Patent ID: 8313974

Claim:
A substrate transport method comprising: a heat treatment step of performing heat treatment on a plurality of substrates loaded in multiple stages at predetermined vertical intervals in a processing chamber; a storing step of retrieving the plurality of heat-treated substrates one by one, and sequentially storing the substrates in a substrate cassette capable of loading substrates in multiple stages; and a retrieving step of retrieving the substrates from the substrate cassette one by one, the substrates retrieved from the substrate cassette being transported to a following processing step, wherein supporting pieces that support the substrates in a horizontal orientation are formed in the substrate cassette in a plurality of stages at predetermined vertical intervals, and partition plates are provided between the stages, and the substrates are transported from the substrate cassette to a following processing step by retrieving the substrates from the substrate cassette in an order in which the substrates have been retrieved from the processing chamber and stored in the substrate cassette, and transporting the substrates to the following processing step.