Apparatus and method for development

A developing apparatus for developing a substrate, with photoresist applied onto a surface of said substrate and exposed, comprising:

• a substrate-holding unit holding said substrate in a horizontal state;
• a supply nozzle supplying a developer solution to said substrate, said supply nozzle having a discharge opening formed over a distance almost equal to or longer than the width of an effective region of said substrate;
• and
• a moving mechanism moving said supply nozzle from a rear end of said substrate toward a front end of said substrate, wherein
• said discharge opening is curved toward the front end of said substrate so that two lateral ends of said discharge opening are located back with respect to the center of said discharge opening.

A developing apparatus for developing a substrate, with photoresist applied onto a surface of said substrate and exposed, comprising:

• a substrate-holding unit holding said substrate in a horizontal state;
• a supply nozzle supplying a developer solution to said substrate, said supply nozzle having a discharge opening formed over a distance almost equal to or longer than the width of an effective region of said substrate;
• a moving mechanism moving said supply nozzle from a rear end of said substrate toward a front end of said substrate;
• and
• airflow generating means for generating an airflow over the surface of said substrate to prevent a flow from being produced in the developer solution on said substrate.

A developing method for developing a substrate, with photoresist applied onto a surface of said substrate and exposed, comprising the steps of:

• holding said substrate in a horizontal state on a substrate-holding unit;
• placing, a solution-receiving plate having solution-passing holes, at least on a front-end side of said substrate with respect to the direction in which a supply nozzle is moved, said solution-receiving plate being separated by a slight distance from the front end of said substrate, and said solution-receiving plate and the surface of said substrate being at the same height or said solution-receiving plate being at a height slightly lower than that of the surface of said substrate;
• and
• thereafter moving said supply nozzle for supplying a developer solution to said substrate, said supply nozzle having a discharge opening formed over a distance almost equal to or longer than the width of an effective region of said substrate, said supply nozzle being moved from a rear end of said substrate toward the front end of said substrate to apply said developer solution to the surface of said substrate while a part of said developer solution discharged from a part of said discharge opening located outside said substrate is passed through said solution-passing holes of said solution-receiving plate toward the back of said solution-receiving plate.