Patent ID: 7864337

Claim:
A positioning apparatus which positions a stage, comprising: a first measuring device configured to measure a position of the stage in a first measuring range; a second measuring device configured to measure a position of the stage in a second measuring range having an overlapping range which overlaps the first measuring range; a third measuring device configured to measure a position of the stage in the overlapping range; and a controller configured to control said first measuring device to take over the measurement value obtained by said second measuring device in the overlapping range in moving the stage from the second measuring range to the first measuring range, thereby switching from measurement by said second measuring device to measurement by said first measuring device, wherein said controller performs correction processing based on the measurement value obtained by said third measuring device so as to reduce an error of the measurement value obtained by said first measuring device after the switching from the measurement by said second measuring device to the measurement by said first measuring device, and wherein said first and second measuring devices measure the positions of the stage relative to a reference position and said third measuring device measures the position of a reference mark formed on the stage.