Humidifying apparatus, lithographic apparatus and humidifying method

摘要

A humidifying apparatus is disclosed in which gas is provided to a first side of a membrane and liquid to a second side of the same membrane. The membrane is non-porous to the liquid but porous to vapor of the liquid and is liquidphilic to said liquid.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
controlling the temperature of a liquid and providing that liquid to one side of a membrane; pre-humidifying gas, by other than the membrane, prior to being provided to the other side of the membrane; providing the pre-humidified gas to be humidified to the other side of the membrane, the pre-humidified gas provided to the other side of the membrane having a relative humidity greater than or equal to about 40%; and humidifying the pre-humidified gas using the liquid via the membrane, wherein the temperature of gas on the other side of the membrane is controlled by the temperature of liquid on the one side of the membrane, and wherein the controlling the temperature of the liquid comprises controlling the temperature of the liquid on the basis of gas temperature entering or leaving the other side of the membrane during the humidifying.