Patent ID: 7136142

Claim:
A lithographic apparatus comprising: an illumination system to provide a beam of radiation; a support structure constructed to support a patterning device, the patterning device serving to impart the beam of radiation with a pattern in its cross-section; a substrate table for holding a substrate; a projection system for projecting the patterned beam onto a target portion of the substrate; and a gas flushing device for flushing a substantially laminar flow of gas across the beam of radiation and/or along a surface of an optical component, the gas flushing device comprising a single gas outlet having an inner rim at a downstream end of the gas outlet, the inner rim defining a total gas outlet area of the gas flushing device, and a laminator at the downstream end of the gas outlet, the laminator having an effective area out of which the substantially laminar flow of gas flows, the laminator effective area comprising material having laminator openings, wherein the effective area is at least as large as the total gas outlet area.