Patent ID: 8113757

Claim:
An intermediate transfer chamber provided between a first chamber being in a first environment where an interior thereof is at a first pressure and contains moisture, and a second chamber being in a second environment where an interior thereof is at a second pressure lower than the first pressure, comprising: a transfer device comprising a supporting portion that bidirectionally transfers a substrate between the first chamber and the second chamber and supports the substrate; an exhaust device that exhausts an interior of the intermediate transfer chamber so as to reduce pressure in the intermediate transfer chamber from the first pressure to the second pressure; and a conductance control device that lowers a conductance of exhaust on at least a principal surface of the substrate opposite to said supporting portion when said exhaust device exhausts the interior of the intermediate transfer chamber, wherein the intermediate transfer chamber includes an inner space in which said transfer device can move horizontally, and wherein said conductance control device comprises a plate member provided in opposed relation to the principal surface of the substrate, the plate member covering less than half of the inner space with respect to the horizontal direction thereof.