Patent ID: 7628864

Claim:
A substrate cleaning method for removing foreign materials attached to a bottom surface of a substrate, the method comprising the steps of: accommodating the substrate in a chamber; mounting the substrate on a mounting table disposed in the chamber; separating the substrate from the mounting table to form a space therebetween; applying a voltage from a power supply to an electrode disposed in the mounting table while the space is formed, the power supply being connected to the electrode; supplying a gas into the space while the space is formed; and exhausting the inside of the chamber while the space is formed to thereby remove the foreign materials attached to the bottom surface of the substrate, wherein the step of supplying the gas comprises supplying the gas into the space toward a bottom surface of the substrate through gas supply openings provided on a top surface of the mounting table, and wherein the applied voltage forms an electrostatic field in the space so that an electrostatic stress is applied on the bottom surface of the substrate to thereby detach the foreign materials from the bottom surface.