Patent ID: RE43576

Claim:
A lithographic apparatus comprising: a support constructed to support a patterning device, the patterning device being capable of imparting a radiation beam with a pattern in its cross-section to form a patterned radiation beam; a measuring system configured to measure characteristics of substrates in a metrology station of the apparatus; a projection system configured to project the patterned radiation beam onto a substrate in an exposure station of the apparatus; a liquid confinement system configured to at least partly confine liquid in a space between the projection system and the substrate; a positioning system and at least two substrate stages, each stage constructed to hold a substrates substrate , wherein the positioning system is constructed to move the stages between the metrology station and the exposure station, and wherein the positioning system is constructed to position one of the stages holding a substrate during exposure in the exposure station on the basis of at least one measured characteristic of that substrate; wherein the stages are constructed and arranged for mutual cooperation in order to perform a joint scan movement to bring the lithographic apparatus from a first situation, wherein the liquid is confined between a first substrate held by a first stage of the two stages and the projection system, towards a second situation, wherein the liquid is confined between a second substrate held by a second stage of the two stages and the projection system, such that during the joint scan movement the liquid is essentially confined within the space with respect to the projection system.