Patent ID: 7639343

Claim:
An exposure apparatus that illuminates a pattern with an energy beam and transfers the pattern onto a substrate via a projection optical system, the exposure apparatus comprising: a substrate stage on which the substrate is mounted that moves within a two-dimensional plane holding the substrate; a supply system that supplies liquid to locally fill a space between the projection optical system and the substrate on the substrate stage with the liquid, so as to form an immersion area having a size smaller than a surface of the substrate that is subjected to exposure; a recovery system that recovers the liquid; and a plate provided in at least a part of the periphery of a mounted area of the substrate on the substrate stage, the plate having a surface arranged at substantially a same height as a surface of the substrate mounted on said substrate stage, wherein when an exposure operation is suspended, the liquid supplied by the supply system is held between the projection optical system and the surface of the plate.