Patent ID: 7600933

Claim:
A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a substrate holding stage configured to hold a substrate with a surface of the substrate facing up, the substrate having an exposed and developed resist pattern over the surface; a rotation driving mechanism configured to rotate the substrate holding stage around a vertical axis; a solvent vapor discharge nozzle having a discharge hole capable of discharging solvent vapor to swell the resist pattern onto the surface of the substrate held on the substrate holding stage and a vacuum opening capable of absorbing the solvent vapor discharged from the discharge hole; and a moving mechanism configured to move the solvent vapor discharge nozzle from an edge to a central area of the substrate held on the substrate holding stage, wherein the substrate is rotated around the vertical axis at the same time as moving the solvent vapor discharge nozzle from the edge to the central area of the substrate while discharging the solvent vapor from the discharge hole, thereby the solvent vapor is supplied over the substrate in a spiral manner.