Patent ID: 8705010

Claim:
A lithography system, comprising: a wafer processing section; a target table ( 2 ) movable into and out of said processing section, said wafer processing section comprising a vacuum compartment for treating a target carried by said target table; clamping means for clamping and releasing a target ( 1 ) on said table when said table is positioned outside said wafer processing section, and for maintaining said clamping of said target on said table when said table is positioned within said wafer processing section, said clamping means including a layer of stationary liquid ( 3 ) contacting a face of material (A) of the target ( 1 ) and a face of material (B) of the target table ( 2 ), spacers ( 7 , 15 ) on said target table, supporting said target and defining a gap height (h) of between 0.1 μm and 10 μm between said face of material (A) of the target ( 1 ) and said face of material (B) of the target table ( 2 ), wherein said spacers extend from said target table ( 2 ), through said layer of stationary liquid ( 3 ) and contact said face of material of said target ( 1 ), and wherein said stationary layer of liquid ( 3 ) has nominal thickness equal to the height (h) of the gap, wherein said layer of liquid is included capillarily between said faces and forms a liquid surface ( 4 ) at its outer periphery, which liquid surface ( 4 ) bridges said gap (h) and is arranged within the boundaries of the target when seen in top view and is generally concavely shaped when taken in cross-section along said gap (h), wherein a capillary pressure drop (ΔP Cap ) exists at said liquid surface ( 4 ).