Patent ID: 7847921

Claim:
A projection exposure system for exposing a substrate which is arranged in the area of an image plane of a projection objective with at least one image of a pattern of a mask which is arranged in the area of an object plane of the projection objective, the projection exposure system comprising: an illumination system for illuminating the pattern with illumination radiation; a projection objective for producing an image of the pattern in the area of the image plane of the projection objective; a polarization measurement device for measurement of a polarization state of radiation at a first location downstream of the illumination system; and at least one polarization manipulation device for variable adjustment of a polarization state of radiation at a second location, as a function of a signal from the polarization measurement device, wherein the at least one polarization measurement device comprises: a mask comprising a transparent pinhole; a lens or lens group having positive refractive power; and a spatially resolving detector having a detector surface; wherein an angular distribution of radiation transiting the pinhole is transformed by the lens or lens group into a spatial distribution of radiation on the detector surface.