Patent ID: 7671970

Claim:
A stage apparatus for a lithographic apparatus that includes a projection system configured to project a pattern on a substrate, the stage apparatus comprising: a first object table configured to hold a first patterning device; a second object table configured to hold a second patterning device, each of the first and second patterning devices including a pattern, and the first and second patterning devices being arranged such that the pattern of the first patterning device and the pattern of the second patterning device are adjacent to each other in a scanning direction; a positioning device configured to position the first and second patterning devices and the substrate, and a control device configured to control the positioning device, the control device constructed and arranged to provide the positioning device with a set-point adapted to: (i) accelerate the first patterning device to a first predetermined speed relative to the projection system of the lithographic apparatus, (ii) accelerate the substrate to a predetermined scanning speed relative to the projection system so as to project the pattern of the first patterning device onto a first field of the substrate while substantially maintaining said scanning speed; (iii) displace the substrate substantially at the predetermined scanning speed so as to skip an exposure of a non-zero number of unexposed exposure field pitches on the substrate arranged adjacent to the first field in the scanning direction; and (iv) accelerate the second patterning device to the first predetermined speed relative to the projection system so as to expose the second pattern onto a second field of the substrate arranged adjacent to the non-zero number of unexposed exposure field pitches on the substrate in the scanning direction.