Patent ID: 8780326

Claim:
An exposure method for exposing a substrate with an exposure beam via an optical member and a liquid, the method comprising: exposing the substrate held by a first mover in a first area, the exposure comprising positioning the first mover in a position opposed to the optical member, and disposing the liquid between the optical member and the substrate; holding the liquid between the optical member and a prescribed member, the holding of the liquid comprising removing the prescribed member from the first mover, and retracting the first mover from the position opposed to the optical member so as to move to a second area that is different from the first area, the second area being on one side of the first area when viewed in a direction parallel to an optical axis of the optical member, the exposed substrate on the first mover in the second area being replaced with a next substrate; attaching the prescribed member to a second mover, the attachment comprising positioning the second mover at the position opposed to the optical member after the retraction of the first mover from the optical member; after the attachment of the prescribed member to the second mover, exposing a second substrate held by the second mover in the first area, the exposure comprising disposing the liquid between the optical member and the second substrate held by the second mover; and holding the liquid between the optical member and the prescribed member, the holding of the liquid comprising removing the prescribed member from the second mover and retracting the second mover from the position opposed to the optical member so as to move to the second area; wherein the first mover is moved from the first area to the second area along a first path and the second mover is moved from the first area to the second area along a second path that is different from the first path, both the first and second paths being disposed on the one side of the first area, each of the first and second movers has a prescribed corner and a holder, the holder being configured to hold the prescribed member and arranged at the prescribed corner, when one mover of the first and second movers is moved to approach another mover of the first and second movers while the liquid is held between the optical member and the another mover, a side of the one mover that is adjacent to the prescribed corner of the one mover is positioned closest to the another mover relative to other sides of the one mover, and when the another mover is moved to approach the one mover while the liquid is held between the optical member and the one mover, a side of the another mover that is adjacent to the prescribed corner of the another mover is positioned closest to the one mover relative to the other sides of the another mover.