Abstract: The present invention provides a two-dimensional encoded optical storage medium (12) comprising at least one alignment pattern (14) for aligning a spot array (16) intended to read out the optical storage medium (12). Furthermore, the present invention is directed to a method and a device for reading out a two-dimensional encoded optical storage medium (12) having at least one alignment pattern (14) comprising a plurality of bit rows (R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, R8), wherein at least one bit row (R2, R3, R4, R6, R7, R8) of said alignment pattern (14) is empty.

Abstract: A lithographic apparatus equipped with an improved alignment system, is presented herein. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a radiation system for providing a projection beam of radiation, a support structure for supporting a patterning device that configures the projection beam according to a desired pattern, a substrate holder for holding a substrate, projection system for projecting the patterned beam onto a target portion of the substrate, and an alignment system. The alignment system includes a radiation source for illuminating at least one mark which is usable for alignment on a substrate and an imaging system for imaging light which has interacted with the at least one mark to generate alignment information.