Patent ID: 7262829

Claim:
A coating and developing apparatus comprising: a process block which forms a coating film including a resist film on a substrate, develops the coating film after exposure, and performs a heat processing accompanying those film formation and development; an interface block, provided between said process block and an exposure apparatus which performs an exposure process on the coating film formed on the substrate, for transferring the substrate between said process block and said exposure apparatus; a transfer stage on which a substrate after exposure from said interface block is temporarily placed at a time of transferring the substrate to said process block; and a control section which controls substrate transfer, wherein after a coating film is formed on a substrate in said process block, the substrate is transferred to said exposure apparatus via said interface block, and a substrate after exposure is returned to said process block via said interface block where post-exposure heating is performed and then a developing process is performed, said process block comprises: a unit block for coating-film formation having a plurality of process units for performing a series of processes for a coating process, which include a coating unit for applying a coating liquid to a substrate and a heating unit for heating the substrate applied with said coating liquid, and a coating-film-formation-unit-block transfer mechanism for transferring a substrate among said plurality of process units; and a unit block for development having a plurality of process units for performing a series of processes for a developing process, which include a post-exposure heating unit for heating an exposed substrate and a developing-liquid applying unit for applying a developing liquid to the heated substrate after exposure, and a developing-process-unit-block transfer mechanism for transferring a substrate among said plurality of process units, said interface block includes an interface-block transfer mechanism for transferring a substrate between said process block and said exposure apparatus, and said control section adjusts a timing for said developing-process-unit-block transfer mechanism to receive a substrate in such a way that a time for said post-exposure heating unit to start heating after exposure of the substrate becomes a preset time, when the substrate after exposure is transferred to said transfer stage by said interface-block transfer mechanism.