Lithographic apparatus, an illumination system, a projection system and a method of manufacturing a device using a lithographic apparatus

摘要

A gas curtain is provided to separate a component of a lithographic apparatus from contaminated gas. The gas curtain is supplied by an opening. The opening is at a boundary of a protection environment with which a surface of the component comes into contact. The gas curtain may separate the component from a moving part of the apparatus.

主权项

1. A lithographic apparatus comprising:
a component with a protected surface in contact with a protection gas in a protection volume; and a protector comprising at least one opening configured to direct a gas flow to a surface other than the protected surface along a path noncontiguous to the protected surface, wherein the gas flow defines at least part of a boundary of the protection volume opposite to another boundary of the protection volume defined, at least in part, by the protected surface, and wherein the gas flow substantially prevents gas from reaching a same side of the gas flow as the protected surface from an opposite side of the gas flow.