Patent ID: 8817235

Claim:
A lithographic apparatus comprising: an illumination system configured to condition a beam of radiation, the illumination system comprising a Pockels cell arranged to control the polarization of the radiation beam, and an array of individually controllable reflective elements arranged to control the pupil plane distribution of the radiation beam; a support structure configured to support a patterning device, the patterning device arranged to impart the radiation beam with a pattern in its cross-section; a substrate table configured to hold a substrate a projection system configured to project the patterned radiation beam onto the substrate; and a controller configured to control the Pockels cell to change the polarization of the radiation beam between at least two different polarizations during a particular single shot or scan of the patterned radiation on the substrate and to allow the at least two different polarizations of the radiation beam to reach the array of individually controllable reflective elements during the particular single shot or scan of the patterned radiation on the substrate, such that the at least two different polarizations impinge a same area of the substrate before a next substantial movement thereafter of the substrate.