Patent ID: 8610873

Claim:
An immersion lithography apparatus comprising: a substrate holder on which a substrate having an imaging surface is held; a projection system having a final optical element, the projection system projecting an image onto the imaging surface of the substrate held on the substrate holder through an immersion liquid filled in a gap between the imaging surface of the substrate and the final optical element during an exposure operation; a liquid confinement member that includes a lower surface having an aperture therein through which the image projected by the projection system passes, the liquid confinement member maintaining the immersion liquid in the gap between the imaging surface of the substrate and the final optical element during the exposure operation, the lower surface of the liquid confinement member including a non-fluid removal area that is directly adjacent to and surrounds the aperture through which the image projected by the projection system passes, the non-fluid removal area is spaced a first distance from the imaging surface of the substrate during the exposure operation, the lower surface of the liquid confinement member having a liquid recovery outlet from which the immersion liquid is recovered, the liquid recovery outlet being provided in the lower surface such that the liquid recovery outlet surrounds the non-fluid removal area; and a movable liquid diverter, positioned between the liquid confinement member and the substrate during the exposure operation and spaced a second distance, which is less than the first distance, from the imaging surface of the substrate during the exposure, the movable liquid diverter being movable relative to the liquid confinement member in a direction parallel to the imaging surface of the substrate during the exposure operation, the movable liquid diverter including an opening through which the image projected by the projection system passes, the movable liquid diverter having an upper surface and a lower surface that surround the opening, and the movable liquid diverter being provided such that a portion of the upper surface of the movable liquid diverter faces the non-fluid removal area in the lower surface of the liquid confinement member when the movable liquid diverter moves in a same direction as the substrate holder.