Patent ID: 7215410

Claim:
An exposure apparatus comprising: an illumination optical system for illuminating a reticle with light from a light source; and a projection optical system for projecting a pattern of the reticle onto an object to be exposed, said projection optical system including a lens closest to the object, and a lens barrel for holding the lens, wherein said exposure apparatus exposes the object via a liquid that is filled in a space between the lens and the object, and wherein the lens includes: a convex surface on a reticle side; a first plane that contacts the liquid and is formed in the middle of the lens at an object side; and a second plane that is held by a retainer of the lens barrel, formed at the edge of the lens at the object side, and parallel to the first plane, the first plane being closer to the object than the second plane, and smaller than an effective area of the convex surface.