to the single-substrate drying unit, wherein
the holding unit includes a maintenance mechanism configured to keep a first surface of each of the substrates being stored in the holding unit covered with the first liquid, and
the maintenance mechanism comprises a vapor pressure adjusting device configured to adjust a vapor pressure of the first liquid in the space.