Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method

A substrate processing method that is executed in a substrate processing apparatus including a container holding portion that holds a substrate container that houses a substrate, an indexer block that has a first transfer robot that transfers a substrate between a substrate container held by the container holding portion and a processing block, and the processing block that is adjacent to the indexer block in a lateral direction of the indexer block and in which a plurality of processing block layers are stacked in an up-down direction,

• each processing block layer including:
• a plurality of processing units that perform substrate processing;
• a substrate placing portion that temporarily holds a substrate that is delivered between the first transfer robot and the processing block layer;
• a dummy-substrate housing portion that houses a dummy substrate that is usable in the plurality of processing units;
• and
• a second transfer robot that transfers a substrate between the substrate placing portion and the plurality of processing units and that transfers a dummy substrate between the dummy-substrate housing portion and the plurality of processing units,
• the substrate processing apparatus executing:
• a dummy substrate carrying-in step in which, in each processing block layer, the second transfer robot carries a dummy substrate housed in the dummy-substrate housing portion in the processing block layer into any one of the plurality of processing units in the processing block layer;
• a dummy processing step in which dummy processing that uses the dummy substrate carried into any one of the plurality of processing units is performed in the processing unit;
• a step in which, after finishing the dummy processing, the second transfer robot takes the dummy substrate out of the processing unit, and transfers the dummy substrate to the dummy-substrate housing portion;
• a step in which the second transfer robot carries a substrate placed in the substrate placing portion of the processing block layer into any one of the plurality of processing units of the processing block layer;
• and
• a step in which the substrate carried into any one of the plurality of processing units is processed in the processing unit.