Patent ID: 9431276
Filing Date: 2016-08-30
CPC Classification: H01L,Y10S

Claim Text:
1. A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: a substrate holder which holds a substrate in a substantially horizontal posture; a substrate rotating unit which rotates the substrate held by the substrate holder about a predetermined rotation axis; a blocking member which includes a plate member, a rotary spindle, an inner shaft, a processing liquid discharge port, a solvent discharge port, a gas discharge port and an outer gas discharge port, wherein the plate member is spaced away from a substrate surface while facing the substrate surface to define a clearance space with the substrate surface; the rotary spindle is hollow and supports the plate member; the inner shaft is inserted in said hollow rotary spindle; the processing liquid discharge port is disposed at an end of the inner shaft, and receives and discharges water or a liquid whose principal component is water as a processing liquid to a central part of the substrate surface through the clearance space; the solvent discharge port is disposed at said end of the inner shaft and receives and discharges a low surface-tension solvent having a lower surface tension than the processing liquid to the central part of the substrate surface through the clearance space; the gas discharge port is disposed at the end of the inner shaft near the solvent discharge port and the processing liquid discharge port, and receives and discharges an inert gas to the central part of the substrate surface; the outer gas discharge port is an aperture defined between an inner wall surface of the rotary spindle and an outer wall surface of the inner shaft, and which receives and discharges an inert gas to the surface of the substrate, and is located radially outward of and surrounding the processing liquid discharge port, the solvent discharge port and the gas discharge port; and after supplying the processing liquid to the substrate surface to perform predetermined wet processing to the substrate surface, the low surface-tension solvent is supplied to the substrate surface, and then the low surface-tension solvent is removed from the substrate surface to dry the substrate surface, the processing liquid is discharged from the processing liquid discharge port to perform the wet processing while the inert gas is supplied into the clearance space from the gas discharge port and the outer gas discharge port, and the low surface-tension solvent is discharged from the solvent discharge port to replace the processing liquid adhering to the substrate surface with the low surface-tension solvent while the inert gas is supplied into the clearance space from the gas discharge port and the outer gas discharge port.