Substrate transfer apparatus

摘要

The present invention provides a substrate transfer apparatus which can hold the substrate without contacting the surface of the substrate while the substrate is transferred and which does not require the additional prealignment mechanism. The substrate is transferred by a handler. The handler comprises a substrate holding apparatus and a substrate contact apparatus. The substrate holding apparatus includes a noncontact chuck for holding the substrate without contacting the surface of the substrate, and an elevating mechanism for lowering and lifting the noncontact chuck. The substrate contact apparatus includes a contact member to be in contact with the end face of the substrate, a moving mechanism for moving the contact member away from the end face of the substrate when the noncontact chuck is lowered and moving the contact member towards the end face of the substrate when the noncontact chuck is lifted. The handler comprise the appropriate number of the substrate holding apparatus and the appropriate number of the substrate contact apparatus.