Patent ID: 7609361

Claim:
A substrate processing method comprising the steps of: coating a surface of a substrate with a resist film; coating the surface of the resist film with a protective film; processing the surface of the substrate by an exposure process with the surface of the substrate coated with a transparent immersion liquid layer; and processing the surface of the substrate by a developing process; wherein surface defects in the surface of the protective film are detected by a protective film inspecting means before subjecting the substrate provided with the protective film to the exposure process by an exposure system, a decision is made to see whether or not the surface defects in the surface of the protective film is normal when the protective film is wetted with the immersion liquid layer, and the substrate is subjected to the exposure process when it is decided that the surface defects are normal or is not subjected to the exposure process when it is decided that the surface defects are abnormal, wherein the exposure system is provided with an immersion liquid supply unit for supplying the immersion liquid into a space between an exposure lens and the surface of the substrate, a cleaning liquid supply unit for supplying a lens cleaning liquid for cleaning the exposure lens into the space between the exposure lens and the surface of the substrate, and shutoff valves placed in supply lines connected to the immersion liquid supply unit and the cleaning liquid supply unit, respectively, to supply the immersion liquid or the lens cleaning liquid selectively, and the shutoff valves are operated according to the degree of surface defects in the protective film to supply the lens cleaning liquid for a lens cleaning process after the completion of the exposure process when the surface defects in the protective film are normal.