A pre-aligner for pre-aligning a wafer (W) having a notch (N) on an outer peripheral edge thereof, the pre-aligner comprising: a rotation unit including: a wafer platform having a wafer receiving surface configured to receive the wafer; and a drive device configured to rotate the wafer platform about an axis; a detector configured to detect the notch of the wafer when the wafer is received on the wafer receiving surface; a memory configured to store a notch window defining a range of angles in which the notch is predicted to be located in relation to a start position at which the wafer is initially received on the wafer receiving surface, the start position corresponding to a sensing area of the detector; and a controller programmed to perform a pre-alignment operation in which the wafer is rotated from the start position to a predetermined alignment location, wherein the controller is programmed to perform the pre-alignment operation such that the wafer is rotated at maximum acceleration/deceleration values from the start position to a notch location detected by the detector: where the pre-alignment operation is limited to a maximum velocity for rotation of the wafer from the start position to a notch window; and where the pre-alignment operation is limited to a scanning velocity for rotation of the wafer within the notch window until the notch location is detected by the detector, the scanning velocity being less than the maximum velocity. a rotation unit including: a wafer platform having a wafer receiving surface configured to receive the wafer; and a drive device configured to rotate the wafer platform about an axis; a wafer platform having a wafer receiving surface configured to receive the wafer; and a drive device configured to rotate the wafer platform about an axis; a detector configured to detect the notch of the wafer when the wafer is received on the wafer receiving surface; a memory configured to store a notch window defining a range of angles in which the notch is predicted to be located in relation to a start position at which the wafer is initially received on the wafer receiving surface, the start position corresponding to a sensing area of the detector; and a controller programmed to perform a pre-alignment operation in which the wafer is rotated from the start position to a predetermined alignment location, wherein the controller is programmed to perform the pre-alignment operation such that the wafer is rotated at maximum acceleration/deceleration values from the start position to a notch location detected by the detector: where the pre-alignment operation is limited to a maximum velocity for rotation of the wafer from the start position to a notch window; and where the pre-alignment operation is limited to a scanning velocity for rotation of the wafer within the notch window until the notch location is detected by the detector, the scanning velocity being less than the maximum velocity. where the pre-alignment operation is limited to a maximum velocity for rotation of the wafer from the start position to a notch window; and where the pre-alignment operation is limited to a scanning velocity for rotation of the wafer within the notch window until the notch location is detected by the detector, the scanning velocity being less than the maximum velocity. <EOS>