Patent ID: 7345740

Claim:
A lithographic apparatus, comprising: an illumination system configured to condition a radiation beam and to provide multiple poles, the poles configured to maximize the amount of diffracted radiation within a lens pupil and having, per pole, a choice of polarized radiation in either a first or a second direction to maximize the content of transverse electric polarization; a support constructed to support a patterning device, the patterning device being configured to impart the radiation beam with a pattern in its cross-section to form a patterned radiation beam; a substrate table constructed to hold a substrate; a projection system configured to project the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of the substrate, wherein the lithographic apparatus comprises an optical element, the optical element being configured to provide a first portion of the radiation beam with a linear polarization in the first direction, or to provide a first portion of the radiation beam with a linear polarization in the first direction and a second portion of the radiation beam with a linear polarization in the second direction, the second direction being perpendicular to the first direction.