Abstract: A lithographic apparatus with a cover plate formed separately from a substrate table and means for stabilizing a temperature of the substrate table by controlling the temperature of the cover plate is disclosed. A lithographic apparatus with thermal insulation provided between a cover plate and a substrate table so that the cover plate acts as a thermal shield for the substrate table is disclosed. A lithographic apparatus comprising means to determine a substrate table distortion and improve position control of a substrate by reference to the substrate table distortion is disclosed.

Abstract: An article support configured to support an article to be placed in a beam path of a radiation beam of a lithographic apparatus on the article support is disclosed, the article support having a base plate of a first material and a plurality of burls of a second material, bonded to the base plate of the first material.

Abstract: A system and method are used to compensate for thermal effect on a lithographic apparatus. The system comprises a patterning device, a projection system, a substrate position controller, and a substrate-position-based expansion-compensator. The patterning device modulates a radiation beam. The projection system projects the modulated radiation beam onto a target portion of a substrate. The substrate position controller moves the substrate relative to the projection system sequentially through a plurality of exposure positions. The substrate-position-based expansion-compensator interacts with the substrate position controller to modify the exposure positions in order at least partially to compensate for thermally-induced geometrical changes of at least one of the substrate and projection system.

Abstract: A lithographic projection apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes an illuminator for conditioning a beam of radiation, and an article holder. The article holder includes a plurality of protrusions arranged to provide a substantially flat plane of support for supporting an article to be placed in a beam path of the beam of radiation. The protrusions are generally spaced apart equidistantly at a first distance. The article holder also includes a pair of electrodes for clamping the article to the holder. The electrodes are disposed in substantially the same plane above or below the protrusions, and are spaced apart from one another by a gap. Neighboring protrusions within the plurality of protrusions that are located on opposite sides of the gap are spaced apart by a second distance that is greater than the first distance.

Abstract: A substrate or a patterning device used in a lithographic apparatus and a lithographic device manufacturing method are presented. The substrate and patterning device are aligned with respect to a patterning beam and are movably supported by a support. Resonances in said support, however, may render the manufactured device unusable and/ or may render the control system complex. Therefore an actuator assembly frame with flexible coupling devices coupled to the support is provided with a number of actuators configured to move the support in a number of degrees of freedom. Thus, the resonances are damped by the flexible coupling devices resulting in a larger bandwidth for the control system and thus enabling a better position accuracy of the support.

Abstract: A lithographic apparatus includes an article support for supporting a substantially flat article to be placed in a beam path of a beam of radiation. The article support includes a plurality of supporting protrusions that define a support zone for providing a plane of support. A backfill gas feed is arranged in the support zone and provides a backfill gas that flows to a backside of the article when supported by the article support. The support zone is surrounded by a boundary zone that has a reduced height relative to the plane of support so that the backfill gas flow is permitted to exit the support zone. A tunable clamp clamps the article to the article support, and a flow measuring system measures the outflow of the backfill gas. The tunable clamp is operatively coupled to the flow measuring system to tune the clamping based on the measured outflow.