Patent ID: 8111372
Filing Date: 2012-02-07
Classification: G03F,H01L

Abstract:
1. A coating film forming apparatus for immersion light exposure, for forming a coating film comprising a resist film or a resist film and an additional film on a substrate to be fed to an immersion light exposure apparatus configured to perform a light exposure process through a liquid, the coating film forming apparatus comprising: one or more coating units configured to apply the resist film or the resist film and the additional film onto the substrate; one or more thermally processing units configured to perform a thermal process necessary for forming the coating film on the substrate; a defect eliciting unit configured to perform a process for eliciting a latent defect of the coating film at an edge portion of the substrate with the coating film formed thereon; a checking unit configured to check a state of the coating film at an edge portion of the substrate after the process by the defect eliciting unit and before the immersion light exposure; a control section configured to use a check result obtained by the checking unit to make a judgment of whether or not the state of the coating film at the edge portion of the substrate is within an acceptable range, and to permit transfer of the substrate to the light exposure apparatus when the state of the coating film is within the acceptable range; and a cleaning unit configured to perform cleaning on the substrate before the process by the defect eliciting unit.