Patent ID: 8256370

Claim:
A coating apparatus comprising: a substrate holding member configured to hold a back side central portion of a substrate and thereby support the substrate in a horizontal state; a coating nozzle configured to supply a coating liquid onto a front side central portion of the substrate; a rotational driving unit configured to rotate the substrate holding member about a vertical axis, so as to spread the coating liquid supplied on the front side central portion of the substrate toward a peripheral portion of the substrate by a centrifugal force and thereby form a film of the coating liquid; a liquid film forming mechanism configured to form a liquid film of a process liquid for preventing a contaminant derived from the coating liquid from being deposited or left on a back side peripheral portion of the substrate, the liquid film forming mechanism including a counter face portion facing the back side peripheral portion of the substrate and a process liquid supply portion configured to supply the process liquid onto the counter face portion, so that the process liquid is adsorbed by a surface tension of the process liquid on the counter face portion and the peripheral portion of the substrate being rotated and the liquid film is thereby formed; a posture regulating mechanism disposed around the substrate holding member and configured to damp a vertical wobble of the peripheral portion of the substrate being rotated, the posture regulating mechanism including delivery holes arrayed in a rotational direction of the substrate and configured to deliver a gas onto a back side region of the substrate on an inner side of the peripheral portion on which the liquid film is formed; and a first elevating mechanism configured to move up and down the posture regulating mechanism between a working position for regulating a wobble of the peripheral portion of the substrate and a waiting position below the working position.