Patent ID: 9623436
Date: 2017-04-18
CPC Classifications: B05C,G03F

Claim:
1. A lithographic apparatus comprising: a table; a projection system configured to project a patterned beam; a liquid supply system configured to at least partly fill a space between the projection system and an object positioned on the table with a liquid; a confinement structure configured to confine the liquid in the space, the confinement structure having an underneath surface that faces the object, the table or both when the table is positioned under the projection system, the confinement structure including a first outlet positioned in the underneath surface for recovering the liquid from the space; an active drying station configured to actively remove the liquid, present outside the space filled with the liquid by the liquid supply system, from the object, the table or both, the active drying station comprising a liquid retrieval device including a second outlet different from said first outlet, the second outlet formed on a bottom surface of the active drying station for recovering the liquid from the object, the table or both; wherein the active drying station is positioned within the lithographic apparatus such that the table moves under the active drying station during movement of the table, wherein the active drying station comprises a plurality of vertical passages that each have an opening formed on the bottom surface of the active drying station facing, in use, the object, the table, or both, wherein the second outlet defines the opening of one of the plurality of vertical passages, and wherein, in use, a direction of fluid flow in a first of the plurality of vertical passages is opposite a direction of fluid flow in a second and a third of the plurality of vertical passages, said first of the plurality of vertical passages arranged between, and adjacent to both, said second and said third of the plurality of passages.