Wafer polishing apparatus and cleaning method using inert gas

摘要

In a wafer polishing apparatus (10, 10A) which polishes a wafer surface or in a wafer cleaner, there are provided a transfer and cleaning chamber (82, 90) which shuts off a wafer (W) from the outside air and an inert gas supply device which fills an inert gas into the transfer and cleaning chamber (82, 90). Thus, there are provided a polishing apparatus (10, 10A), a cleaner, a cleaning method and a wafer evacuation program which can prevent the oxidation and modification of a wafer surface in each step, such as the polishing step (16) of a wafer (W), the transfer step (14) after polishing, the cleaning step (18) after polishing, the drying step (18) after polishing, the inspection step (29) after polishing, and the storage step (20) after polishing.