Patent ID: 7879251

Claim:
A thin film removing method of removing unnecessary parts of a thin liquid film formed on a surface of a square substrate from edge parts of the surface of the substrate by jetting a solvent against the edge parts of the surface of the substrate, said thin film removing method comprising the steps of: mounting the substrate on a support table; positioning an approach stage having a pair of flat approach parts, one flat approach part and other flat approach part being positioned oppositely with respect to the substrate, the pair of flat approach parts positioned close to edges of the substrate mounted on the support table and surfaces of the pair of flat approach parts extending substantially flush with a surface of the substrate mounted on the support table; and jetting the solvent toward edge parts of the substrate mounted on the support table and sucking a solution produced by dissolving part of the thin film in the solvent by thin film removing means while the thin film removing means is moved from the one flat approach part to the other flat approach part along end edges of the substrate.