Patent ID: 8845262
Filing Date: 2014-09-30
Classification: H01L

Abstract:
1. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a substrate transit table configured to mount thereon a plurality of substrates; a substrate processing chamber configured to process the substrate one by one; a substrate transfer device capable of loading the substrate into the substrate processing chamber from the substrate transit table and unloading the substrate from the substrate processing chamber to the substrate transit table; and N number of (N is an integer equal to or larger than 3) substrate holding devices provided at the substrate transfer device and configured to hold the substrates one by one, wherein a multiplicity of (M number of) substrates are concurrently held by M number of substrate holding devices from among the N number of substrate holding devices and one substrate is loaded into the substrate processing chamber, wherein M is an integer equal to or larger than 2 and smaller than N, wherein among the N number of substrate holding devices, at least one substrate holding device is configured as a substrate holding device for both loading and unloading the substrate into and from the substrate processing chamber, wherein among the N number of substrate holding devices, at least one another substrate holding device is configured as a substrate holding device for unloading the substrate from the substrate processing chamber, wherein the at least one substrate holding device for both loading and unloading the substrate includes substrate supports that support the substrate, and wherein the substrate supports include a substrate holding portion for loading and a substrate holding portion for unloading that is different from the substrate holding portion for loading.