SUBSTRATE TRANSPORT DEVICE, SUBSTRATE TRANSPORT METHOD, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a gas-floatation substrate transport device capable of stably transporting a substrate. SOLUTION: The substrate transport device is configured so as to provide a transport path formation member that is extended in the transport direction of the substrate, and has a transport surface becoming lower as it becomes closer to the central section, and the heights of both ends are the same as that of the floated substrate or are higher than that of the substrate as viewed in cross-section; and a group of gas delivering holes that are provided along the transport direction of the substrate on the transport surface of the substrate, and deliver the gas upwardly to float the substrate. The gas delivered onto the transport surface to float the substrate is stored on the transport surface, forms a gas layer so as to enclose the transported substrate, and the substrate is transported at the central section of the transport path while the substrate is receiving the pressure of the stored gas from the right/left hands, thereby suppressing the right/left off-positioning of the substrate, thus enabling the system to stably transport the substrate. COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT