Patent ID: 7623219

Claim:
An exposure method for exposing a pattern of a reticle which has a patterned area that has the pattern, and a light shielding area that has a width and that is provided around the patterned area, onto a substrate via a projection optical system by illuminating the reticle using an illumination optical system, said exposure method comprising the steps of: controlling a field stop which has an aperture defining a region in which the reticle is illuminated so that a position corresponding to an edge of the aperture in the field stop is closer to the patterned area side than a center of the width of the light shielding area on the reticle; and illuminating the reticle via the field stop, wherein the controlling step changes the position corresponding to the edge of the aperture in the field stop in accordance with a shape of an effective light source of the illumination optical system.