Patent ID: 7701553

Claim:
A surface level detection method comprising: a first level measurement step of measuring a level of a surface of a substrate having a plurality of shot regions; a position measurement step of measuring a position along the surface of the substrate; a first movement step of moving the substrate in at least a vertical direction on the basis of the measurement result obtained in the first level measurement step and the measurement result obtained in the position measurement step; and a second level measurement step of measuring the level of the surface of the substrate after the first movement step, wherein each of the plurality of shot regions has a measurement region, wherein, in the first movement step, the substrate is moved such that (i) a relative position of the measurement region of each of the plurality of shot regions and (ii) each of the plurality of shot regions along the surface is constant, and wherein, in the second level measurement step, the measurement region of each of the plurality of shot regions is measured.