Patent ID: 7357846

Claim:
A substrate processing apparatus for applying a prescribed processing to a substrate, said apparatus comprising: a container disposing section on which a container capable of housing a plurality of substrates is disposed; a batch processing section for applying a first processing to a plurality of substrates; a single substrate processing section for applying a second processing to a single substrate; a substrate supporting section, juxtaposed by the batch processing section, for supporting a plurality of substrates: a single substrate transfer mechanism for transferring substrates one by one between the batch processing section and the single substrate processing section, such that the first processing performed in the batch processing section and the second processing performed in the single substrate processing section are sequentially performed in this order; and a batch substrate transfer mechanism for transferring simultaneously a plurality of substrates from the container disposing section to the batch processing section, and transferring simultaneously a plurality of substrates from the substrate supporting section to the container disposing section, wherein the batch processing section has a structure arranged to perform as the first processing a processing for substrates newly loaded into the apparatus, prior to the second processing in the single substrate processing section, and the substrate supporting section has a structure different from the batch processing section and arranged to temporarily store substrates transferred by the single substrate transfer mechanism one by one, after the second processing in the single-substrate processing section.