Substrate processing apparatus for coating photoresist on a substrate and forming a predetermined pattern on a substrate by exposure

Abstract

A compact substrate processing apparatus which is designed so that the number of transfer shafts is reduced, and the time required to exchange wafers is reduced, and further a pre-alignment device provided in an aligner (exposure system) is simplified, or the need for such a pre-alignment device is eliminated, thereby enabling an improvement of the throughput in production of semiconductor or other micro devices. A wafer is taken out from a cassette by a transfer arm. The transfer arm is moved along a slider body to transfer the wafer to a photoresist coating unit. After coating of a photoresist, the wafer is subjected to positioning with regard to the center and the rotation angle in a positioning unit. With the pre-aligned conditions thereof maintained, the wafer is loaded onto a wafer holder of a projection aligner through the transfer arm. After exposure, the wafer holder is moved in the direction +X, and the wafer is unloaded by a transfer arm which belongs to a developer.