Patent ID: 7224439

Claim:
A method for imaging a structure from a mask onto a semiconductor wafer, comprising the steps of: exposing a cutout of the mask provided in an x-y plane with the aid of an illumination region arranged above the mask; imaging a partial structure comprised in the exposed cutout onto the semiconductor wafer by means of a projection system; filling a gap with liquid between the semiconductor wafer and a lens surface of the projection system that is nearest to the semiconductor wafer; moving the illumination region with respect to the mask and the projection system in the x-y plane, so that the structure prescribed by the mask is imaged onto the semiconductor wafer by a sequence of imagings of the partial structure respectively contained in the successively exposed cutouts, in order to repeat the imaging of the structure on the semiconductor wafer; interrupting a contact between the semiconductor wafer and the liquid; moving the semiconductor wafer to a new position with regard to the projection system, so that the repeated imaging of the structure is effected onto an as yet unexposed section of the semiconductor wafer; providing the liquid between the semiconductor wafer and the lens surface; moving the semiconductor wafer into a focal range of the projection system; and repeating the imaging of the structure onto the semiconductor wafer.