Patent ID: 7476290

Claim:
A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: a substrate holder for holding and rotating a substrate substantially horizontally; a supply nozzle having an open end for supplying a processing liquid onto a peripheral portion of an upper surface of the substrate which is to be rotated; a supply unit communicating with said supply nozzle for supplying the processing liquid onto the substrate via said supply nozzle; a suction nozzle having a suction mouth configured to suck the processing liquid on the peripheral portion of the upper surface of the substrate in an upward direction, said suction mouth of said suction nozzle being located at the same radial distance from a center point of the substrate as said open end of said supply nozzle, and said suction mouth of said suction nozzle being located adjacent to said open end of said supply nozzle, said suction mouth of said suction nozzle and said open end of said supply nozzle being arranged so as to face the upper surface of the substrate; a suction unit communicating with said suction nozzle for sucking the processing liquid from the substrate via said suction nozzle; and wherein said substrate holder is operable to rotate the substrate in a direction such that said suction mouth of said suction nozzle is located at a position forward of said open end of said supply nozzle with respect to a rotational direction of the substrate, and such that a distance traveled by the processing liquid supplied onto the substrate via said supply nozzle during a single rotation of said substrate holder is greater than a distance between said supply nozzle and said suction nozzle; wherein said substrate holder is operable to rotate the substrate at a speed low enough to allow the supplied processing liquid to remain stationary on the upper surface of the substrate during rotation of the substrate.