Patent ID: 7077585

Claim:
A method of developing an exposed resist on a processing surface of a substrate in a cup, comprising: supporting or holding a side of the substrate opposed to the processing surface, and supplying a developing solution to the processing surface of the substrate and the cup, or to the processing surface of the substrate; exhausting air from a first peripheral region outside the cup while performing a development process with the side opposed to the processing surface of the substrate held; and exhausting air from a second peripheral region inside the cup, or from the second peripheral region and the first peripheral region, while performing a rinsing process with the substrate held in vacuum attachment, wherein the steps of exhausting air are controlled so that an exhaust amount from the first peripheral region during the development process, an exhaust amount from the second peripheral region during the rinsing process, and an exhaust amount from the second peripheral region and the first peripheral region during the rinsing process, are substantially equal.