Patent ID: 7408615

Claim:
A lithographic apparatus, comprising: (a) a processing unit configured to perform a lithographic process involving exchangeable objects, the processing unit comprising: an illumination system configured to condition a beam of radiation; a support structure configured to support a patterning device that imparts a desired pattern to the beam of radiation; a substrate holder configured to hold a substrate; and a projection system configured to project the patterned beam onto a target portion of the substrate; and (b) a transfer unit comprising a substantially fixed single robot configured to transfer a first exchangeable object from a stationary loading station to the processing unit and to transfer a second exchangeable object from the processing unit to a discharge station, the loading station being in communication with a track that extends between different processing stations of a production line, the track configured to move exchangeable objects between the different processing stations, the processing stations configured to perform a process on the exchangeable objects.