摘要 |
A substrate coated with a coating solution for an anti-reflective film is placed on a heat treatment plate and is heated. Nitrogen gas flows near the periphery of the heat treatment plate into a heat treatment space. An exhaust outlet is formed in an upper central portion of an inner cover, and the inner cover has an inner wall surface configured in the form of a tapered surface. This produces a smooth flow of nitrogen gas along the tapered surface to smoothly discharge a sublimate produced from the coating solution together with the gas flow outwardly through the exhaust outlet. After the heating process for a predetermined period of time is completed, the cover moves upwardly, and support pins move upwardly to thrust up the substrate from the heat treatment plate, thereby spacing the substrate apart from the heat treatment plate. This gradually decreases the temperature of the substrate. The substrate is placed in a standby condition within a hot plate in this state until the substrate temperature is decreased down to at least a temperature at which the production of the sublimate from the anti-reflective film after firing stops, and thereafter a transport robot transports the substrate out of the hot plate.
|